Ruben Amorim has warned his new Manchester United squad that he is willing to be ‘ruthless’ as he prepares for his game as the club’s new manager.
Amoirm, who has replaced Erik ten Hag after leaving Sporting Lisbon, takes charge of the Red Devils on Sunday as they travel to Ipswich Town.
The 39-year-old faces a tall order if he is to turn around a United side that currently sits 12th in the Premier League having recorded their lowest-ever league finish the season prior.
The Portuguese coach, who arrived during the international break, has cut a relaxed and positive figure with his new squad as he begins to embed the principles that have proved so effective in his fledging career so far.
However, Amorim was quick to dispel the notion that he couldn’t also be ruthless when required.
‘You can be the same person,’ he said ahead of Sunday’s opener at Portman Road.
‘Be a positive person that can understand this is one place to be, then there is the dressing room, there are some places to have fun, there are some places to work hard.
‘So, I can be ruthless when I have to be. If you think as a team, I will be the nicest guy you have ever seen. If there is someone just thinking about himself, I will be a different person.
‘I’m not that type of guy that wants to show that he is the boss. They will feel it in the small details, that I can be the smiling one but then when we have a job to do I will be a different person, and they understand that.’
Joining midway through the season, Amorim does not have the luxury of a transfer window with which to bring in players to suit his style.
And while rumours linking him with players from his former club Sporting are likely to abate when the window reopens in January, Amorim insists he is more than happy to work with what he has and lean on the academy.
‘It’s the project of Manchester United,’ he added. ‘Nowadays, you need young guys, guys from the academy for everything. To bring that history of the club because they feel the club in a different way.
‘And also because you have all these rules with financial fair play, when a player from our academy is so much different to the players that we bought and then we sell.
‘So, everything is connected. I will try to help all the players, especially the young ones.’
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