Amorim revels in 'special' Old Trafford welcome
Ruben Amorim says the "special" welcome he has been afforded by the Manchester United supporters is something he will take with him to the end of his career.
The Portuguese celebrated victory on his first outing at Old Trafford as a Rasmus Hojlund double earned a comeback 3-2 win over Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League.
Alejandro Garnacho's opener was quickly cancelled out by strikes from Hakon Evjen and Philip Zinckernagel before Rasmus Hojlund restored parity before the break.
Hojlund then struck the winner five minutes after the restart to seal the win, scoring his eighth major European goal for United, with only Marcus Rashford and Wayne Rooney (nine each) scoring more for the Red Devils aged 21 or younger.
Plenty of supporters stayed behind to chant Amorim's name and he is grateful for the adulation they are showing him.
"The first thing is that half of the stadium doesn't really know me," Amorim said. "I came from Portugal, I did nothing for this club yet so the fact that they make me feel at home it's so special, it's something special and I will keep this until the end of my career."
United has won its last two European matches (2-0 vs PAOK Salonika under Ruud van Nistelrooy and 3-2 under Amorim), more than it did in its last 11 under former boss Erik ten Hag (W1 D5 L5).
But there were cause for concerns for the new United boss. Bodo/Glimt was just the second team to have scored twice inside 23 minutes in an away major European game against the Red Devils, along with Sporting Braga in October 2012 (2-0 after 20 minutes) – whose team that day included Amorim.
Though the host dominated proceedings, Amorim is expecting improvements.
"Of course, I see what everybody sees. Good moments, some difficult moments, some confusion and in the end trying to hold the result," he said. "The lads ran until the end, and in the end we won.
"It was like a real ride. We started very well then suffered two goals in two transitions. I like the way our players keep trying to play our game. We had problems in the past where we gave away the ball too much. The mindset now is to keep the ball."
Amorim's first home league game will come against Everton on Monday.
