Ruben Amorim refuses to budge in blunt three-word warning to Man Utd flops

Ruben Amorim has lots of work to do with Manchester United after suffering yet another defeat at Old Trafford – this time at the hands of Brighton in the Premier League

Ruben Amorim has vowed not to change the way he sets up his Manchester United side, despite suffering another dreadful result.

United were beaten 3-1 at Old Trafford by Brighton on Sunday to make it six home defeats in the Premier League already this season and 10 in total from 22 matches. They have taken just 11 points from 11 games since Amorim took over from Erik ten Hag in November and sit 13th in the table, closer to the relegation zone than top four.

Amorim’s side mustered just one shot on target against Brighton – and that came courtesy of Bruno Fernandes from the penalty spot after Joshua Zirkzee was felled by Carlos Baleba in the box. Yankuba Minteh, Kaoru Mitoma and Georginio Rutter all helped themselves to goals for Brighton, with the latter given more than a helping hand by Andre Onana.

United have kept just one clean sheet in 15 games across all competitions under Amorim, whose switch to a 3-4-3 formation has not yet yielded results. But the Portuguese coach remains steadfast in his belief that he is taking the right approach and will not compromise the philosophy which brought him success at Sporting Lisbon.

“That is clear,” he said when asked if it would take him a long time to stamp his authority on United. “With me, that is clear, because I’m not going to change the way I see the game. I’m very clear on that.

“The players are going to suffer, I’m sorry, the fans are going to suffer. I have one way of doing things, I know it’s going to [bring] results. But we have to suffer these moments. I think it’s very clear for everybody what we are going to do.”

United had shown signs of improvement this month, earning a creditable 2-2 draw at Anfield against Liverpool before beating Arsenal on penalties in the FA Cup despite playing with 10 men for an hour. But the dreadful performance in victory against lowly Southampton on Thursday and the defeat by Brighton has shown just how much work still needs to be done.

“Another loss at home. It’s not acceptable, the way we suffered the goals,” Amorim said. “We can play some football but [only] in small spaces of time, so it’s not consistent and we get nervous and then we suffer a goal. Again, in the beginning, it’s one play that is clearly what Brighton do. Then it’s really hard to turn things around. We get really anxious, really nervous and they were better again.

“Brighton were comfortable. We tried [to get back into it] but with not very good football. You can see this game and remember Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest, where we were in the game and suffer goals where we cannot suffer. Then it’s really hard for everybody. We lost again at home, it’s not acceptable. We need to change that and change fast.”

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