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Amorim talks Erik ten Hag, INEOS and Sir Alex Ferguson with Gary Neville

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Ruben Amorim has told Manchester United fans not to mistake his luck for naivete as he sat down with Sky Sports' Gary Neville for an in-depth interview ahead of his first match at Ipswich.

Amorim is given a difficult task at United and admits he is in a “different world” since leaving Sporting, but tells Marcel he is confident “we will succeed” despite the shortcomings of his predecessors.

United's head coach acknowledged the problems at Old Trafford and was open about the need for his players to be “better athletes”, but insists this is “the right club at the right time”.

Marcel criticized Marcus Rashford and Casemiro during their trips to the US and Amorim defended the duo, later making it clear he would rather lose his job than publicly criticize players.

Read the transcript below, in which Amorim discusses his desire to have dinner with Sir Alex Ferguson and Roy Keane, as he sits down with Sky Sports for the first time…

What are your first impressions?

“The first impression is that it is so big, with many departments. I come from a big club in a small country. Here is a different world.”

“You have a lot to do. You are not just a coach. You have to be something more.

“So it's a bit different, but I think I'm prepared for that. And it's Manchester United. It doesn't matter in recent years.”

“We will have very difficult moments, but in the end I really believe we will succeed.”

What went wrong with former managers?

“I won't try to figure out what the right thing to do is or try to find out what was missing with Erik ten Hag, with Jose Mourinho, with Louis van Gaal. I won't try to do that because I think it's a waste of time She chose me because they saw something and I do something in a clear way.

'I really don't know what [other managers] I miss it here, but I know I'll do my thing, my way, and try to find what's missing in my way of watching football.”

How do you get Man Utd to play further up the pitch?

“First of all, I think we have to be better athletes. That's something you can acknowledge when we're here and we see the data.

“When I say fitter, it's not about being thinner or anything like that. It's the dates. You have to understand the data to press high, what are the average meters you have to run, the sprints.

“You have all this data and you have to deal with it. So you already know that your goal is to achieve that. You can run a lot, but if you don't understand the game, it doesn't matter. But the first point To To press high, you have to be very fit and you have to deal with the demands that high pressing entails.

“The problem is with the ball. I think we lose the ball too quickly. We win the ball, we lose the ball. And you can't always press high. With the ball we can press better. So the focus this week was also in that part.

“If you don't lose the ball, you can push higher. If you're higher, you can press better. So it's like a snowball. Everything is connected.”

What are your non-negotiables?

“You can say nice things, like work hard and be professional. That's what you should be. This is Manchester United. In every club.” [you should be] but of course you can't run away from this.

“The goal is to think in the team first. So I know that sometimes some guys will play in a different position, but they have to understand the position and fight for the team. As a former player, I know every trick.” .

“I can understand the players. I can understand what they do, why they do it. If they do it for the team, I will defend them to the end.”

“I can lose my job before I throw a player under the bus. But if he doesn't put the team first, I will be the first to talk to the player.”

Would you be comfortable with Rashford and Casemiro flying to the US?

“First of all, it was five days off. Second, they received the information about five days off. They're big boys.

“We as a club have to set the standards and get that done. It's my decision whether they have five days, or three days, or three days to rest and you can't fly. This is something that we as a club have to doing.” to decide.

“Would I set up a different structure? Yes, definitely. But we can't impose this on the players. They told them they have five days off so they can fly anywhere. Because no one in the club says you can't fly. “

“So they have to live their lives because they are grown men and they have to decide on these things. But we as a club have to change these norms. You said that as a player you thought in a different way.

“For me the big difference is your time. You had great leadership at that time, very strong. And the culture was already there when you started.

“So it's a long time with the same identity, the same way of seeing things. I'm just imagining it, but even your teammates, if you do that, they'll talk to you. So now it's a different point.”

“And you have to recognize that. So this has to start within the club, with me and me being responsible in that area. So we can't blame that on Rash or Case this time.”

You're so happy to be here, that's important for the fans…

“I know our fans have mixed feelings right now: 'I want to be excited, but I've been here, so I'm a little scared. It's the same story all the time. I might be disappointed.'

“So what I can say is that I'm very excited. I'm not afraid to show it. But I have a clear idea that this will take time.

“Don't confuse my happiness with naivety. It's not the same. I'm really happy.

“I know what I have to do. But I feel like we're going to suffer a little bit before we improve the way you should improve.”

What do you expect from the people above you?

“Dave Brailsford is known to create cultures. Of course it's different sports, but he can prove that he can create cultures that win and create strong cultures. We need that in the club. We don't need to hide that.”

“Then we have Dan Ashworth. Dan is well known here in England. He has the same position as Hugo Viana from Sporting.” [future Manchester City director of football].

“One of the things we have to explain practically is that it is important that when a coach says something, you have someone like Dan saying the same thing to the players. This connection is so important in the club.”

“Then the player is going to talk to a cop, and the cop is going to talk to Dan and he's going to hear the same thing. This is so important because the players are going to feel like there's no place to run or there's no place to to hide.” So we have to be on the same page.

“Then you have Jason Wilcox, he is the technical director. It is so important because for me we have to improve Carrington in the youth teams. So we have to create a profile for the type of players you want in the first team. We have to We have good players, but we should be better, as I have seen.”

Would you like to meet Sir Alex Ferguson and Roy Keane?

“Roy Keane was a huge player and I like players with character. I think they can improve. It wasn't just what Roy Keane did on the pitch, it was the way he influenced the others. I think that's very important is with one player.” .

“You need players like this in the big clubs. I hope we will have players like Roy Keane in the future.

'Sir Alex Ferguson, you want to ask so many things. I think he'll talk about horses. I don't understand horses. But it will be great to meet a character like that.”