Ruben Amorim set to grant Roy Keane request after first week at Manchester United
“Identity” was the key takeaway from Ruben Amorim’s first interview as Manchester United head coach. It’s something that many former players and analysts believe the club have lost, especially so under Erik ten Hag and his ambiguous tactical set-up. Amorim has made it his first task to bring that back.
"From day one we will start with our identity,” said the 39-year-old, who has become the second-youngest Premier League boss behind Brighton’s 31-year-old Fabian Hurzeler. “How to play, how to press, these small details.
"You cannot go 100 per cent 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."
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United look set to adopt a new philosophy under Amorim, who almost exclusively used his 3-4-3 formation at Sporting CP. "We know that we need time, but we have to win time," the Portuguese insisted.
His initial comments have chimed well with supporters, with whom Amorim believes he will attain a strong connection. The response to his first interview indicates that fans agree. Though, generally speaking, this is not unusual.
Even Ten Hag, Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal won initial appraisals during their unveilings. Ten Hag declared that “eras can come to an end” in his debut press conference when asked about Liverpool and Manchester City's domestic dominance.
“The challenge doesn't make me nervous because my history was always to live with big clubs' expectations,” is what Mourinho said in his.
And for Van Gaal? "To me the challenge