Ruben Amorim made the astonishing admission that his failures in the Manchester United make them the worst team in the club’s history after Sunday’s dismal 3-1 defeat against Brighton.
United collapsed to a sixth defeat in 11 games in the Premier League since Amorim arrived from Sporting Lisbon to replace the fired Erik ten Hag.
“I know you want headlines, but I say that because we have to recognize that and change that. Here you go: your headlines.”
“Imagine what this is for a Manchester United fan. Imagine what this is for me. We are getting a new manager who is losing more than the last manager. I am fully aware of that,” he added.
Amorim’s team are languishing in 13th place and although they are 10 points above the relegation zone, they are far from sure of avoiding being dragged into the fight for the red line of the table, after Sunday’s dismal display .
Bruno Fernandes equalized with a penalty before half-time, but second-half goals from Kaoru Mitoma and Georginio Rutter left United in intensive care.
United have lost six at home this season, their most in their first 12 games of a season since 1893-94.
They also lost 10 of their 22 league games this season, the first in a top-flight campaign they reached double figures for losses since 1989-90.
While United have yet to be fully dragged into the fight for survival, Amorim must find a way to get results to prevent the pressure on him from becoming intolerable.
The 39-year-old joined United in November, hailed as one of Europe’s brightest young managers. But their preferred 3-4-3 formation is not suitable for the players in United’s squad.
However, although he admitted that he is only thinking about avoiding relegation now, the Portuguese coach refuses to change his philosophy.
“I’m not going to change, no matter what. I know we can be successful, but we have to survive this moment. I’m not naive. We need to survive now,” Amorim maintains.