But the Portuguese – who faced the media for the first time on Monday evening – insists that his coaching pedigree, shaped under managers such as Jürgen Klopp, equips him to revive a team sliding rapidly down the Championship table.
Matos, 37, whose experience as a senior head coach consists of only 12 matches at Portuguese second-tier club Marítimo, also revealed his intention to soon seek guidance from Swansea minority owner Luka Modrić.
Given his limited experience, Matos admits he knows his arrival will be seen in some quarters as a risk for a club that has home through five managers in five years.
“I understand if that’s something that could concern some people,” said the coach, who has been given a four-year contract after the sacking of Alan Sheehan earlier this month.
“I completely understand. But at the same time, I feel completely prepared. If I was not prepared, I would not be here.
“I hope that in one or two months everyone feels much more confident with everything. And I’m here to try and to turn it around, that’s for sure.”
READ MORE: Vitor Matos on His Way to Swansea City After £900,000 Release Paid
The former Liverpool elite development coach said he was “really, really happy to be here” as he began the biggest challenge of his career.
Matos acknowledged both the scale of the task and the responsibility placed on him at a club that has not won in eight league matches and have slipped to 20th in the table, just seven points above the drop zone.
“It’s a big honour,” Matos said.
“I’m really excited, knowing as well the responsibility of the moment, that we need to do the right steps because we don’t have the time to improve in the way that we want.”
Matos stressed that as well as winning, restoring a recognisable identity would be central to his early work at the Swansea.com Stadium, after a turbulent period that has included supporter unrest and regular defeats.
“We know that we need to go in the direction of having an identity more than anything,” he said.
“And we need to go in the direction of giving the trust and the positivity to these players and to this team and to unite with everyone around them. That’s the most important thing at the moment.”
Asked whether specific short- or medium-term targets had been set, Matos made clear that results must come quickly.
“I think the most important thing is that we know that we need to deliver results and we need to fight for points. That’s clear,” he said.
“But we also know that we need to have desire, and we need to have hunger, and we need to increase the intensity. And we need to start taking steps to become a more dominant team with and without the ball.”
Matos also confirmed he remains in frequent contact with former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp, under whom he worked closely during his time at Anfield.
“Yeah, we speak. We speak often enough,” he said.
“He has a job as well and he does not have a lot of time, but we are still friends. He’s someone that I care a lot about and he cares about me, I know.
“And that’s a relationship that I always want to care about. And of course, we speak, we will speak, and we keep speaking for the future.”
Swansea chief executive Tom Gorringe revealed the club had used statistical data as well as an interview in the process of appointing Matos after failing to land Swede Kim Hellberg, who has joined Middlesbrough.
Gorringe also insisted the detailed research around Matos - which involved seeking the advice for former Swans players, understood to be newly hired coaches Joe Allan and Leon Britton, has also lessened the risk of appointing a rookie boss.
“I think it's one of those that the more information that becomes available, the more research you do, the more conversations you have, that risk level reduces,” said Gorringe.
“Throughout the process, Vitor's been exemplary in every single area. And ultimately, as you get more information and you do more due diligence, you get more of a feeling for each other and how it's going to work.
“As we've gone through that process, we've just become more and more convinced this is the right channel and it's the right fit for Vitor and for the club.”
