'Demanding, intense, authentic': Inside Amorim's first week at Man Utd

The irony was not lost on Manchester United staff.

As the watching world zoomed in on Carrington and Ruben Amorim sampling his new surroundings for the first time, the man instructive in appointing him as the club’s head coach had to fly in the opposite direction: Lisbon.

Portugal’s capital must have felt like a second home to Omar Berrada.

On the day he relieved Erik ten Hag of his duties, United’s CEO set off to negotiate with Sporting for the release of their “transformer,” which was a swift and successful process.

During Amorim’s official introductory words in charge, he would reveal it was Berrada’s pitch – the Portuguese being the centre point in creating a powerful new era which would include the best sports stadium – that made him want to sign the contract immediately.

Last Monday, when Amorim stepped out of the black Mercedes that transported him to United’s training facility shortly after 2pm, Berrada was the first to give him a warm welcome and headed the tour before needing to hurtle to the airport to be on a panel for WebSummit.

If he thought he would be getting any respite from all things Amorim, it was the opposite.

Even with over 70,000 attendees in Lisbon for the conference, United’s new head coach was the chief subject matter all through the week. There was no escape: taxi drivers, hotel staff and high-powered executives from some of the world’s top companies all discussing Amorim.

Anyone of a Benfica persuasion was delighted to see him leave Portugal, predicting a dip for Sporting. Porto supporters co-signed these sentiments. They were… relieved.

Manchester City’s incoming director of football from Sporting, Hugo Viana, was also at WebSummit and it was not lost on him that the reaction of rivals to Amorim’s departure would mirror the day Pep Guardiola – on the verge of a contract extension – eventually walks away from the Premier League champions.

As part of normal contingency planning, the 39-year-old was internally being assessed as a potential successor down the line.

Amorim knew he couldn’t wait for something that might happen when he had, as one of his close confidants framed it, “a giant club with giant history saying you can write their future.”

Sporting staff, players and fans were still in mourning, yet it was trumped by a sense of pride: their man was United’s chosen one.

Regardless of who was talking about Amorim and how they personally felt about the move, one thread was common: conviction he will succeed where so many others – several of greater stature – have crashed and burned.

A coaching colleague joked with Amorim that, as the face of United, he is now “the most famous manager in the world.”

It was laughed off. He will soon learn just how intense and immersive the global glare is, but people who know him well believe he will use it to generate whatever emotion he needs to power United forward.

A tiny window into the atmospheric shift around Amorim away from the pitch is told by the club’s sponsors checking to see what he will be wearing in the dugout during his first match in charge at Ipswich on Sunday.

His introductory interview, in which he donned a sleek green Adidas track jacket, went down so well that sales for that item went up.

A source from Paul Smith’s partnership with the club admitted they are pushing for him to be in their gear this weekend because “he is marketing gold: he doesn’t try, he is just authentic, and people respond to that.”

Commercially and content-wise, United have already seen the benefit of Amorim during the international break. The number of features, videos and spin-offs around him on the website and app have been sky-high.

The word “viral” has been attached to many of them and Amorim is a commodity in the way Ten Hag never could be.

The Dutchman loved, cared, and fought for the club even through the most turbulent of periods, but he wasn’t versed in articulating that in a warm, engaging and personable way.

He was brilliant away from the cameras or in interviews where he felt a rapport with the reporter or presenter, but couldn’t “take people on a journey and get them emotionally invested.”

Amorim is the opposite. A “poet” as Cristiano Ronaldo once described and where some of his predecessors couldn’t grasp the value of speaking with feeling and hitting at the core of why anyone who loves football becomes enveloped in the sport, he uses his own bond with the game as a superpower.

“The thing with Ruben,” his confidant says, “is he knows every feeling; of a player, a coach, a supporter. Of winning and losing. Of making mistakes before learning from them and using them to succeed. What he does is he communicates all these feelings clearly, in a way we all understand because he speaks like us to us… And he really makes you feel how much he wants to win, how much he loves football, how much he will fight.”

That connection has already drawn buy-in from staff and players at Carrington. The environment has been labelled “demanding but jovial.”

Amorim’s first week in charge was centred on settling in, meeting all the different departments and those not on international duty, surveying Carrington and Old Trafford, and assessing areas where there could be quick changes and victories.

His awe during the stadium tour of the scale of United’s story has shaped a lot of this week: reminding players of the greatness of the team they represent and drilling into them the fundamentals of what is needed to do the shirt justice.

Amorim has been bemused by the obsession over his formation, believing there to be so many more crucial facets than him using three at the back. The strengths and weaknesses of players, how they apply themselves, how they absorb his requirements and how well he can get them to showcase his idea – especially with in-game decision-making – are of more weight than in what set-up they start the match.

Over and above all this is the team they have to be: fighters, aggressive, with the right character and an identity that doesn’t change even if situations do on the pitch.

Amorim’s initial key messaging has been to inject belief into the squad; everyone is at United for a reason, and to ask them to show just why they belong to “the best club in the world” – six words he has repeated often.

Amorim has demanded more intensity, speed and ‘dynamic thinking’ during his training sessions. He wants to shorten the recovery times when the ball is lost and improve the link between physical conditioning and mental sharpness to eradicate the capitulations the team has become accustomed to.

Over time, he will expect United to ‘live and breathe his idea like second nature.’ He is less fussed about explaining his style externally because he believes he has to communicate it well enough to the squad so that we will automatically see it.

Amorim is aware that the real graft begins on Sunday, and for all the viral content, sponsors falling over themselves, and fans feeling United are back, he will only be measured by what comes next.

It is helpful then that he has carved a career by proving he can exceed expectations.

Watch Ipswich vs Man Utd in the Premier League this Sunday, live on Sky Sports, from 4pm; kick-off 4.30pm