Amorim wants ‘players like Roy Keane’ as Man Utd boss excuses ‘wasting time’ analysing Ten Hag
Ruben Amorim has told Gary Neville that he ‘truly believes Manchester United will succeed’ under his management.
Amorim gets his Man Utd tenure underway against Ipswich Town on Sunday.
The former Sporting head coach replaced Erik ten Hag earlier this month after the Dutchman was sacked for a miserable start to 2024/25.
Red Devils legend Neville sat down with Amorim ahead of his debut and the Portuguese is under no illusions that it will be an easy job to get the club back fighting for the Premier League title.
“The first impression is that it’s so big, with a lot of departments,” Amorim said. “I came from a big club in a small country. Here is a different world.
“You have a lot to do. You are not just a coach. You have to be something more.
“So it’s a little bit different, but I think I’m prepared for that.
“You feel the weight of the history and I want to be part of that. If we win here, it will be different than in every club in England, you can feel that but you also understand that it’s going to be tough.
“And it’s Manchester United. It doesn’t matter the last years.
“We will have really hard moments but in the end, I truly believe that we are going to succeed.”
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On where previous managers went wrong, Amorim said: “I will not try to find out the right thing to do or try to find out what was missing with Erik ten Hag, with Jose Mourinho, with Louis van Gaal.
“I will not try that because I think it’s a waste of time. They chose me because they saw something and I do something in a clear way.
“I really don’t know what the (other managers) missed here but I know I will do my thing, my way and try to find out what is missing in my way of seeing football.”
On getting Man Utd playing further up the pitch, Amorim told Neville: “First thing, I think we have to be better athletes. That is something that you can acknowledge when we are here and we see the data.
“When I say fitter, it’s not being thinner or anything about that. It’s the data. You have to understand the data to press high, what is the average metres that you have to run, the sprints.
“You have all this data and you have to cope with that. So you already know your goal is to reach that. You can run a lot but if you don’t understand the game, it doesn’t matter. But the first point to press high, you have to be very fit and you have to cope with the demands of pressing high.
“The problem is with the ball. I think we lose the ball too fast. We win the ball, we lose the ball. And you cannot press high all the time. With the ball, we can press better. So the focus this week also was in that part.
“If you don’t lose the ball, you can push higher. If you are higher, you can press better. So it’s like a snowball. Everything is connected.”
Amorim also revealed that he would love to pick the brains of legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson and former club captain Roy Keane.
He said: “Roy Keane was a massive player and I like players with character. I think they can improve. It was not just what Roy Keane did on the pitch, it was the way he influenced the others. I think that is very important in one player.
“You must have this kind of player in the big clubs. I hope we’ll have in the future players like Roy Keane.
“Sir Alex Ferguson, you want to ask so many things. I think he will talk about horses. I don’t understand anything about horses. But it will be amazing to meet that kind of character.”
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