Ruben Amorim said it was his "destiny" to be the man tasked with turning Manchester United's on-pitch fortunes around, but said the job will not change him as a manager.
Amorim was appointed as the Red Devils' new boss at the start of November following the sacking of Erik ten Hag after a poor start to the season.
He drew his first game in charge away to Ipswich Town, but earned his maiden victory in the Europa League on Thursday in a 3-2 win over Bodo/Glimt at Old Trafford.
Amorim and United return to home soil this weekend for the visit of Everton in the Premier League, hoping to break into the top half of the standings with a win.
The Red Devils have won 41 Premier League games against Everton, more than any side has beaten another in the competition’s history.
And despite United's stuttering start to the campaign, Amorim insisted that even if results do not improve, he will still be relaxed in his role.
"I will be OK. No matter what, in this stage of my life, I'll be OK, so that's why I'm relaxed," Amorim told BBC Sport.
"Everybody says to me, 'this will change me'. This will not change me.
"If something happens, I will be frustrated for a while, but I know I will recover. But I believe that we are going to succeed.
"I'm ready. When I had this invitation, I felt that it was really hard to leave my players at Sporting. But, when I had this opportunity, I felt I had to do this.
"Maybe it's destiny and I will be a little bit lucky in the beginning and then everything is going to be fine."
Following United's midweek win over Bodo/Glimt, Amorim's name was chanted around Old Trafford, with the Portuguese labelling that feeling as "special" after the game.
And he intends to continue that relationship with supporters, but acknowledged that he will only be able to do so with their performances on the pitch, which have fallen below expectations.
"Yes, for sure I feel that, maybe because I am a little bit [of] an emotional person. I can transmit that, even in interviews I think.
"Maybe because I am different from the last coach and this could bring a different connection with the next guy.
"I believe that I am the right guy. People always believe the next guy is the right guy. We always have this feeling.
"To maintain this feeling we have to play better, win games and be really honest with the supporters.
"If you are honest and direct with the supporters - maybe you don't always say the popular thing - you create a better connection."
United's poor start to the season is underlined by their statistics, having scored 13 goals from an expected goals (xG) of 18.3 in the Premier League this term, netting around five goals fewer than the quality of their chances suggests.
No team is underperforming compared to their xG more than the Red Devils (-5.3).
Along with that, no side’s Premier League games have seen fewer goals scored this season than United’s (26).
Only Southampton (nine), Crystal Palace and Everton (10) have netted fewer goals than the Red Devils (13), while only Liverpool (8) and Arsenal (12) have conceded fewer (13).
Iraola failing to trust Bournemouth’s recent ‘momentum’ and ‘confidence’
Andoni Iraola said he does not believe in “momentum” and “confidence” in the Premier League despite Bournemouth moving into the top half of the table after their win over Tottenham.
The Cherries earned an impressive victory over Spurs on Thursday, with Dean Huijsen’s first-half header the difference on the south coast to pile more misery on Ange Postecoglou.
Bournemouth have now won successive Premier League games for the first time since April, but are on the road this weekend as they take on winless Ipswich Town at Portman Road on Sunday.
Iraola’s side find themselves just a point adrift of the European places after 14 games of their campaign, but the Bournemouth boss was quick to temper expectations at this early stage.
"I don't trust too much in this momentum and confidence thing. The league is so tight. The levels are so small, from a win to a loss, so we have to reset,” Iraola said.
“We have a difficult game away at Ipswich with just two days of recovery. We cannot continue thinking of the standings or of the points, just competing every game. For me, the end of the season is too far away. We cannot look much further.
"We will have to show it [that they are better than last season]. If we finish with better than 48 points, then we will be. If not, then maybe not. We really don't know. We are having great nights this season, especially at home against difficult opposition, and we are getting the points.”
Ipswich, meanwhile, remain in search of that illusive first victory after falling to a narrow 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on Tuesday.
The Tractor Boys also face a difficult task this weekend against a side they have not beaten in their last six league meetings, though five of those matches have been drawn (L1).
Kieran McKenna confirmed he would be without Ben Johnson and Kalvin Phillips for the encounter, eluding that changes to his side could be made for the visit of the Cherries.
"We made some changes on Tuesday night that were necessary. It's not going to be the same XI every game,” McKenna said.
“On Tuesday you could see the challenge for a couple of our younger players having to play Saturday-Tuesday in the Premier League for the first time.
"We'd like to have one or two more available to rotate, but in general we've still got a pretty healthy squad."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Ipswich – Liam Delap
No one has been involved in more goals for Ipswich than Delap (seven) in the Premier League this season, though he has failed to register a goal involvement in his last three games.
Bournemouth – Justin Kluivert
While not being able to add to his record-breaking hat-trick against Wolves in midweek against Tottenham, Kluivert will be keen to continue his goal-scoring form away from home.
He has scored four goals in his last two Premier League games on the road, which is double the amount that he’d netted in his first 21 away from the Vitality Stadium in the competition (two).
MATCH PREDICTION: BOURNEMOUTH WIN
This will be the first ever top-flight meeting between Ipswich and Bournemouth, making it the 1,453rd fixture to be played in England’s top division.
While Bournemouth are favoured by Opta’s data-led simulations, they have won just one of their last 11 away league games against Ipswich (D3 L7), a 2-1 win under Harry Redknapp in March 1988. Their last three league visits to Portman Road have all been draws.
The Cherries have also lost two of their last three Premier League meetings with promoted sides (W1), as many as they had in their previous 15 such matches (W8 D5).
Ipswich, meanwhile, remain without a win in any of their seven Premier League home games this season (D4 L3). In their league history, only in 2018-19 have they had a longer run without a home win from the start of a campaign (10).
The Tractor Boys have kept just one clean sheet in their 14 top-flight games this season. However, having conceded 20 goals in their first nine this term (2.2 per game), they’ve now conceded just five in their last five.
And Ipswich’s frustration has seemingly shown. They have conceded 180 fouls in their 14 Premier League games so far this season. Their rate of 12.9 fouls per game is currently the highest by a promoted side in a single campaign since Wolves in 2009-10 (13.8).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Ipswich – 28.6%
Draw – 24.4%
Bournemouth – 46.9%
Maresca warns Chelsea against complacency ahead of Tottenham clash
Enzo Maresca has warned high-flying Chelsea that "things can change quickly in football" ahead of their London derby against Tottenham in the Premier League.
Maresca's side are second in the standings with 28 points from 14 matches and are unbeaten in their last six, trailing leaders Liverpool by seven points.
Arsenal also have 28 points, but sit third on goal difference, while champions Manchester City are two points behind the Blues in fourth place.
But Chelsea's Italian head coach once again refused to count his side as one of the contenders for the Premier League title this season.
"I don't think we are there and ready to compete with Arsenal, Liverpool and City. We have to do many more things well, not just score goals," Maresca said.
"Defensively, we are doing well, but we are just focused on Sunday and then the next one.
"We are not thinking about April, May or June. It's too early. Things can change quickly in football. The focus is Sunday."
The Blues have scored 31 goals this season - the most by a team in the league this season, with Cole Palmer their top scorer with nine goals, followed by Nicolas Jackson, who has struck eight times.
They head into the derby on the back of a 5-1 win against Southampton on Wednesday, which was the second time they scored five goals or more in away games this season.
The last time they did the same, they emerged champions under Jose Mourinho during the 2014-15 season.
Meanwhile, their next opponents, Tottenham, were beaten 1-0 by Bournemouth last time out and dropped to 10th place, but Maresca labelled Spurs "a fantastic team."
"Spurs have very good players and a very good manager. What kind of problems they have, I don't know. But they are a fantastic team," he said.
"You see the results, two weeks ago they beat City, so they are a very good team."
The 44-year-old also hailed Noni Madueke, who scored his fifth goal of the season against the Saints and has been involved in three goals in two matches, but reiterated that the winger still has scope to improve.
"Overall he's working well since we started. Sometimes he drops a little bit. He's not allowed to drop. In terms of numbers, he's doing fantastic with goals and assists," Maresca said.
"Off the ball, when we ask him to defend and press, he's doing very well. The only reason I said this the other day is that I want the best from Noni and to get the best you have to push him. If he relaxes a little bit, it's wrong."
Burnley 1-1 Middlesbrough: Dijksteel strike denies hosts top spot
Middlesbrough denied Burnley a chance to go top of the Championship table by holding them to a 1-1 draw at Turf Moor.
Scott Parker's side could have put pressure on Sheffield United with a win, but now find themselves one point behind the leaders, who face West Brom on Sunday.
The visitors broke the deadlock in the 13th minute when Daniel Barlaser released Anfernee Dijksteel, with the Middlesbrough right-back dinking cleverly over James Trafford.
But Burnley drew level before the interval when Connor Roberts' looped strike from distance caught Seny Dieng off his line.
Burnley's hopes of building on the equaliser after the break did not materialise as Boro created the better chances, with Tommy Conway and Delano Burgzorg denied by Trafford early in the second half.
Middlesbrough, meanwhile, sit in fifth place and are one point above Watford, who have a game in hand.
Data Debrief: Burnley defence finally breached
Burnley had kept a clean sheet in each of their last five Championship matches heading into this contest, but that run was brought to an end by Michael Carrick's side on Friday.
Parker's team attempted 15 shots in the game, which was five more than their opponents, but only managed an expected goals (xG) total of 0.67, while Boro managed an xG of 0.88.
However, the Clarets are still unbeaten in six league matches (W4 D2) and have the best defence in the league - conceding just seven goals in 19 matches. The result also meant that they are now unbeaten in their last six league meetings against Boro (W3 D3).
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