Yes, he will ultimately be judged by results on the pitch, but this was a highly accomplished and assured first media conference by Ruben Amorim, whose confidence was immediately apparent as he strode purposefully into a packed room at Carrington with a smile and “hi guys” to the assembled journalists, before fielding a host of questions from both English and Portuguese reporters.
In recognition of the limited time the coach has had in his new surroundings, United had chosen to stage a normal pre-match media briefing in the rather plain Jimmy Murphy building at the training ground, rather than a more formal Old Trafford unveiling of the kind previous new managers such as Erik ten Hag had held.
But this felt very different to the strained and adversarial media conferences that became a weekly feature of the final months of Ten Hag’s tenure at Old Trafford.
Speaking in fluent English, the more charismatic Amorim seemed undaunted by the attention and appeared to relish the opportunity to articulate how he is feeling. Smiling throughout, he made clear his belief both in himself and in his players, claiming he was “the right guy at the right time”, while gently accusing the media of a lack of faith.
But he also acknowledged the scale of the task he faces here after years of decline, accepting that “we have to improve” and “I don’t know how long it will take” when I asked him how long he felt he needed to repair the club.
He will also be aware that with United having spent more than half a billion pounds on new players under Ten Hag, and with Profit and Sustainability rules to comply with, he will have to largely work with the players he has got.
Amorim is currently living in the same city centre hotel that Jose Mourinho used as his base during his reign at United, but is said to be close to moving into a house, and is clearly wary of being compared too closely to his compatriot.
However, he also firmly rejected the suggestion this was ‘the impossible job’. “Of course not,” he said.
Amorim is the first managerial hire since Ineos took over the football operations at Old Trafford – so a lot is resting on him. It was noticeable that Tom Crotty – a senior director at the petrochemicals company – and a trusted advisor to billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe was in attendance.
However, if the coach was feeling the pressure that comes with that, and from being in one of the most scrutinised coaching roles in world football, he did not show it.
Having spoken for more than thirty minutes, Amorim embraced several Portuguese reporters who had travelled to cover his first media appearance. Whether he forges such close bonds with their British counterparts remains to be seen.
But based on this first performance, communication will not be a problem for the coach.