New Man Utd head coach Ruben Amorim knows he has accepted a “very difficult” job and will try to make things easier by playing a system he knows “very well”.
Man Utd sacked Erik ten Hag last month and swiftly reached an agreement to appoint Sporting boss Amorim.
Assistant manager Ruud van Nistelrooy has been in charge of the first team since Ten Hag’s dismissal while the Portuguese served a notice period in Lisbon.
The Red Devils won three and drew one under Van Nistelrooy, who signed off with a convincing 3-0 victory over Leicester City on Sunday.
Amorim has officially taken charge and knows he has accepted a “very difficult” job.
“I feel ready for the new challenge,” he told reporters after his final match as Sporting manager.
“I’m not naive, I know it’s going to be very different, very difficult. I’m at peace now, I can focus on my new job and I’m looking forward to starting tomorrow.”
He added: “I know it will be difficult to reproduce what I have here elsewhere, but there are other places with different exposure and pressure. It’s been a fantastic adventure.
“I apologise for this mid-season decision, but I felt it was my time and my way.”
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Amorim also hinted that he will not change from his trusted 3-4-3 formation, which is a system this group of players have little to no experience playing.
“I have to start from something I know very well and then develop that with the players.
“We don’t have much time to train, there are many games, so I’ll start from a structure I know very well.”
One player Amorim must build around is club captain Bruno Fernandes, who was named player of the match against Leicester after scoring a beauty early on and assisting Alejandro Garnacho in the second half.
“It was a long time that I wasn’t scoring and now goals are coming in the last few games,” Fernandes said after Sunday’s game.
“Another clean sheet was important for us to bring back the fortress we had here. We have to keep doing that and we have to improve.
“It’s a new era, a new manager means everything changes, but what hasn’t changed is that this club has to get back to where it belongs.”
Meanwhile, Van Nistelrooy praised Fernandes for his impact against the Foxes.
“It was an important three points,” the club’s former striker said.
“In the four games Bruno scored some important goals, assisting too, so he is back producing. That’s the Bruno that is helping the team the most.
“You saw the class of the team in our goals, we also gave very little away.
“We tried to stabilise after a difficult and emotional period. We wanted to get players performing at their best, we got the right feeling to them and got them believing in themselves.”
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