Ruben Amorim said he has “no idea” how long it will take for Manchester United to get better after they lost 2-0 at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The defeat at Molineux was United’s third in a row under Amorim, who has struggled to turn the team’s form around after replacing Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford.
In all competitions, Amorim has played 10 matches, won four, drawn one and lost five, while he has lost four of his last five in the Premier League.
He is the first United manager to lose as many as five of his first 10 matches in charge of the club in all competitions since Walter Crickmer lost six in January 1932. The Portuguese head coach says that time required to improve things on the pitch.
Asked how long it might take to get better, Amorim said: “I have no idea. No idea.”
“Instead of me trying to understand how much time it will take, just day by day, improving, trying to see the videos and use every minute of training and try to win some points because it’s really important in this moment.
“It’s a tough moment and we are far from the end of this moment.
“I manage but I haven’t trained. They are changing completely the way of playing, it is really hard on them, [it] is really hard on all the staff to pass on information and when you don’t have results it’s even harder for them to believe, we have to continue. It’s a tough moment and we have to focus on the next game.”
The defeat, in which captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off, left United in 14th place, on 22 points, closer to the relegation zone than to the top four and Amorim was asked about the threat of being pulled closer to the bottom three.
“In this moment we just have to survive and win sometimes,” he replied. “Like I said on the first day, we have to fight these bad moments because this is part of football.”
As well as Fernandes, Manuel Ugarte will be suspended for the home match against in-form Newcastle United on 30 December having received a fifth yellow of the season. Then comes a trip to league leaders Liverpool six days later.