Ruben Amorim speaks like an elite coach – my expectations are high for Man Utd

A Manchester United manager must carry the same gravitas, and although he has only given one media interview to his club’s website since being appointed, I would already think Amorim’s character will be vastly different from his predecessor if I were a supporter.

One moment in Amorim’s revelation stood out. When given the opportunity to appeal for time to impose his vision for the site, he declined.

“Day one we start with our identity,” he said. “I think you’ll see an idea. Like it or not, I don’t know, but you’ll see an idea. You’ll see a positioning. You’ll see something that we want to achieve. It will you feel. I can guarantee that.”

These are the words you expect from elite coaches.

Mourinho, Guardiola and Klopp gave teams an identity from day one

When Mourinho took over at Chelsea, he instantly created the ultimate defensively organized unit to beat United 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Guardiola immediately called on his defenders to occupy midfield positions in a flexible formation that has since been emulated around the world.

And it only took Klopp 90 minutes to get Liverpool’s players running further and pressing higher than before.

These managers may have needed time to produce world-class performances, but they needed none for their team to offer a glimpse of what was to come.

What they had in common was a stubbornness to stick to their philosophy. Players would come and go and there might have been occasional adjustments, but when you name the best managers of any generation, you can be sure that you will immediately associate them with a certain style.

At the highest level, this “identity”, as we now always call it, is non-negotiable. It separates the best from the rest. Once they turn away from it, it feels like the beginning of the end.

Oddly enough, lower down the league the opposite seems to be true. While those at the top are often criticized if they do not have a clear, consistent plan, those fighting for relegation will be ostracized if they are not willing to be pragmatic.

Vincent Kompany suffered with Burnley last season, but that didn’t stop him getting the Bayern Munich job. Russell Martin is experiencing the same with Southampton.

At Ipswich, McKenna appears more willing to adapt to his circumstances, acknowledging he may need to make changes to stay in the division.

He switched to three centre-backs against Tottenham Hotspur to secure his side’s first win of the season. Now Ipswich are out of the relegation zone and it is a testament to McKenna’s quality that, despite so few wins, they look set to avoid relegation.

In terms of the current United squad, a trip to Spurs is a tougher task for Ipswich than this weekend’s home game.

Immediately after an international break, it makes them a dangerous opponent, first up for Amorim.

The immediate verdict is that he looks and sounds like a Manchester United manager. Now we set the stopwatch to see how long it takes for his players to look like a Manchester United team.