New Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has described himself as a “dreamer” who believes in himself and the club as he prepares to take charge of his first game on Sunday.
Amorim begins his United reign away to Ipswich Town in the Premier League (8.30pm kick-off UAE) hoping to lift a team that currently languishes 13th in the table, 13 points behind leaders Liverpool after 11 matches, albeit just four off third-place Chelsea.
The Portuguese coach enjoyed huge success at his previous club Sporting Lisbon, guiding them to two league titles, the first of which was their first in almost two decades.
He also left Sporting top of the Primeira Liga after winning 11 out of 11 this season and having just enjoyed a sensational 4-1 thrashing of United's arch-rivals Manchester City in the Champions League.
And Amorim is confident he can have an immediate impact with the current set of United players who struggled badly for form this season domestically and in the Uefa Europa League under previous manager Erik ten Hag.
“I’m a little bit of a dreamer, I believe in myself. I believe in the club, we have the same mindset,” said the 39-year-old who has signed a two-and-a-half year deal with the Red Devils.
“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.
“I don’t know about repair [needed for the team]. We have space to grow as a team. We have to improve in a lot of areas. I know it’s a different way of playing and we are changing the way we play.
“We have to change the physical aspect of the team. I don’t know how long it will take. 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.”
Much has been made of the fact United have gone through five different managers since Alex Ferguson left the club in 2013 after David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ten Hag.
That lack of stability has meant United have not added to their record 20 English top-flight titles since Ferguson's exit, although they have won several trophies in that time, including the Europa league, two FA Cups and two League Cups.
And Amorim revealed in his unveiling on Friday at United's Carrington Training Centre that Mourinho had been in touch, having spent a week working with his countryman at United six years ago, while studying for a master’s degree in high-performance football coaching at the University of Lisbon.
“He sent me a message, it’s a big club, lovely club with lovely people, and he’s correct, it still is,” said Amorim, whose predecessor Ten Hag was sacked last month with Ruud van Nistelrooy taking over as interim coach before also leaving ahead of the new manager's arrival.
“We are building a new club. I am a different guy. I hope to teach something different here to my players. It’s the best club in England. We want to win, that’s all.
“For all the Portuguese coaches, [Mourinho] showed we can be the best in the world. It's a small country, but I am different from Mourinho. You look at Mourinho and think he can be everywhere. He was European champion and I am not. Football these days is different … I am a young guy and I try to use this to help my players.”
With Amorim having took over during the international break, he has had just two training sessions with his new team but believes fans will see instant changes.
“Simple things I think. If you want to speak about the team and the way we play, we lose the ball too often,” he added. “We have to be better at running back and we have to be very good in the details.
“It’s the small things, we have to improve the small things. Understanding the small things, is what I'm good it.”
Amorim becomes the first new manager appointed since British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe became a minority owner of United in February after a $1.3 billion investment to buy a 27.7 per cent stake in the club from the American Glazer family, which is still the majority owner.
And if he had any nerves about taking over at one of the world's biggest clubs, he certainly did not show it in his first press conference.
When asked if he felt it was impossible job at United, Amorim replied: “Of course not, I truly believe that. Call me naive, I truly believe I’m the right guy for the right moment. I’m not worried about that.”
