By his own admission, he started the day feeling a little ‘anxious’. By the end of it, Ruben Amorim appeared rather drained after drawing with Ipswich at a windswept Portman Road in his first game as Manchester United’s head coach.
A weary looking Amorim stepped back onto the pitch to speak to the Sky Sports pundits, including Roy Keane who had composed himself after that spat with a home fan.
‘This is the last time,’ he said. ‘I have spoken more this week than in four years at Sporting Lisbon. When you speak too much and don’t win it’s really hard for everybody.’
Amorim doesn’t need telling that the time for talking is over. He’s had the farewell in Lisbon and the welcome to Manchester, his unveiling at United and now his first game in the Premier League.
After a rather underwhelming start, he looked like a man who just wants to get back on the training pitch with his players with what little time they have before Bodo Glimt arrive at Old Trafford in the Europa League on Thursday. United have 10 games in the next five weeks, so preparation time will be at a premium.
Amorim has been appointed as head coach and coaching is what he does best. He is a great communicator, a natural in front of the cameras, but the 39-year-old is most at home out there on the grass, improving players and coaxing them to follow his philosophy.
Ruben Amorim endured an underwhelming first match in charge of Manchester United
The Portuguese looked weary as he spoke to the media after the 1-1 draw with Ipswich
United went a goal ahead early on before familiar problems cropped up at Portman Road
And goodness knows, there is plenty of room for improvement right now. Scared and confused were just two of the words Amorim used to describe his players against Ipswich.
‘They tried but they have so much space to improve and that is a good thing,’ he added. ‘They can do so much better.’
United’s new boss warned us there wasn’t enough time to make radical changes for his first game in charge, but that we would see ‘an idea’ of what he is all about, and he was right.
United played in his 3-4-3 formation with Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui the two men most out of their comfort zones at right wing-back and centre-back respectively.
They were two of United’s better players, to be fair, and Amad set up the opening goal for Marcus Rashford after just 80 seconds.
Amorim chose not to celebrate and it was a wise move. United had a chronic knack of giving up leads under Erik ten Hag and they were at it again at Portman Road as Omari Hutchinson equalised before half-time with a shot that took an unfortunate nick off Mazraoui.
A draw was the least Ipswich deserved as Andre Onana made a series of crucial saves, notably from Liam Delap.
It wasn’t the only familiar problem from the Ten Hag era that Amorim encountered. In Casemiro and Christian Eriksen, he had an ageing midfield tandem. Diogo Dalot once again had to play out of position on the left. For all the talk of players running harder to execute his pressing game, the United team’s combined distance of 102 kilometres was their second lowest this season.
Marcus Rashford stabbed home the opener just 80 seconds into the match to give Amorim the perfect start
Omari Hutchinson levelled before half-time and it was the least the home side deserved
At least, some of these problems will resolve themselves. Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia returned on the bench at Ipswich for the first time this season – in Malacia’s case, for the first time in 18 months – so the left-sided issues that plagued United for much of last season are almost over.
Manuel Ugarte replaced Casemiro in the second half and is likely to do so on a permanent basis after Amorim admitted that he only picked the Brazilian because he had longer to train at Carrington last week and prepare for this game.
Kobbie Mainoo was also back in the squad for the first time in seven weeks and offers a more energetic option to Eriksen. It would be a surprise if Ugarte and Mainoo are not the preferred pairing sooner rather than later, with the Uruguayan sitting and the England midfielder pushing on when needed.
Other issues will not be fixed so easily, though. Getting these players to bust a gut and run harder for longer is a problem that stretches back to the time of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick.
Amorim’s success at Sporting was built on the collective effort of his players, and the game plan depends on it. He has no choice but to rely on this squad for now, but in the long-term he may have no choice but to bring in a fitter, more willing group of players.
And then there’s the problem of scoring goals. Rashford got the Amorim era off to a dream start but then faded from the game, and not for the first time either. Getting the best out the infuriatingly erratic Rashford is one of his greatest challenges.
Alejandro Garnacho wasted what chances came his way against Ipswich, while Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee came on to little effect. United lacked creativity and rarely threatened after taking the lead.
It is one of many thoughts that will have occupied Amorim’s mind on the journey back from Suffolk.
He admitted that the root of his anxiety was not really knowing what he was going to get from his team at Portman Road; the lack of reassurance and control he enjoyed at Sporting.
In that case, it really is shaping up to be an uncomfortable introduction to life in the Premier League.