Manchester United were beaten 3-0 by Manchester City in the first derby of the season to leave them with just four points from their opening four Premier League games
Ruben Amorim has issued a stark warning to Manchester United after Sunday’s defeat at Manchester City. The Red Devils’ head coach has insisted that if there is a desire from above to alter the club’s playing style, he will need to be replaced as manager.
United suffered a 3-0 loss at the hands of City in the season’s first derby – leaving them with a mere four points from their first four Premier League matches. It marks their worst start to a season since the 1992-93 campaign.
Amorim, who took over the reins at Old Trafford on November 1 last year, has only managed to secure eight victories from the 31 Premier League games he has overseen. As a result, United are languishing at the bottom of the 17-team table – which includes all teams that have been consistently present in the league since his appointment.
Despite being contracted with the club until 2027, the recent loss is likely to stoke further doubts about Amorim’s future at United.
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“Guys, I understand that and I accept,” he said after Sunday’s defeat to City. “It is not a record you should have in Manchester United. There are a lot of things – you have no idea what happened during these months – but I accept that. I am not going to change.
“When I want to change my philosophy, I will change. If not, you have to change the man. We will talk about that every game that we lose. I don’t believe in that, in the system, or whatever. I believe in my way and I am going to play my way until I want to change.
“My message is that I am going to give everything. I will do everything, always thinking about what is best for the club. That was always the same message. It is not my decision, the rest (on whether United change manager). Until I am here, I will do my best. I really want to win games. I am suffering more than them.”
Despite a lacklustre run of one victory in five matches, Amorim maintained that United have shown improvement over last season, although they’ve only managed to net one goal from open play in six hours of Premier League action.
“The results, again, I accept that,” he conceded. “I see that we are doing better but the results don’t show that. I remember last year we played in the former club against City. We won 4-1 (with Sporting in the Champions League). It was not near the opportunities, the way we control the game compared to today.
“In certain moments we were not better than City. I understand that. It is hard and the record says everything. I understand.”
United’s promising start faded when Phil Foden scored in the 18th minute, followed by two second-half goals from Erling Haaland sealing their fate. Haaland’s physical prowess was on display as he overpowered Luke Shaw for his first goal and sprinted from his own half for another solo effort that beat Altay Bayindir. Amorim lamented United’s lack of aggression, which he felt contributed to their defeat.
“If you look at the goals, we can avoid that kind of goal,” he said. “We have almost everyone behind the ball and we could be more aggressive.
“The second goal, in the moment of the game that we are pressing City. We suffer a goal in the throw-in when we want to recover the ball instead of covering the space and then to win the ball. We let two players of City one against one. The approach that we had in that play we can avoid and we can close our goal.
“The third goal, Haaland has all the space. A confusion with our players and then he has all the space to play. In these moments I felt that if you look at the goals, there are moments we could avoid. That is the key of the game, it’s to take advantage of these moments and they took it.
“In transitions, a great shot from Bryan (Mbeumo). In those moments they were better than us.”
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