RUBEN AMORIM admitted he is “embarrassed” by his first three months as Manchester United manager.
The Red Devils splashed out more than £10million to buy Amorim out of his Sporting contract.
He replaced Erik ten Hag in November.
But things have not gone according to plan so far.
Amorim’s first 16 Premier League games have yielded just five wins – and a whopping eight defeats.
He also set the record for the fewest number of matches to reach five home Prem losses in United history after just seven – half the previous record of 14 set by David Moyes.
Amorim knows it has not been good enough.
But despite the struggling start to life at Old Trafford and poor results so far, he still has the backing of the majority of fans and former United players alike.
Speaking to Rio Ferdinand with TNT Sports, Amorim said: “I feel that [people believing in me].
“At the same time, I’m embarrassed by that because if you look at our performance and you see our team sometimes on the pitch, it’s really hard for me as a coach to take a lot of positives.”
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Amorim started off with a draw at Ipswich then thumped Ipswich 4-0 before defeats to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.
A dramatic Manchester derby win and draw at Anfield sandwiched three defeats without a goal over Christmas.
United needed a late Amad Diallo hat-trick then a Harry Maguire winner to rescue them against relegation-threatened Southampton and Ipswich at home.
Maguire admitted in February that the Red Devils squad are feeling the pressure – particularly at home.
And the Portuguese boss agrees – but is confident he can turn it around.
He added: “I think we are so nervous sometimes in the game and you can feel it in the small things.
“The way that we move sometimes, the understanding of the game, especially at Old Trafford.
“I feel that sometimes the players are in the dressing room and we go to warm up and we go inside to start the game, I feel that the air is heavy.
“These kind of things I think we show a lot in the games.
“The only way I know to help them is to give them to the solutions to play on the pitch, but they have to believe it.
“And to believe it is when we are losing or in a difficult situation and you feel like you cannot even build up one play, they have to stick with that and to believe in that. That is the hardest part.
“Because when we suffer a goal or we have a bad moment, you feel like the connection is not there, we lose ourselves.
“We get lost a little bit. I understand it is more than football, more than tactics, it is something that is in the players’ mind.”
Former United striker Federico Macheda told SunSport he reckons with the right signings and by turning to young players, Amorim can deliver titles again within “two to three years”.
Macheda, now playing for Asteras Tripolis in Greece, said: “I believe yes he can. Amorim has a special connection. He’s one coach that can get Manchester United to fight for everything.
“I like Amorim even if you don’t see the results, maybe sometimes they play bad football.
“It’s difficult because for a club to be successful, you need great players.
“If they trust Amorim and give him time, bring in the right players and change some things in the club like the bad mentality, I believe Manchester United will be back in two to three years.”
Harry Maguire and Amorim agree that United are feeling the pressure at Old Trafford[/caption]
Federico Macheda believes the Portuguese manager can deliver the Premier League title for the Red Devils[/caption]
Man Utd ratings vs Ipswich as Maguire saves the day after Onana makes case to be WORST ever signing
MANCHESTER UNITED eased their fears of the drop in a topsy-turvy relegation six-pointer with Ipswich.
The Red Devils triumphed 3-2 despite playing the second half with ten men.
A major cock-up from Patrick Dorgu and Andre Onana saw Ipswich take a third-minute lead through Jaden Philogene.
Then, after United had recovered to lead 2-1, Dorgu saw a straight red card for a poor challenge on Omari Hutchinson.
Philogene scored again to level it before the break only for Harry Maguire to nod in to be United’s saviour.
But who was United’s best player on the night?
Here, SunSport’s Phil Thomas reveals his Manchester United player ratings…
