Ruben Amorim admitted his side might be the “worst” in the history of Manchester United after they slumped to a sixth home league defeat of the season in losing 3-1 to Brighton on Sunday.
After tributes were paid to the great Denis Law, the current crop of United players once again failed to live up to the storied history of this club as Yankuba Minteh fired the visitors in front inside five minutes.
Although Bruno Fernandes levelled from the penalty spot, something of a gift from Brighton, Kaoru Mitoma had Brighton back in front on the hour before a horrible error from Andre Onana was punished by Georginio Rutter to ensure there would be no late United fightback.
United have been relegated five times, most recently in 1974, something still highly unlikely to be repeated this season.
But they have not lost this many of their first 12 home league games since the 1893-94 season – when they were still known as Newton Heath and 17 years before moving to Old Trafford.
“In (nine) games in the Premier League, we won two,” Amorim said. “I know that, 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.
“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.
“We are the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United. I know you want headlines, but I am saying that because we have to acknowledge that and to change that.”
Amorim started work as United boss during the November international window. In this league, he was won only three of 11 matches.
“Everybody here is underperforming, no matter what the circumstances,” he added. “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.”
More than two months into Amorim’s reign, this expensively-assembled squad still look deeply uncertain of major elements of his system. The Portuguese has said it will take time to implement his ideas, but fans will want to know how much longer it will take.
“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. To help my players is to give them the tools to play in this way, but then without training it is really hard…
“I am just here to help my players, but we need to understand we are breaking all the bad records.”
Brighton's recent record against Man Utd makes great reading for fans of the Seagulls! 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/Mxcq94RJHE
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 19, 2025
Brighton have now won at Old Trafford three seasons in a row, and won six of their last seven in the league against United.
After ending a run of eight Premier League games with a win last week, this was another step forward for Fabian Hurzeler’s side.
“I’m not surprised because of the performances from us in the last weeks, we got a lot of draws but we were very positive and consistent,” he said. “Of course we didn’t get the results we expected to have, but today we showed a mature performance and good balance.
“We knew how Manchester United will play and you can prepare for that, and we also had a feeling we are in a good moment, we had the momentum. We came here after two wins, we had a lot of self-belief and confidence.”
