Man United appointed Ruben Amorim from Sporting Lisbon in November 2024 after sacking Erik ten Hag.
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Ruben Amorim listened to Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho in press conferences during his time in charge of Sporting Lisbon to prepare himself for a job in the Premier League.
Amorim's first season following his appointment from Sporting in November 2024 was a disaster, ending with a 15th-place finish in the table and defeat to Tottenham in the Europa League final in Bilbao.
Throughout that tricky period, Amorim kept some fans onside with his forthright nature during his media appearances. The 40-year-old is a brilliant communicator and has improved dressing room morale.
In a recent interview with Sky Sports, Amorim was asked how he prepared for life in England and he said: "That is hard. You have to experience it, especially in the Premier League, and when you come to this league, it's not just the fact that you as a manager are coming for the best league in the world.
"You come maybe for the best club, with the most attention by everyone, so it's a big gap. You can prepare and I always felt in Lisbon in the final year that I needed to leave to grow.
"I felt prepared, but of course, when you have the experience, you are learning a lot of things that you didn't know. I'm more prepared now than I was a year ago."
Discussing whether he digested English media, Amorim said: "I did all the time at Sporting because first of all, I had the same rules, I was not listening to anything about the Portuguese league because I was protecting myself, and my way of doing that was I've always loved the Premier League, so I watched every game, and I would listen to talkSPORT with all the accents.
"I don't listen now [laughs]. But that was one way and every press conference of the managers, especially the top managers, I listen to in my car going home, so I try to prepare myself."
When asked which managers helped him to prepare, Amorim explained: "To listen, I thought Klopp was really funny. Everyone listened to Guardiola, who is a reference to everyone, and Mourinho had his time here, so I tried to listen to everyone and understand everyone. It was not just the top managers, but most of the time, it was the top managers whom I listened to."
Amorim was asked whether he would have liked to have managed against Klopp at Liverpool. "I don't need more competition, I just need to survive this one," he laughed.
"I think this season is more competitive than ever, every club is really smart, and they can buy good players. Sometimes these players are not top players in people's minds, but I come from a different world, and if you have £40m to pay for any player, that is a big player. So I don't need more competition.
"It's going to be like that until the end, especially for European football. Wolverhampton are struggling, but everything else is so close together, so it will be decided at the end of the season."
Klopp oversaw Liverpool's most successful era since the late 1970s and 1980s, but his record against United was mixed, having won just seven wins from 21 games during his tenure.