Ruben Amorim admitted Manchester United’s struggles have taken their toll on him over the past seven weeks.
Any initial managerial bounce Amorim enjoyed after replacing Erik ten Hag in mid-November has quickly faded and United will head to Anfield on Sunday on a run of four straight defeats, six in their last eight, having slumped to 14th in the Premier League.
Amorim had warned after the 4-0 win over Everton at the start of December that the “storm will come” and so it has proven as United have lost their last three league games by conceding seven and scoring none.
Amorim’s cross-city rival Pep Guardiola has admitted to sleepless nights and struggling to digest food during Manchester City’s recent woes and Amorim said he likewise felt the weight of United’s problems – even with his family having moved over from Portugal last week to join him.
‘You can see in my face, you can compare it to the way when I arrive and now,” he said with a laugh. “Of course there is a lot of pressure. For me, it’s the pride and also the performance. It’s harder when we don’t perform well.
‘When I arrived I explained everything before, even when you guys were talking after Everton about the top four, I explained I was expecting this but it’s hard to cope with all the problems and the bad performances and the losses.
‘It’s really hard. It’s supposed to be hard. The only thing that can help me is training with the players. And I also have my family now here so it’s so different and that can help me a lot.’
United were woeful in the first half of Monday’s loss to Newcastle and lucky that Eddie Howe’s side did not score four or five in the first half as United’s midfield pairing of Christian Eriksen and Casemiro were overrun in the absence of the suspended Manuel Ugarte and Bruno Fernandes.
With results going against them, pressure is building as United languish seven points above the relegation zone at the mid-point of the season.
‘They are anxious, sometimes afraid on the pitch,” Amorim said of his players. “We have to cope with that. We need the leaders to step up to help the other guys and I’m the most responsible person here to improve the performances.
‘You can see the players are trying, sometimes too anxious, too afraid to play football because this is a difficult moment and we will help the players to be better.’
Having warned of that impending storm at the start of December, Amorim was forced to talk about the prospect of relegation this week, something he said might be the shock United’s players need.
He said: ‘I know it is a problem here to say that kind of thing but I think in this moment in our club everybody has to understand that, so let’s focus on the reality. We know we are Manchester United, I’m not supposed to talk about these things but I wanted to be very clear with the fans and the players.
‘I think that is really important in this moment. Anything can happen but we are focused to win games, to improve performances, so that is not an issue in the future.’
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