Sunderland manager Gus Poyet says he does not know if he could do his job without the pressure football brings.
The 47-year-old this week took the unusual step of issuing an open letter to fans after his comments about demoralising defeats to Queens Park Rangers in the Premier League and League One side Bradford in the FA Cup had been misinterpreted.
Poyet finds himself in a difficult position heading into Saturday's crucial home clash with West Bromwich Albion, with Sunderland having slipped to within two points of the relegation zone in which they were entrenched for much of last season.
The Uruguayan, however, insists he thrives under such pressure.
He told a news conference: "I like pressure because it's the way I have been brought up. When you are in Uruguay and when you play football and when you play for the national team, the pressure is there to win. There is no other result, so it is part of my life.
"Can I work without pressure? I don't know -- I have never done it so far. I have never played football or managed without pressure. I suppose it would be nice, but maybe I would not be myself after because I don't have the pressure. I don't know. It's part of the game. I like it, I really like it.''
Poyet issued his letter after dissenting fans had taken exception to his suggestion that they wanted his team to play the kind of direct football he abhors.
Poyet said: "I understand, I live in this world. I am not looking to change the world -- I can't, I'm not that important worldwide.
"Unfortunately, negative things sell more than positive. We live in this world and on the front page of every newspaper and every news [programme], the start is the bad news from somewhere where there is a war or somebody has died or somebody has had an accident, and that's the world we live in.
"When things don't go your way, that is going to be better news than when things go right. I am part of that and I accept it, but there is a limit and I think the best way to finish with all that was to make people read my own words, simply and directly.
"There were too many things going around, you never know if it's right or wrong and there is no better way than putting things clearly with your own words -- because it is clear it was me. There was not any help from anyone, not even from my staff or anyone. It's me, simple.
"That's the best way to do it. It wasn't me going behind anyone, it was me just doing the right things through the right channels and making sure that everybody is pleased with it. It was not just a baby not being happy and trying to do something on his own.''