'Relegation is a possibility!' - Ruben Amorim makes astonishing claim as Man Utd sink to new lows with horrendous defeat by Newcastle as coach says 'this club needs a shock'

The coach made the frank admission after seeing his side outplayed at home to Newcastle, becoming the first United boss since Louis van Gaal in 2015 to oversee three Premier League losses in a row. United have remained in the top flight since winning promotion back to the old First Division in 1975 but they are only seven points above the drop-zone at the halfway point of the season.

"I think that it [relegation] is a possibility and we have to be clear with our fans. We have to change something but this season will be really hard on everybody. It can make us stronger and we have to fight," Amorim said. "It is really hard. It is one of the worst moments in the history of our club, and we have to accept that. Another loss in front of our own supporters."

Amorim has lost six of his 11 games in all competitions since succeeding Erik ten Hag in November and his team have failed to score in their last three matches. The coach said the principle problem was a lack of time on the training ground due to the high number of games. He said: "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. In the bad situations you need that base to hold on to."

United paid more than £21 million ($25m) to hire Amorim, spending around £10m to sack Ten Hag and around £11m to free the Portuguese from his contract with Sporting CP. He took full responsibility for the team's slide in results. He said: "Yeah, it is also my fault. I think the team is not improving. It is a little bit lost in this moment. It is a bit embarrassing to be the Man United coach and lose a lot of games. But we have to cope with difficult moments in the life of everybody."

Amorim has six days to try and get his ideas across to his players before United's next game against arch rivals and runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool, who humiliated the Red Devils 7-0 at Anfield in 2023. The coach said that things might have to get worse before they get better. He added: "I think our club needs a shock and we have to understand that. It is a very difficult moment and we have to fight for the next game and to have also [better] performances. We are losing some things from the last games."