Ruben Amorim’s arrival at Manchester United is accompanied by a huge air of hope and optimism as he is the first appointment of Ineos, different from Erik ten Hag.
While Ten Hag was effectively handed to Ineos by the Glazers, Ruben Amorim is their own man and the expectation is that he will fit into the structure better.
Managing Man Utd is full of challenges and while Ten Hag did succeed at some, he left a lot to be desired in many areas.
Those areas ultimately curated his downfall, be it his role in some questionable transfers, his stubbornness to admit his team was faulty, or the biggest one of them all, where he failed miserably.
That was his inability to deal with the media in press conferences as he became increasingly isolated near the end of his tenure. Ruben Amorim is coming in with a plan to combat that challenge.
Ruben Amorim on facing the press
Ever since Amorim’s arrival at Old Trafford was confirmed, Sporting Lisbon games and their pre+post-match conferences have become must-watch affairs for Man Utd fans.
Amorim’s charisma has shined through in his interviews so far and the hope is that the same will translate to English football too.
It is a feature of modern football that for managers, the press off the field is almost as big a challenge to handle as the “press” on the field to win the ball back.
Amorim spoke to the media ahead of his final showdown as Sporting manager and revealed his strategy to tackle the media landscape.
He said: “I have always followed the sporting phenomenon closely. I already know what I am going to say when I come to the press room. I prepare myself with Filipe (Dinis). If I read all the things that are written about me, I will be angry and upset because I will be waiting to respond here. Obviously it is a strategy.
“Honesty? Things are there for all to see. The results dictate everything. I know that if I lose games I will leave and if I win I will stay. It can help with the criticism because you have been nicer to me than to others. I am genuine in what I say and when I am not it is clear, but obviously there is preparation.”
Amorim has maintained a cordial relationship with the Portuguese press and as he says, it helps when you’re winning but even beyond that, the way he navigates pressers should be a breath of fresh air after Ten Hag.
Erik ten Hag struggled immensely
Winning cures everything but it was noticeable even in a great debut season that dealing with the media was not one of Ten Hag’s strong points.
It was often reported that Tottenham didn’t move forward with the Dutchman due to his English skills and a lack of charisma. While that wasn’t a problem at United when they were winning, it became apparent quickly when they weren’t.
Ten Hag could no longer talk through the interviews about the wins but he didn’t get that memo. He kept talking about winning titles and how well the team was playing when it was in direct contrast to what was actually happening.
By the end of his time here, the grilling got borderline uncomfortable to watch and that only forced the-then manager to become even more defensive.
Ultimately, he was stuck in a vicious cycle he wasn’t able to get out of, and combined with negative results, it all spiralled.
Previous Man Utd managers have all talked about how important it is to deal well with the press at Old Trafford. The scrutiny is already intense so if one can navigate that landscape ably, it helps a bit.
Amorim, so far, looks a better bet to do that than Ten Hag.
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