RUBEN AMORIM may have been at Old Trafford for less than a week – but already there is no doubt that he is a quick learner.
As the latest man charged with bringing the glory days back to Manchester United, Amorim knows the mountain he must climb.
There will be no quick fix, no magic wand and no guarantee a 21st title is just around the corner.
He might be one of the youngest gaffers in the game, but the Portuguese boss is already way too old-head wise to make promises he will struggle to deliver.
But Amorim – like his fellow countryman Jose Mourinho – knows the value of words. Not the Special One so much as the Shrewd One.
This is a guy who Cristiano Ronaldo once dubbed The Poet because he is such an impressive speaker.
There was certainly much to like in his first interview since becoming the sixth man of the post-Fergie decade to fill the Old Trafford hotseat.
And the loudest message will have been music to the ears of every United fan – every football fan in fact – who scratched their head throughout the Erik ten Hag reign.
When Ten Hag packed his bags for the final time last month, no-one – supporters, pundits, most worryingly of all players – could give a definitive answer as to United’s identity.
United had none when he arrived and an even more confusing one when he left. Amorim arrived armed with that knowledge – and rest assured, those days have gone.
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There will be no muddy waters in that respect under the new chief. No wasting time in proving it either – he wants it now, from day one, as clear as a bell.
Forget all talk of formations, of 3-4-3 or 4-3-3. Ignore whether he’ll go with wing-backs or wingers. All that can come over time.
Right now the job is to bring back that identity. And he isn’t prepared to wait.
Amorim insisted: “A lot of people talk about the 3-4-3, 4-3-3 and all that stuff. But when I think as a player or as a team-mate at United, it is not a system of formation.
“It’s the character of the players, the way they see the club. So we have to focus on that before everything about how we play, how we press.
“The most important thing for me at this moment is to create the principles, the identity and the character that we had in the past.
“It’s about the team, that’s the most important thing for me, because if you work as a team, then the talent individually is going to shine.
“But if I had to explain the important thing, it is the character, the way we fight, the way we play – we must have an identity.
“If our players take the shirt, they will know it is the Manchester United team. Where everybody thinks the same, running back, playing, enjoying it.
“I can say the popular thing, which is to win. And of course everybody wants to win – I want to win with my players and with the fans.
“But to win with an identity and one idea, that is the thing that I am focused on all the time.”
After the often deadpan and straight bat days of Ten Hag – for all it brought two Cups – Amorim is already blowing through Old Trafford like a breath of fresh air.
Don’t be fooled into thinking the smile is the sign of a soft touch. He showed in four years that turned Sporting Lisbon from fallen giants into champions there is a ruthless streak too.
So when United’s stars return from international duty next week, there will be no honeymoon period, no gentle easing in under the new gaffer.
He wants them at it straight away – in his eyes, the only way to buy breathing space is through victory. So they’d better be prepared to graft.
Amorim added: “We know we need time, but we have to win time and the way to do that is to win games.
“But again the most important thing for me is identity. So from day one we will start with our identity.
“Of course we are going to prepare, how to play, how to press, these small things, small details.
“But you cannot go 100 per cent on every detail because it will be confusing for the players – so if I have to say one thing, my main goal, my first goal, is identity.”
Amorim already knows all about the United one of old, too, after a top-to-bottom tour of the place. He reckons it’s a trip every one who pulls on a red shirt should make.
He added: “You see the trophies, you see the tragedy we have as a club. You can understand the history, after the crash, then we were European champions.
“It is important to put that kind of strength in our team. So when players come here, they should make the same tour.
“You have to FEEL this is Manchester United because if you go a lot of years without winning, you start losing that.
“So you have to be very clear on the message you want to put to the players.”
Whatever the next couple of years bring, there will be no doubting that under Amorim. Maybe not happy days are here again just yet…but you sense they might be just around the corner.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW GO TO MANUTD.COM, MUTV AND THE CLUB’S SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLETS.
