Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim says he will not change his tactics or formation, even after his team’s heavy 3-0 defeat to Manchester City in the derby on Sunday.
United have had a poor start to the season — just four points from their first four league matches and knocked out of the League Cup by Grimsby Town, a team from the fourth division.
Since Amorim became manager in November last year, United have won only 8 of their 31 league games, and finished 15th last season.
When asked if he should change his usual 3-4-3 formation, the Portuguese coach was firm.
“I understand the criticism, and I accept it. This is not the kind of record Manchester United should have,” Amorim said.
“But I’m not going to change. If I want to change my style, I will — otherwise, the players must change. I’ll play my way until I decide to do something different.”
Amorim, who used to coach Sporting Lisbon, still has the backing of the club’s board, for now.
But after being given £200 million to build a new attack, fans are losing patience, especially with poor results and low goal numbers.
So far this season, United have scored only four goals in the Premier League — and two of them were own goals by the other team. Another came from a penalty.
In the derby against City, new signing Matheus Cunha missed the match due to injury. Meanwhile, £74 million striker Benjamin Sesko had a poor game in his first start.
Amorim says he’s doing everything he can:
“My message is that I’ll give everything for the club. I always think about what’s best for Manchester United,” he said.
“While I’m here, I’ll do my best. I want to win games, and I’m suffering more than the fans.”
City boost confidence after derby win
Before the game, Manchester United were above City in the Premier League table — the first time in five years.
City had just lost back-to-back games to Tottenham and Brighton, but bounced back strongly in the derby.
They are now six points behind leaders Liverpool, and manager Pep Guardiola hopes this derby win will kickstart a good run.
“I hope this is the start of something, but last season we won our first four games and still had problems in October, November, December,” said Guardiola.
“We must keep improving. But winning the derby and seeing our fans so happy always helps.”