Ruben Amorim is set to usher in the new era at Manchester United at the start of the international break and he’s already talking like a Manchester United manager should.
To be at Manchester United means inviting endless scrutiny, intense spotlight, and repeated dissection of every word and action on and off the pitch.
Failures are written off as doom, wins are treated as being on top of the world so it’s difficult for people involved to remain at a balanced level.
Ruben Amorim has already laid down the gauntlet by earlier claiming he wanted to join United when they were in a difficult moment because then he could do things his way.
That showed his personality and mentality to succeed but he has gone one step ahead in recent quotes which Man Utd fans will love.
Ruben Amorim on early days at Man Utd
It is safe to assume that not even at Man Utd are the pitchforks out when you lose the first game, especially when arriving in the middle of the season at a flailing club.
Amorim’s United will play 12 games in 55 days after the international break and that two-month period will be crucial in assessing whether this season will be a write-off to prepare for the next one or if he can make an instant impact as well.
Either way, the expectations to begin with from Amorim will be to just “Not be Erik ten Hag“, which is why Ruud van Nistelrooy is enjoying himself in the dugout.
However, Amorim is already bringing a siege mentality to the club as he revealed while talking to Sport TV before the game vs Man City-
He said: “The result here only matters for how they will see me in the early stages, but for me it is completely irrelevant. If we look at my still short career, when I moved up from the B team to the A team at Braga, everyone said I wouldn’t last long, when I came to Sporting, if everyone had bet on it I would have lasted two months.
“They will probably do the same in Manchester. It is the best way to start and I think it suits me very well, given my personality, for that to happen.”
Amorim kicks off his United spell with an away game at Ipswich on November 24 before two home games vs Bodo and Everton. His first marquee test will be away at Arsenal on December 4.
Amorim thrives on proving people wrong
Proving people wrong is one of the common traits associated with most high-profile and successful personalities not just in sports but in the world generally.
Even when there’s no doubting their credentials, they often create hypothetical enemies to prove them wrong and keep their drive going.
It just works out fine, then, that the coverage surrounding United means he will have a lot of people to prove wrong every matchday.
Ten Hag and the managers before him ultimately became worn down by the constant scrutiny and it does take a lot out of you in the long run.
As Amorim said, he has a history of subverting expectations and proving people wrong and he has done so everywhere, reaching a true footballing giant at the age of just 39.
His task at Old Trafford will be quite similar to the one he undertook at Sporting, where he revived a fallen giant from the ashes to put it back on the map.
The Man Utd manager job has swallowed and spat out the greatest of greats since Sir Alex Ferguson retired but if Amorim manages to break that trend, he will cement his legacy.
That’s a long way away, of course, but in the meantime, the mentality with which he’s approaching the challenge is a positive first step.
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