New Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has said his priority at Old Trafford is to "try to do everything to put this club in the place that it belongs".
In his first interview with manutd.com since arriving in the UK, former Sporting boss Amorim said that he is determined to get the 13-time Premier League champions challenging for honours again.
Key priorities
"The first thing is that I'm really honoured to be here. It was my only choice because I think I really feel how big this club is. And then I will do everything for the team. I will defend my players if I have to, all the time, against everybody. That is a key point for me, and I will try to do everything to put this club in the place that it belongs. And I believe a lot that we are going to succeed.
Read: Every word from Amorim's first interview
"Manchester United is the biggest club in England. So this is part of the history, it is not now. So we have to address that, to show that and to try to win again."
Needing identity
"We know that we need time, but we have to win time. To win time is to win games. But the most important thing for me is identity. So since day one we will start with our identity. Of course we are going to prepare the games, but we will focus a lot in our game model. How to play, how to press, these small things, 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."
Footballing philosophy
“In one word: team. The team is the most important thing for me. And if you work as a team, then the talent individually is going to shine. But if I have to explain the importance of everything, it is the character, the way we fight, the way we play, and we must have an identity. If our players take the shirt, they will know that it is the Manchester United team.
"Everybody thinks the same, running back, playing, enjoying. This is what drives me. I can say the popular thing, which is to win. Everybody wants to win and I want to win with my players, with the fans, but with an identity and one idea, that is the thing that I am focused on all the time.”
Nurturing strong links between academy and first team
“I think it's important because a lot of people now talk about the 3-4-3 and the 4-3-3 and all that stuff. But when I think as a player or as a team-mate of Manchester United, it is not a system or formation, it's like the character of the players, the way they see the club. So we have to focus on that before the everything of how we play, how we press. The most important thing for me at this moment is to create the principles, the identity and the character that we had in the past.”
Role fans can play
“Of course, if you are a coach and you don't use the most important thing… of course the players play the game, but the environment is so important because they play better if the environment is good. So, of course, we need the supporters to win football matches.”
On Cristiano Ronaldo calling him a poet
“Yeah [it's true]. But it's like a funny thing because when I speak, I speak, I think I speak from the heart. I think the people feel that it was something just to have fun.”
To find out Ruben Amorim's first impressions after meeting staff and players at Carrington this week, his experience of playing at Old Trafford and more, read the head coach's interview in full at manutd.com
