Ruben Amorim jokes he will be likened to an ex-Man United manager if he beats Pep Guardiola’s Man City in the Champions League – and reveals his ‘basic’ plan to get through to under-performing stars at Old Trafford

Ruben Amorim joked he will be dubbed ‘the new Alex Ferguson‘ if he can endear himself further to Manchester United fans by beating rivals Manchester City in the Champions League this week. 

As part of Amorim’s farewell tour with Sporting, he takes on Pep Guardiola and Co in Lisbon on Tuesday night.

Amorim, who heads to Manchester on November 11 to start work as the new head coach of Man United, accepted that lots of eyes are on how his side fare against Guardiola, who he will renew rivalries with in England in six weeks time.

‘The focus is on winning the game for Sporting, after that, the inferences that people will draw from this game are not important to me because they could be misleading,’ he said. 

‘If the result is negative, expectations will drop; if we win they will think that the new Alex Ferguson has arrived!

‘What interests me is to win, a good farewell in Alvalade, win in Braga and start a new adventure in Manchester. What I want is to leave the fans and my players happy for what is to come in the new season.’

For the second successive press conference, Amorim did not answer any questions in English, with Sporting’s press officer insisting that the manager has lots of time to do that when he leaves for United on November 11.

Amorim did, however, reveal that he delivers his Sporting training sessions in English and he is ready to simplify his instructions to hit the ground running when he gets to Old Trafford.

‘My communication at the beginning will be simpler because it is in English,’ he explained. 

‘I think I will have to spend three months… they say that is enough. The players will not be offended if I say that [instructions] are more basic. I give training sessions here in English.’

He continued: ‘It will be a different adaptation, but my life will be the same. There is a way of playing, an idea. Communication will be more basic.’

One of the questions put to Amorim from a Portuguese reporter was that he previously headed to London to speak to West Ham, a decision he would go on to apologise for when he returned to Lisbon and continued managing Sporting.

Amorim was in high spirits 24 hours before his Sporting side take on Pep Guardiola’s Man City

He also revealed his plans to get through to Manchester United’s players once he takes over

It was put to Amorim that that prior visit highlighted his desire to eventually leave Portugal for England. 

‘I went to England, I didn’t go to negotiate,’ he explained. 

‘I went to meet the owner. I had made my decision. I stayed because I spoke to the president and he convinced me to stay for another year.

‘If you think I already wanted to leave last year, there’s nothing I can do about it. 

‘I accepted this invitation [from Manchester United] and I’ve already explained why. Now it’s time to think about tomorrow’s game, then we’ll have time to talk about it.’