Amorim bemoans difficulty of Man Utd job
Ruben Amorim says he faces an incredibly tough job in trying to turn around Manchester United's fortunes, but he is not about to compromise on his beliefs.
James Maddison's goal condemned United to another demoralising defeat at Tottenham, its third loss to Ange Postecoglou's team in all competitions this season.
The result dropped United to 15th in the Premier League table, as close to Ipswich Town in 18th as it is to Newcastle United in seventh (12 points).
United has lost 12 of its 25 Premier League games this season, its most defeats at this stage of a campaign since 1973-1974, when it was last relegated from the top flight.
Things have not improved since Amorim took the reins in November, either. United has lost eight of its last 12 Premier League matches (three wins, one draw). Since this run started on 4 December, the only teams to lose more games in the competition are the current bottom two – Leicester City (nine defeats) and Southampton (10).
Speaking after the game, a forlorn Amorim said: "What you see and what you discuss every week, I also see.
"I have a lot of problems, my job is so, so hard here. But I stick with my beliefs."
Only Leicester has scored fewer first-half goals in Premier League action than United this season, and it has not scored from open play in the first half in its last 10 league matches.
Asked about United's attacking shortcomings, Amorim said: "That was the big difference in the game. We had a lot of chances but in the end, they scored and we didn't.
"The first step is to create situations. We have had games where we are around the box and not created situations. This game we created situations.
"But in this game with two teams not doing well, one goal was always going to make the difference."
Speaking to Sky Sports, former United defender Gary Neville stressed the need for patience but admitted Amorim's failure to inspire any positive performances in his favoured 3-4-3 system was a concern.
"The concern is that none of the players have demonstrated in 20 games in this system under Amorim – maybe with the exception of Liverpool away – that there is any entertainment or performance level to this system," Neville said.
"Everyone's going to have to be patient, but I would have liked to see the performance levels getting higher.
"That was the thing under Erik ten Hag, you can win sometimes while playing badly, but it will catch you out if you continue playing at that level. They're performing at a poor level week in, week out."
Neville did, however, praise Amorim for his open communication, while acknowledging the former Sporting CP coach will not change his ways to pick up short-term results.
"The best thing about it so far has actually been the press conferences. Even after today, the way he communicates his vision and his idea... he feels he'll get it right.
"I don't think there is anything on the pitch that suggests we're watching a good team. They're a really poor team.
"He said very early on, 'I'm not going to change my idea', so now he can't. That's an issue in some ways... there probably is a better way of getting these players to feel more comfortable.
"He knows where he wants to get Manchester United to, the problem is at the moment it's just not happening at all."
