'Nothing to do with the system!' - Ruben Amorim adamant his tactics not to blame for Man Utd struggles amid fierce criticism from Wayne Rooney, Gary Neville & Jamie Carragher but admits 'you cannot run away from results'

Former United captain Gary Neville said United's results were "catastrophic" and said the Portuguese is running out of excuses. He said on Sky Sports: "Ruben Amorim’s had a pre-season. He's had a week now in between each of his games nearly or most of the weeks because Manchester United aren't in Europe. Yet, the performances are as poor as ever." 

United's all-time top scorer Wayne Rooney said he had "no faith" in Amorim's ability to turn the situation around, also remarking "the soul has gone from the club". He said on the Wayne Rooney Show: "What is going on at Man United? This is not Man United. I don't recognise the whole football club. I don't see players fighting, I don't see character, I don't see desire to win. I don’t see ability, I don’t see match-winners, nothing gets me off my feet. I go to a game watching, expecting, here we go again - expecting the team to lose or maybe pick up a point.

"What I'm seeing at that football club is not Manchester United. The soul has gone from the club. It needs a new engine, a new lease of life. It needs something to kickstart that football club. I am not seeing anything which is giving me any confidence, there needs to be big changes in my opinion. Manager, players, whatever that is. Whatever it takes to get Manchester United back."

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher had the most severe criticism, however. He called Amorim's reign "a disaster" and urged United to sack the coach as soon as possible. He said: "I think he's still in a job because the powers-at-be have made so many mistakes that they almost don't want to admit right now they have made another. This has been a disaster for Amorim and United. The quicker they make a decision on the manager we are only waiting for the inevitable. This has to end as quickly as possible."

Amorim said that criticism from the likes of Rooney and Neville was to be expected given the results but he defended his tactics. He told a press conference: "It is normal and you cannot run away from the results and then you have baggage from last season but for me last season doesn’t matter. We had six games this season and we lost three. We have to look to the games we lost, if we lost against Arsenal due to the system, it is your job to make the opinions. City and Brentford the way we gave away goals and created chances, it is nothing to do with the system. If we look to the games we didn’t win, people have different opinions and that is okay."

United have taken a measly 34 points from their 33 league games under Amorim. Tottenham, who beat United in the Europa League final in May, are the only team still in the Premier League to have taken less points than the Red Devils in that period, and they've started the new season well after replacing Ange Postecoglou with Thomas Frank over the summer. West Ham recently sacked Graham Potter for picking up 23 points in his 23 games in charge. United have also failed to win back-to-back Premier League games since May 2024.

Amorim has retained the backing of United supporters for much of his tenure but he said the time to make promises to them is over. "It is not time to say, it is time to show," he said. "I can look at the games this season, for me they are completely different, there are some things the same, some different. There are other things we cannot change. In the other games we are not the same team in some details. I have nothing to say in this moment. My job is to prepare the team."

There is extra pressure on United to beat Sunderland in their next game on Saturday. The Black Cats have picked up more points than any promoted side for 13 years, rising to fifth in the Premier League table. And Amorim is wary of the threat posed by Regis Le Bris' side. He said: "It is going to be a really tough match, they are doing really well and when you see the games, they draw with one less player and then they win in the final play against Brentford, the details are changing a lot the table so we need to pay attention to that. It is a team that plays really well, a clear system 4-3-3 with a lot of rotations on the side of the pitch. They are confident. It is clear we will be under pressure."