Ruben Amorim has dubbed himself “the smiling one” but insists he has the ruthless streak required to revive Manchester United.
Amorim’s first match as United manager sees him take the fallen English giants to promoted Ipswich in the Premier League on Sunday.
The 39-year-old Portuguese boss, previously with Sporting Lisbon, is in charge of a United side who are 12th in the table — 13 points behind leaders and bitter rivals Liverpool.
But Amorim, appointed after United sacked Erik ten Hag, sees no reason to change his outgoing personality, especially as it comes with a hard edge when needed.
“You can be the same person,” Amorim told a pre-match press conference.
“Be a positive person that can understand this is one place to be, then there is the dressing room, there are some places to have fun, there are some places to work hard.
“So, I can be ruthless when I have to be. If you think as a team, I will be the nicest guy you have ever seen. If there is someone just thinking about himself, I will be a different person.
“I’m not that type of guy that wants to show that he is the boss.
“They will feel it in the small details, that I can be the smiling one but then when we have a job to do I will be a different person, and they understand that.”
But he now has the added difficulty of taking over mid-season.
“It’s so much harder to come to the team in the middle of the season because you have to get to know the players during the games,” he said.
“It’s really hard but we’ll try to find ways to cope with that.”
Amorim is United’s second Portuguese manager after Jose Mourinho, who once labelled himself ‘the Special One’.
Mourinho, however, is one of five managers who have come and gone at United since the end of Alex Ferguson’s trophy-laden reign in 2013.
The celebrated Scottish boss bowed out with a Premier League title and United have not added to their haul of 20 English top-flight championships since Ferguson’s retirement.
Amorim, asked if he had met Ferguson, replied: “No, not yet. I didn’t have that opportunity.”
He added: “It’s hard to copy someone, so I have to be me. I cannot be the same guy that Sir Alex Ferguson was. It’s a different time.”
One of Amorim’s last games as Sporting manager was a 4-1 Champions League win over Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola’s side have been the dominant force in English football in recent years, with an unprecedented run of four successive Premier League titles, although Saturday’s stunning 4-0 loss at home to Tottenham condemned them to a fifth straight defeat in all competitions.
“I think it (City’s success) is a problem for everybody here, but we have so much to do, we cannot focus on anyone,” Amorim said.
“If you can beat that team it’s a good sign but, like I said, we are focused on Manchester United.”
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