'There is no second way' - Uncompromising Ruben Amorim vows to put his own stamp on Man Utd as he distinguishes himself from Erik ten Hag

The Portuguese is renowned for the 3-4-3 formation he has played throughout his career and he promised he will not compromise on his style of play with his new side. A common criticism of Ten Hag's up-and-down tenure at Old Trafford, which ended after losing four of the opening nine Premier League games of the season, was that there was no visible identity to the team but Amorim has insisted that will not be the case under his watch.

Amorim said at his first press conference as United boss: "As a coach you have to choose one way or another, I choose always 100 percent our way. I choose to risk a bit. I believe so much in our way of playing, they will believe too. There is no second way. We will adapt some players because we don’t have a different profile. Maybe on Sunday you will see the starting 11 and not feel a lot of change but you will see it in the game and the positioning or where they receive the ball."

Ten Hag was brought to United in 2022 on the strength of his achievements with Ajax, who won three consecutive Dutch league titles and reached the 2019 Champions League semi-finals while playing a thrilling brand of possession football. But the manager quickly abandoned those principles following a brutal 4-0 defeat by Brentford in his second game and last year he admitted "United will never play like Ajax."

Amorim is the first United head coach and will fit into a new-look sporting structure led by director of football Dan Ashworth. However, he still expects to have a say in the club's transfer activity: "I think it has to be all together because if you are a coach coming here and already chose the players, you could be wrong because the club will be here for a long time and you as a coach, you don’t know that. We have to improve the process of recruitment, the data. I think it is all together, but the final word should be the manager, not because it is your right but because it is your responsibility. I have to understand the league and then when everything is aligned, everyone is on the same page, we can buy and sell players. It is not the final say but I have a great responsibility when we chose the players."

The 39-year-old has had nearly two weeks to assess his squad and get to know the club but the real work begins on Sunday, when United visit Ipswich Town in the Premier League. It is the first game in a relentless run of games before Christmas which will see United host Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League on Thursday before facing Everton, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Viktoria Plzen, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Bournemouth.