Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim defended his tactical approach, insisting his much-criticised 3-4-2-1 system is not to blame for the team’s struggles as he prepares for his 50th game in charge against promoted Sunderland.
The Portuguese faces mounting pressure after United slumped to 14th in the Premier League with two wins from six games, and after last weekend’s 3-1 loss at Brentford, club great Wayne Rooney said he had no faith in Amorim turning things around.
With United already out of the League Cup and having failed to qualify for Europe following last season’s 15th-place finish, the pressure is on Amorim to deliver in the league, where they are already eight points adrift of leaders Liverpool.
“You cannot run away from the results and then your baggage from last season. But last season for me doesn’t matter. We’ve had six games this season, and we’ve lost three. We have to look to the games that we lost,” Amorim told reporters on Friday.
“I am not saying this team would play better in another system or not, that is not my point. My point is that if I look back at the games we lost, the most important thing when I watch the game is not that we lost because of the system.
“That is my opinion. People have different opinions, that’s OK.”
While United’s squad are still coming to terms with Amorim’s philosophy, the manager admitted his side’s performance at Brentford was “disjointed” but argued that inconsistency rather than tactics was the root problem.
“You cannot say one thing that doesn’t work when it works on one weekend and on the other weekend it doesn’t work. When something doesn’t work, it doesn’t work every day,” he added.
“When it works one day and the other day it doesn’t, then the next day it works really well again, it is something about the way we do the same thing. So we need to do the same thing in the same way every day, and we are not doing that.”
Asked if he had a message for the fans to give them hope of a victory at Old Trafford on Saturday, Amorim said, “It is not time to say, it is time to show.”
Amorim was generous in his praise for Sunderland’s French boss Regis Le Bris, who has guided his side to fifth place in the standings after six games, four points behind Liverpool.
“It is a team that plays really well. It is a clear system with a lot of rotations on the side of the pitch. They know we are going to be under pressure and we need to be able to play with that,” Amorim said.
“It is not just the table and all the results that matters most, but the way they play. They have a clear identity. It is a very good manager and a very good team.”
United will also hold a minute’s silence and wear black armbands following Thursday’s attack at a synagogue in Manchester in which two men were killed.
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