New Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim says he is the “right man” for the club but will need time to implement his ideas.
The 39-year-old signed a two-and-a-half-year deal earlier this month to replace Erik ten Hag, who was sacked in October.
United are 13th in the Premier League table, seven points above Sunday’s opponents Ipswich Town, who are fourth from bottom.
While Amorim recognises the size of the task facing him at Old Trafford, he believes he can turn the club’s fortunes around.
“I’m a little bit of a dreamer and I believe in myself and I believe in the club,” he said during his first news conference as head coach.
“I think we have the same idea, the same mindset and that can help.
“I truly believe in the players, I know you don’t believe a lot but I do. I want to try new things. You guys don’t think it’s possible, I do.
“Call me naive, but I believe I am the right guy at the right time. I truly believe I am the right guy.”
The Portuguese, who has joined United after four years at Sporting, insisted he will bring change in order for the club to challenge for the Premier League title again.
He added: “I know at Manchester United we have to win games. We need a lot of time because it’s a tough league, we have to improve a lot to try to win the title.
“We have to change the physical aspect of the team. I don’t know how long it will take.”
Given his nationality and success in Portugal, Amorim has often been compared to Jose Mourinho, who had spells in the Premier League with United, Chelsea and Tottenham.
The Fenerbahce coach spent two-and-a-half-years at Old Trafford, winning the League Cup and Europa League following his appointment in 2016.
Amorim, though, was keen to play down the comparisons.
“I’m different from Mourinho, I remember that time,” said Amorim, referring to when Mourinho joined Chelsea in 2004 after winning the Champions League with Porto.
“You looked at Mourinho and felt he could win everywhere. It’s not the same thing. He was European champion, I am not.
“Football is different nowadays, I think I am the right person for this moment. I am a young guy and I try to use this to help my players.
“Their young guys were [Frank] Lampard and these kind of players, nowadays it’s so much different. I think I’m right for now.”
Amorim ‘accomplished and assured’
This was a highly accomplished and assured first media conference by Ruben Amorim, whose confidence was immediately apparent as he strode purposefully into a packed room at Carrington with a smile and “hi guys” to the assembled journalists, before fielding a host of questions from both English and Portuguese reporters.
In recognition of the limited time the coach has had in his new surroundings, United had chosen to stage a normal pre-match media briefing at the training ground, rather than a more formal Old Trafford unveiling of the kind previous new managers such as Erik ten Hag had held.
But this felt very different to the strained and adversarial media conferences that became a weekly feature of the final months of Ten Hag’s tenure at Old Trafford.
Speaking in fluent English, Amorim seemed to relish the opportunity to articulate how he is feeling. Smiling throughout, he made clear his belief both in himself and in his players, claiming he was “the right guy at the right time”.
But he also acknowledged the scale of the task he faces here after years of decline, and the need for his team to improve.
However, he also firmly rejected the suggestion this was ‘the impossible job’. “Of course not,” he said.
Amorim is the first managerial hire since Ineos took over the football operations at Old Trafford – so a lot is resting on him. It was noticeable that Tom Crotty – a senior director at the petrochemicals company – and a trusted advisor to billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe was in attendance.
However, if the coach was feeling the pressure that comes with that, and from being in one of the most scrutinised coaching roles in world football, he did not show it.
At the end, Amorim embraced several Portuguese reporters who had travelled to cover his first media appearance. Whether he forges such close bonds with their British counterparts remains to be seen.
But based on this first performance, communication will not be a problem for the coach.