The Premier League Panel: Ruben Amorim can talk the talk, but can he walk the walk?

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What did Ruben Amorim's first week tell us about Manchester United's future - and what changes need to be made for him to succeed? Our expert panel investigates.

Transcript

00:00Hello, I'm Matthew Gregory and welcome to the Premier League panel. This week, we're

00:07going to take a look at Ruben Amorim's first week in charge of Manchester United and discuss

00:12what went right and wrong away to Ipswich Town. To help me figure out what the future

00:16of Manchester United looks like, I'm joined, as always, by an expert panel. Manchester

00:21World's Manchester United correspondent Rich Fay is here, as is the Sunderland Echoes'

00:25Jason Jones. Rich, you've had a chance to listen to Amorim in press conferences and

00:30get a feel for what he's like as a manager and a man. What's your first impressions of

00:34him?

00:35I mean, it's very easy to get carried away, isn't it? That's what I was trying to ground

00:39ourselves. I think most journalists were when we went to his first presser last week. He's

00:42very charismatic. He talks the talk. Like you said, we're yet to see if he fully does

00:47walk the walk, but he's someone who said it's the right time. He's the right fit for Manchester

00:51United. He's adamant that it's only the small details that need to be changed if he is going

00:56to make it a success. I think that's partly because he's not going to be given the budget

01:01that Ten Hag was to sort of reshape United in the transfer window. And yeah, I thought

01:06that Amorim was really charming. Like you said, it's maybe a breath of fresh air. And

01:11I think whenever a new manager comes in, it's very easy to get lured into sort of their

01:17sales pitch and whatever they say, and to get a bit too giddy and excited. I think it's

01:23a very big task he's got in his hands. I think he will come to realise that in the first

01:28few weeks. That was one of the first questions he was asked was, what do you think the biggest

01:32challenge at Manchester United is? And he basically said, well, I don't know yet. Ask

01:36me that in a month or two's time and I'll be able to tell you. And I think when we get

01:39onto it, the Ipswich game did sort of re-emphasise just how much work needs to be done with Manchester

01:47United still.

01:48Yeah. I mean, Jason, what's your first impression? I mean, I know we've only got one game on

01:52which to base things so far, at least at the time of recording, they're going to play Bodo

01:55Glimt and the Europa League on Thursday evening. So that might've happened by the time a lot

01:58of people watch this, but what do you think at first glance is going to be different from

02:02the way things were done under Eric Ten Hag?

02:06I mean, first and foremost, I like him. I would, I would echo everything that Richard

02:11said there. I think he speaks really well. It feels like a breath of fresh air when one

02:17was desperately needed around Old Trafford. Obviously things have grown so stale to a

02:23point of almost toxicity under Eric Ten Hag, I think it's fair to say. I think, you know,

02:27United, whether or not they ever should have given him that new contract over the summer

02:31is a matter of debate, but certainly, you know, I think that they've made the right

02:35choice by making a change. In terms of difference, you know, obviously there's a change in shape.

02:41There appears to be a sort of tactical alteration in the way that he wants to go about things

02:45is slightly different, but it is going to be interesting to see how he manages to enact

02:49that because, you know, as Richard said, for the most, most part, you assume that he's

02:53going to have to do it with a group of players who ultimately weren't bought to fit his specific

02:59style of, weren't bought to sort of, you know, be the, the, the, the round pegs in the round

03:05holes of his system. So I don't know, obviously I think that certainly over these, uh, these

03:11coming weeks in the build up to January and then arguably through the end of the season

03:15as well, there's, there's going to have to be a certain amount of pragmatism about the

03:18way that he goes about things because he's not going to have sort of ideal canvas to

03:22be working on. Um, but you know, I also think that given his, his, his prior record and

03:30given the sales pitch, if you like, that he's put out to United fans, then I think there

03:35are reasons to be positive. And I think that he's certainly a manager who has the talent

03:39to, to probably get the best out of the bunch that he's got at his disposal.

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