Ruben Amorim: Man Utd can’t run away from poor results but don’t blame system

By Jamie Gardner, PA Chief Sports Reporter

Ruben Amorim accepts Manchester United “cannot run away” from the bad results they have suffered at the start of the season, but insists the system he plays is not to blame.

United are 14th after six games with two wins and a draw to their name, and head into Saturday’s match at home to Sunderland with Amorim again under pressure after a 3-1 loss to Brentford last weekend.

United have taken just 34 points from 33 top-flight games under Portuguese head coach Amorim, and are yet to win consecutive top-flight matches.

Defeat to fifth-placed Sunderland heading into the October international break will inevitably turn up the heat on Amorim, though sources close to the club insist United have not – and are not – lining up a successor.

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Criticism is coming from a number of quarters, including United old boys such as Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville, and much of it centres on Amorim’s refusal to vary his 3-4-3 system.

He is adamant however, that it is small “details” which have cost United, rather than the system he plays.

“You cannot run away from from the results,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Friday.

“We have to look at the games we lost. Did we lose against Arsenal because of the system? When you look at the game against (Manchester) City, was the first thing that you think when the game starts, (about) the system? I think you don’t think about the system in that moment.

“And Brentford – the way we concede goals, the way we create chances – there is nothing to do with the system. That is my opinion. And I’m not saying that this team would play better in a different system or not. That is not my point.

“We are not the same team in some details (in the games United lost). We need to do the same thing in the same way every day and we are not doing that. That is my opinion.

An autumn session at Carrington 🍂

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“All the effort that we put (in), the maximum effort in every single thing, I think, has not been the same in all the matches. We have to find that balance. It will change everything for us.”

Next up for United are a Sunderland side who have impressed on their return to the top flight under Regis Le Bris, with just one defeat from their six league games so far.

“It’s a team that plays really well. It’s a clear system, the 4-3-3, with a lot of rotations,” Amorim said about Saturday’s opponents.

“They are confident and they know that we are going to be under pressure, and we are.

“We need to be able to play with that and we are prepared for the tough, tough match.”

Amad Diallo, who spent the 2022-23 season on loan with the Black Cats, has returned to training this week after being granted compassionate leave for the game against Brentford.

United also have Casemiro back from suspension, while Senne Lammens could make his United debut in goal. Lisandro Martinez and Noussair Mazraoui remain sidelined.

Amorim confirmed United would pay tribute to the victims of Thursday’s terror attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall, where two people were killed.

A minute’s silence will be observed at Old Trafford and players will wear black armbands.