by Ruben Amorim has admitted his side could be the “worst” in Manchester United’s history after falling to a sixth home league defeat of the season by losing 3-1 to Brighton on Sunday.
After tributes were paid to the great Denis Law, United’s current generation of players once again failed to live up to the club’s rich history as Yankuba Minteh sent the visitors ahead inside five minutes.
Although Bruno Fernandes equalized from the penalty spot, something of a gift from Brighton, Kaoru Mitoma brought Brighton back in front on the hour before a horrible error from Andre Onana was punished by Georginio Rutter to ensure that There would be no late fightback from United.
United have been relegated five times, most recently in 1974, which is still very unlikely this season.
But they haven’t lost that many of their first 12 home league matches since the 1893-94 season – when they were still known as Newton Heath and 17 years before moving to Old Trafford.
“In (nine) Premier League games, we have won two,” Amorim said. “I know that, imagine what it’s like for a Manchester United fan, imagine what it’s like for me. We have a new manager who is losing more than the previous manager. I am fully aware of that.
“I won’t change, no matter what.” I know we can succeed, but we have to survive this moment. I’m not naive. We must survive now.
“We are perhaps the worst team in the history of Manchester United. I know you want to make headlines, but I say this because we need to recognize this and change this.
Amorim began work as United boss during the November international window. In this league he has only won three out of 11 matches.
“Everyone here underperforms, regardless of the circumstances,” he added. “We are underperforming and have to accept it. It is unacceptable to lose so many games, for any Premier League club – imagine Manchester United.
“So it’s a really difficult time but we have to keep going, we have to keep going, there’s no other way.”
More than two months into Amorim’s reign, this expensively assembled team still seems deeply uncertain about the major elements of its system. The Portuguese said it will take time for him to implement his ideas, but fans will want to know how long it will take.
“I knew it was going to be difficult to come up with a completely new idea in the moment, but when you lose games and don’t win three games in a row, it becomes really difficult,” Amorim said.
“That’s why I say we will suffer because I will continue to do the same thing. Helping my players means giving them the tools to play that way, but without training it’s really difficult…
“I’m just here to help my players, but we have to understand that we’re breaking all the bad records.”
Brighton have now won at Old Trafford three seasons in a row and have won six of their last seven in the league against United.
After ending an eight-match Premier League run with victory last week, this is another step forward for Fabian Hurzeler’s side.
“I’m not surprised by our performances in recent weeks. We’ve had a lot of draws but we’ve been very positive and consistent,” he said. “Of course we didn’t get the results we expected, but today we showed maturity and good balance.
“We knew how Manchester United were going to play and you can prepare for that, and we also felt like we were in a good moment, we had the momentum. We came here after two wins, we had a lot of confidence in ourselves and in us.
