Ruben Amorim accidentally damaged a TV screen in Manchester United’s dressing room during an intense rant following their defeat to Brighton on Sunday.
The United head coach reportedly lost his composure during a post-match critique at Old Trafford, with the damage occurring in the heat of the moment.
Players described Amorim as “sad” and “deflated” after what marked his seventh defeat in 15 games, a clear low point since taking over from Sporting Lisbon in November.
Although the squad remains supportive of Amorim, concerns are growing over whether he has the energy to reverse the team’s declining fortunes.
At his press conference, Amorim called the team “perhaps the worst in Manchester United’s history” and expressed frustration over their lack of tactical discipline. He vowed, “Everybody was changing position, and that is something I will not see again.”
Ruben Amorim reportedly damaged a TV in the dressing room after Manchester United lost against Brighton
United have lost seven of their 15 matches under Amorim and their home record is their worst in 131 years
Amorim said: ‘I am saying that because we have to acknowledge that and to change it. Here you go: your headlines.
‘It’s unacceptable to lose so many games. For any Premier League club, so imagine Manchester United?
‘The opponents are better than us in many details. I am just here to help my players, but we need to understand we are breaking all the bad records.
‘In 10 games in the Premier League, we won two. I know that. Imagine what this is for a United fan. Imagine what this is for me. We are getting a new coach who is losing more than the last coach. I have full knowledge of that.’
Amorim warned that the worst may be yet to come because he will not change his tactics.
‘I knew it was going to be hard to put a completely new idea in the moment, but when you lose games it becomes really hard,’ he added. ‘So that’s why I’m telling you we are going to suffer because I will continue to do the same. I am not going to change, no matter what.’
Amorim also criticised his players for losing discipline and shape towards the end of the game.
‘Everybody was changing position and that is something I will not see again. We can lose but we have to maintain position,’ he said.
‘We try to have possession and control the ball, but the players are anxious. This is not acceptable.
They have lost six of their opening 12 league home games – they last did that when they were known as Newton Heath
Jamie Carragher believes that Amorim was ‘ridiculous’ to speak of his team so harshly in public
Amorim’s men have picked up just 11 points in the 11 games that Ruben Amorim has overseen
‘I know we can succeed but we need to survive this moment. I am not naive. We need to survive now.’
United have now lost six of their 12 league homes games, which is their worst record in 131 years. They last hit such a nadir in the 1893-94 campaign when the club was known as Newton Heath.
It was also their fourth loss in their last five games at Old Trafford, and they could well have lost all of those games if Amad Diallo hadn’t produced a late hat-trick against Southampton.
Pundits have questioned whether Amorim’s candid public comments are helpful or detrimental for motivating the squad.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, Jamie Carragher said: ‘I think it was one of the most bizarre and ridiculous things I’ve ever heard a manager say. Why you would make a comment like that?
‘That’s the type of comment a pundit would make, and he’d have to defend that. I don’t know what he gains from that, what the benefit is. We all know it’s a poor Manchester United team.
‘He’s just blew something up, a quote that will follow him for the rest of the season. He said to the journalists there, “I’ve given you your headline” – why you would want to do that as a manager I will never know.’
‘I’ve got not much sympathy for the players in that Manchester United dressing room, they’ve been a joke for a few years now.
‘A few weeks ago after they played Liverpool there was an interview with Lisandro Martinez where he was talking about the mentality and tapping his head.
‘I nearly burst out laughing when I saw that to be honest, the amount of times Manchester United have basically threw the towel in with bad performances over the past four or five years.
‘From the manager’s point of view how can he go into the dressing room between now and the end of the season and continually build them up and give them belief, if he’s said they’re one of the worst teams in Manchester United history.
‘I’d be very surprised if the powers-that-be above him aren’t having a strong word with him. You can’t speak like that as manager of Manchester United. You don’t pour petrol on the flames’.