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Amorim says he will take Man United back to where club 'belongs'

Football

By AFP | Nov 16, 2024

**New Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim.** [Manchester United,X]

New Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim said on Friday that he would give "everything" to help take the struggling Premier League giants back to the top of English football.

The Portuguese boss, who replaced the sacked Erik ten Hag, arrived at the club's Carrington training complex on Monday following a 4-2 win at Braga in his final match in charge of Sporting Lisbon.

On Friday, United released a video of Amorim's first interview with the club's in-house TV channel.

United are 13th in the Premier League table after a poor start to the season but are only four points off the top four.

"I will try to do everything to put this club in the place that it belongs," he said.

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"And I believe a lot that we are going to succeed."

Amorim's first match in charge will be away at struggling Ipswich on November 24, following the international break.

United finished eighth in the Premier League last season, their worst league finish since the 1989-90 campaign.

"We know that we need time, but we have to win time," added Amorim. "To win time is to win games. But the most important thing for me is identity.

"Since day one we will start with our identity. Of course we are going to prepare (for) the games, but we will focus a lot on our game model. How to play, how to press, these small details.

"You cannot go 100 percent on every detail because it will be confusing for the players. So if I have to say one thing, my main goal, my first goal, is identity."

'Feel the history'

Amorim led Sporting to their first Portuguese league title in 19 years in 2021, before regaining the trophy last season.

He left the capital club top of the Primeira Liga with a 100-percent record after 11 games and also second in the Champions League standings.

Manchester United won the last of their record 20 English league titles in Alex Ferguson's last season in charge in 2013.

Told by the interviewer that there is a "weight to the place but it does lift you up", Amorim added: "That's really funny because I feel very relaxed."

"You watch on TV and you know that it's big and it's impressive, but when you are here you can feel it and I think you feel the history," he said.

"I'm really, really proud to be a Manchester United coach, so it's amazing. It's a real honour to be here."

Ruud van Nistelrooy, put in temporary charge of United after Ten Hag's dismissal, on Friday issued an emotional farewell message to the club, where he also starred as a striker.

The former PSV Eindhoven boss, appointed as an assistant coach in July on a two-year contract, had voiced a desire to stay at Old Trafford under Amorim.

But United issued a statement on Monday confirming the 48-year-old would not be part of the new coaching set-up.