Ruben's first press conference: Every word

The 39-year-old - who spoke to club media some days ago - will take charge of United for the very first time this weekend, as the Reds travel to East Anglia with Ipswich Town our opponents.

Prior to Sunday's clash at Portman Road, Amorim was handed the chance to speak about why exactly he chose to leave Sporting and become our next permanent head coach.

Detailing answers on recruitment, his style of play and what fans can expect from the Reds, his 16-minute press conference was quite a lengthy one.

But fear not, listed down below is the opportunity for you to read every word from his debut media outing and it's one you won't want to miss out on...

Ruben welcome to Manchester, you will have had a perception of the club before joining. How does the reality differ, is it bigger and better than you had even imagined?
"Yeah, it is bigger. There are a lot of departments, so much different to Sporting and Sporting is a big club in Portugal. This is a big club and you feel it is a global club, so you have so much to do. It is not just coaching the team. I have a lot of help, a lot of meetings, and I am improving in those areas. I feel very happy, very comfortable and I feel at home."
 
Ruben you are the sixth permanent manager of Manchester United since the club last won the Premier League title, what gives you the faith that you can be the one to restore the club to that level?
"I am a little bit of a dreamer and I believe in myself. I also believe in the club as I think we have the same idea, the same mindset, so that can help. But I truly believe in the players also, I know that you guys don't believe a lot in these players, but I believe a lot and I think we have room to improve. I want to try new things and you guys think it is not possible, I think it is possible and we will see in the end."

What are your first impressions in your few first days of the squad and in training, and how much time do you think you are going to need realistically to repair United?
"I do not know about repair. But like I said, we have space to grow as a team. I think we have to improve in a lot of areas and in the understanding of the game. I know it is a different way of playing and we are changing in the middle of the season. I think we have to improve the physical aspect of the team, it is something that we want to improve. That is it and I do not know how long it will take. I know that when you are in Manchester United, you have to win games and I will not tell you that I need a lot of time. Of course, we need a lot of time because it is a great league, the strongest league in the world, and we have to improve a lot in order to try to win it. So what I can say is that we have to win games and, in time, then win titles."
 
Hi Ruben, you obviously have a lot of belief in your players and there has been a lot spoken about this system. Is it going to be a case of evolution or revolution?
"It is not revolution because the football is not so different than with five players in the back, three players in the back, four players in the back. I cannot say evolution because we have to wait and see, but we will play a different type of football, we have our ideas and I am not saying it is the best ideas, but it is our way of seeing football. It is not evolution or revolution, it is a change in the way we play football."
 
Hi Ruben, you famously came here six-and-a-half years ago and met Jose Mourinho in that internship. What are you memories of that and have you spoken to Jose since you took the job here?
"He sent me a message and told me that is a lovely club, big club, with lovely people - and that is correct. It still is. But a lot of things change and we are in a different building now, we are building a new one, and I am different guy. I was learning at the time and I hope to know teach something here too, to my players. But the club is still big and is still the best club in England and we want to win again, that is all."
 
Ruben, every manager looks for quick wins, quick gains when they turn up at a club. Where do you see those coming here at Manchester United? What do you see here that makes you think you can have an impact straight away?
"In simple things I think. If you want to speak about the team and the way we play, I think we lose the ball too often and we have to keep the ball better. We have to be better when we run back, I think it is clear for everybody and we have to be very good in the details. Sometimes, we are hoping to change a lot of things, big things, and I think it is the small things and we have to change in those small things in the football. Play as a team, understanding the game in one way, that is the focus so I can tell you in the small things I think I can help these players a lot."

Ruben, I am old enough to have been at Jose Mourinho's first press conference in 2004 when he joined Chelsea, did you recall that then? I know you were a young man then but what did you make of it? I know this has also been asked already but what was the most significant influence he has had on you as a manager?
"The first thing, not just me, but with all the Portuguese coaches, it shows we can be the best in the world. This is something different in a small country, this can [help] put a stamp on everybody. But I am different from [Jose] Mourinho, I am different person but I do remember that time. In that time, you look at Mourinho and you felt he can win everywhere, it is not the same thing, he was a European champion. I am not a European champion. But I am different guy in a different moment, football nowadays is different and I think I am the right person for this moment because I am young guy and I understand the players, so I try to use that to help my players, like Mourinho in that era, and what he did at Chelsea. If you remember the young guys were like [Frank] Lampard and these kind of players. Nowadays, it is so much more different. So I think I am right guy for this moment."
 
The recruitment at Manchester United in the last decade has been quite mixed to say the least. Do you expect to have an influence on the players that come into this football club or with that be left to other departments?
"I think it has to be all together because if you are coach that comes here and already chose the players, it could be wrong because this is a football club that will be here for a long time and you as a coach you don't know that. So you have to work everybody together. And for that we have to improve the processes of recruitment. The data, the profile of the players that we want but we have to have a strong position on that because I am the coach and I know how we want to play. I think it is all together but the final word, as you say, should be with the manager, not because it is your right but because it is your responsibility. In the end, they will ask you about the results and in the end that comes through me. I think that, all together, we can improve the process of recruitment and I have to understand the league, that is important and when everything aligns, everything is on the same page, we can [correctly] buy and sell players."
 
Has that been agreed then that you will have the final sign-off on players?
"I am not saying this is the final [say] but I have a great responsibility when we chose players because this is something that should be done in this way. I am the manager, the head coach and I have to chose the players."
 
Manchester United has been described, especially in the last 10-12 years, as the impossible job, especially given the calibre of managers that have come before you, the likes of Erik ten Hag, Louis van Gaal and Jose. What is your perception of that view and what do you think is the challenge here?
"I really do not know what the challenge is here during these months. You have here different types of coaches. So the guys that won everything like van Gaal and Mourinho. You have new ones that know the club inside and out, like Solskjaer. Then you have one of the best managers there ever will be outside of the top-five strongest leagues in Erik ten Hag. So I do not know and I think we have to improve as a club, we have to acknowledge that we are in a time where we need time. Every coach that comes here needs time but to also acknowledge that we need to win games and that is it. So I do not have an answer for that because we have different types of coaches and the same results. We will try to play our way, in my way and try to win."

So you do not think it is an impossible job?
"No, of course not. I believe that, call me naive, but I truly feel that I am the right man in the right moment. I could be wrong but the earth will turn and the sun will rise again, it doesn't matter, and I am not worried about that. I truly believe that I am the right guy for this job."
 
Hi Ruben, you said early that you believe in these players when some people do not. But didn't these players get Ten Hag the sack? Isn't that the reason that he is no longer at the club? The team was down in 13th, 14th, they couldn't win, they couldn't play, they couldn't keep hold of the ball like you just said then. So how can you believe in players who have failed so badly for the last gentleman?
"It is a belief, like the word, you have to believe. I believe in them because when I start this week, you can say that it is one week, just three trainings, they change their style and everyone is excited. But they are open to different things and the only thing I ask is hard work and that you have to believe in a new idea. I felt that and until they prove me wrong. I believe in the players."
 
The average length of a manager since Sir Alex has been here has been about two-and-a-half years. Is that long enough to really stamp your authority on a club and to get where you want to be, because Erik was saying how he bought young players through and they needed time. The likes of Garnacho, Mainoo, is two-and-a-half years long enough, or do you need more time than that?
"I have two years and a half in my contract and you guys talk about that! I think, in two years, you guys can understand if I am the right man in this process. We will need more time because if you look to the other clubs that are winning this league, they are doing this process for a long time but they are winning so they have time to do this project. I understand we will need more than two-and-a-half years, we have to win something, somewhere, but, in two years, you can understand if you want to continue on this path or change. So we will see how long it will take."

I know it has only been a short amount of time Ruben, but players playing in different positions potentially. Garnacho as a wing-back or a number 10. Rashford up top. What have you made of these players and do you think these players are open to playing in different positions in your system?
"They want to play, in this first moment they just want to play. So it is easy. In the future we will see and I have to understand, you can watch on TV and but then you have to train with them and then understand if he can cope in different positions. So we are in that phase and everybody wants to play now and if they had the opportunity to play as a goalkeeper, they would play. In the moment, in the future, we will see, but they are open to changing some positions."
 
Ruben a lot of players that have played for you in the past say one of your big qualities is the relationship you have with them, it already feels as if you have a belief in these players. Do you feel like the players lost a little bit of belief in themselves a little bit and that maybe happened at the start of the season?
"For sure but this is normal in every team, if you do not win games, you start to have suspicions on the way you are playing. [Such as] I cannot control the ball with pressure, so these small things you start to feel it within the players, you can understand it, almost when they walk to the game or to the warm-up. You can feel it if they are confident or not, that is a normal thing and I think I have to help them to feel like it will take time, but they are ready to cope with the demands of the game in the Premier League. They proved that and you can even see, last year, they have a bad first half, and then in the second half, without any tactical change, they will turn up and change things, so they have to find that mindset to play this way throughout all of the game."
 
Hi Ruben, initially, is it possible to ask this group of players to play your style, your formation or do you perhaps do you need to pick a style of footballing philosophy that suits the players you have here?
"As a coach, you have to chose one way or another. I always chose 100 per cent, our way. I prefer to risk a little bit but to push from the first moment. If they feel since the first day that I believe so much in our way of playing, they will believe too. So there is no second doubts, no second way. It is one way we are going to do it and we will adapt some players because we do not have the right profiles, this team was built for a different system, but like I told you guys already, it is the same thing playing with five or four, the principles are the same. The positioning is a little bit different. On Sunday, you will see the list of players, the starting XI and you don't feel a lot of change, but you feel it in the game during the positioning and in the way they receive the ball or cover the ball. You will see some changes."