Coach Ruben Amorim made the astonishing admission that his Manchester United flops are the worst team in the club’s history after Sunday’s dismal 3-1 defeat against Brighton.
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Manchester United crumbled to a sixth loss in 11 Premier League games since Amorim arrived from Sporting Lisbon to replace the sacked Erik ten Hag.
“We are the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United,” Amorim said after his side’s wretched display at Old Trafford.
“I know you want headlines but I am saying that because we have to acknowledge that and to change that. Here you go: your headlines.”
Languishing in 13th place
Amorim’s side are languishing in 13th place and although they are 10 points above the relegation zone, they are far from certain to avoid being dragged into the survival struggle on the evidence of Sunday’s display.
Yankuba Minteh set the tone for Manchester United’s moribund performance with an early opener for Brighton.
Bruno Fernandes equalised with a penalty before half-time, but second-half goals from Kaoru Mitoma and Georginio Rutter left Manchester United in turmoil.
Manchester United have suffered six home league defeats this season, their most from their opening 12 matches of a season since 1893-94.
They have also lost 10 of their 22 league games this season, the earliest into a top-flight campaign that they have hit double figures for defeats since 1989-90.
“Imagine what this is for a fan of Manchester United. Imagine what this is for me. We are getting a new coach who is losing more than the last coach. I have full knowledge of that,” Amorim said.
While Manchester United have not been dragged completely into the fight for survival just yet, Amorim must find a way to get results to avoid the pressure on him becoming intolerable.
The 39-year-old arrived at Manchester United in November, hailed as one of Europe’s brightest young coaches.
But his preferred 3-4-3 formation is not suited to the players in Manchester United’s squad.
Yet, while he admitted he is only thinking of avoiding relegation now, the Portuguese coach refuses to change his philosophy.
“I am not going to change, no matter what. I know we can succeed but we need to survive this moment. I am not naive. We need to survive now,” Amorim said.
Manchester United’s latest calamity came on the day the club paid a sombre tribute to Denis Law after their legendary striker passed away aged 84 on Friday.
‘Everybody is underperforming’
Law is immortalised in a statue of Manchester United’s ‘Holy Trinity’ alongside Bobby Charlton and George Best outside Old Trafford.
Fans laid scarves and flowers at the statue in tribute to the third highest scorer in Manchester United’s history and took part in a minute’s applause for Law prior to kick-off.
What transpired after that would have shocked Law to his core as Amorim’s team once again failed to live up to the storied history of the 20-time English champions.
“In nine games in the Premier League, we won two,” Amorim said.
“Everybody here is underperforming, no matter what the circumstances.
“We are underperforming and have to accept that. It’s unacceptable to lose so many games, for any Premier League club, imagine Manchester United.
“So it’s a really hard moment but we have to continue, we have to continue, there is no other way.”
Manchester United have lost six of their last seven league games against Brighton in an indication of how far they have fallen since last winning the title in 2013.
Amorim’s side host Rangers in their next game on Thursday in the Europa League, with the manager desperate for a positive result to change the mood.
“I knew it was going to be hard to put a completely new idea in the moment, but when you lose games and don’t win three games in a row it becomes really hard,” Amorim said.
“So that’s why I’m telling we are going to suffer because I will continue to do the same.
“I am just here to help my players, but we need to understand we are breaking all the bad records.”
Where does the problem lie at Manchester United at the moment?
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