It was a fairly innocuous sign-off to Ruben Amorim’s first Sky Sports post-match interview, but it drew a response that felt telling.
“One of the things you’re going to realise as Manchester United manager,” said host Kelly Cates. “Is the number of commitments you have after a game, so we’re going to let you go.”
Amorim, shaking his head and smiling, jumped on the invitation.
“I want to say this is the last time,” he began. “This week, I spoke more than four years in Sporting. And when you speak too much, and you don’t win, is really hard for everybody. So, was one week, and only one week. I spoke with Andrew (Ward) — I just want to work with my players, nothing more, but I understand this is a different game here. So, let’s see.”
Ward is United’s director of media relations and public affairs, so the implication was that Amorim has already lobbied for fewer interactions with the media. The trouble is, the Premier League’s broadcast contracts mean he is obliged to keep talking.
After the 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town at Portman Road on Sunday that began his United reign, Amorim spoke to three international rights holders, the BBC’s Match of the Day and in-house channel MUTV, and did a joint radio interview for the BBC and talkSPORT, another UK station. He also had a post-game press conference for the written media. That is standard at a United match, and it won’t stop.
In Portugal, where he’s just come from leading Lisbon’s Sporting CP, there are no international broadcasters on site, with managers only required to fulfil one post-match television interview — with Sport TV, a Portuguese channel. The adjustment to the Premier League, and particularly to United, is significant.
That being said, Amorim joined United with his eyes wide open to the demands. He knows what is expected of him when it comes to communicating, and his comment to Cates can be judged as tongue-in-cheek. He knows he is not going to be able to go radio (or TV) silent in his new job.
Still, his eagerness to embrace the topic was telling. Rather than a real desire to zip up, his message may have been to the fans, to explain that while he is a very good communicator — as he showed by going into specific detail on his team’s play — he is not seeking out those opportunities.
Jose Mourinho, the great example to his fellow Portuguese coaches, is still being a provocateur in press conferences, as he was when in charge of United a few years ago. Amorim has a different approach. He prefers his team to do the talking through their performances.
That is in part why he sanctioned the release of training footage which revealed his chosen formation before the Ipswich trip and how he views the potential positioning of some players, such as Luke Shaw at centre-back or Marcus Rashford up top. It was a risk, but the value was in supporters seeing firsthand what Amorim wants from his team. There were repeated clips of him demanding they run back, a point he referenced in his pre-Ipswich press conference.
In the end, that XI in the training game bore little resemblance to the team at Portman Road (his opposite number Kieran McKenna said he was still figuring out the United line-up after the team sheets appeared) or what Amorim’s preferred side for the rest of the season is likely to be. But United were only able to draw his first game in charge, and that meant Amorim’s post-match words lacked the punch he was hoping for. He wants to be a doer rather than a talker.
Amorim had a good relationship with the media in Portugal and Joao Gomes Dias of radio station Antena 1 can offer some context: “I think that Ruben Amorim’s words show, above all, the concern is to win games as quickly as possible. He knows that probably he won’t have the same time he had at Sporting to build a team and implement his ideas. In England, and specifically in Old Trafford, you are fighting against the clock, but to win that fight, Amorim needs to train his players in order to show them how they can play in a new system.
“The thing is, if you’re giving interviews after interviews, you can’t be there for the team at 100 per cent. The last match against Ipswich showed a team that still needs a lot of training sessions. More than the draw, the biggest problem was watching the players a little bit lost. Amorim has all the tools to be one of the greatest in United history, but he will need time, and he’ll have more time if he doesn’t have the obligation to speak day after day.”
This was partly why United did not lay on a proper unveiling for Amorim, which brought public criticism but saved him two hours out of a day in his first week in Manchester. Instead, he did an in-house interview, plus a required Sky Sports interview, as it was broadcaster of the Ipswich game. Sky chose former United stalwart turned leading TV pundit Gary Neville to ask its questions. He also did a photoshoot to provide images for the creation of on-screen graphics.
There is, though, an increasing tension between football staff and commercial departments regarding media obligations. Quite simply, broadcasters pay lots of money to show matches and want access in return. As the millions being handed over increase, so do the requests for extra content. Pushing back against this are the coaches and players, who would rather keep certain things private.
Singer and Ipswich fan Ed Sheeran’s impromptu and awkward appearance during Amorim’s Sky Sports interview on Sunday was an unusual welcome to the Premier League, but does point at the direction in which coverage of the game is going.
The Premier League’s new broadcast contract comes into effect next season and is set to include more media opportunities, including a select number of interviews at half-time and for players who’ve just been substituted, as well as dressing-room access.
Assistant coaches might be able to step in occasionally for these, as they are allowed to do for Carabao Cup games, so Amorim could hand duties to his number two Carlos Fernandes, as he did while suspended at Sporting.
But Amorim will be back in front of the cameras before United’s Europa League game at home against Bodo/Glimt tomorrow night. He will do interviews for UK broadcaster TNT Sports and Norwegian counterpart Viaplay. He will also have to go to a press conference.
UEFA obligations mean he must permit filming of 15 minutes of training too. At least there he can let his actions do the talking.
(Top photo: Sky Sports)
