Ruben Amorim says Manchester United have to be aware that they are fighting against relegation, despite it being embarrassing to be in that situation.
The Red Devils were beaten 2-0 by Newcastle at Old Trafford on Monday night, making it five defeats in six Premier League games.
The latest disappointing loss leaves them 14th in the table and seven points above the drop zone, but Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher described their recent run as ‘relegation form’ and Amorim agrees.
Asked if his team are in a relegation battle, the Portuguese coach told Sky Sports: ‘That is really clear and we have to fight.
‘It is a really difficult moment, one of the more difficult moments in the history of Manchester United and we have to address it with honesty and to be clear with that, we have to fight next game.’
In a post-match press conference Amorim was asked if it is embarrassing to be a Manchester United manager talking about relegation, replying: ‘Yeah. It’s also my fault in this moment.
‘I think the team is not improved. It’s a little bit lost in this moment. It’s a little bit embarrassing to be Manchester United coach and lose a lot of games but we have to cope with difficult moments in life. It’s a hard moment.’
He added: ‘I’m responsible, I don’t like to arrive here and make excuses. I think people are tired of excuses in this club.
‘That’s why I talk about relegation because I think our club needs a shock. We have to understand that it’s a very difficult moment and we have to fight for the next game and implement the ideas to win games.’
Alexander Isak and Joelinton scored Newcastle’s goals inside the first 20 minutes, with the Red Devils defence proving very easy to cut through.
Amorim has bemoaned the busy schedule and lack of training time to implement the ideas behind his 3-4-3 system properly.
‘In this moment it is really tough to turn around results because we don’t have a lot of time to train the base of the way we want to play,’ he said.
‘In the bad situations you need that base to hold on to. In the second half they really tried, it was more like the value of the team. We were close to scoring once but they were better.
‘Yes we are [too easy to score against] but also in some moments we had some chances to score and didn’t and that also makes a difference.’
Things do not get any easier for Amorim as his next outing is at Anfield against league-leaders Liverpool on 5 January.
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