Ruben Amorim will come under more pressure now his record reads eight wins in 31 Premier League games at Man United.
Amorim suffered his first derby defeat at the Etihad
Amorim suffered his first derby defeat at the Etihad
Ruben Amorim has said if Manchester United want to change their playing style they will have to change manager.
United lost 3-0 at Manchester City in the first derby of the season to leave them with four points after their first four Premier League games in what is their worst start to a season since 1992-93.
Amorim has overseen only eight wins out of the 31 Premier League games he has taken charge of and United are bottom of the 17-team table that consists of the league's ever-present teams dating back to his appointment.
United hired Amorim on November 1 last year and he is under contract at the club until 2027 but the latest defeat is bound to fuel more uncertainty over his future.
"Guys, I understand that and I accept," Amorim said. "It is not a record you should have in Manchester United. There are a lot of things - you have no idea what happened during these months - but I accept that. I am not going to change.
"When I want to change my philosophy, I will change. If not, you have to change the man. We will talk about that every game that we lose. I don't believe in that, in the system, or whatever. I believe in my way and I am going to play my way until I want to change.
"My message is that I am going to give everything. I will do everything, always thinking about what is best for the club. That was always the same message.
"It is not my decision, the rest (on whether United change manager). Until I am here, I will do my best. I really want to win games. I am suffering more than them."
Amorim reiterated his belief United are better than last season, despite one win in five matches. They have also only scored one goal from open play in six hours of Premier League football.
"The results, again, I accept that," Amorim added. "I see that we are doing better but the results don't show that. I remember last year we played in the former club against City. We won 4-1 (with Sporting in the Champions League). It was not near the opportunities, the way we control the game compared to today.
Amorim faces a sparse away end at full-time
Amorim faces a sparse away end at full-time
"In certain moments we were not better than City. I understand that. It is hard and the record says everything. I understand."
United started promisingly but Phil Foden nodded past Altay Bayindir in the 18th minute and two second-half goals from Erling Haaland secured victory.
Haaland bulldozed Luke Shaw for his first goal and ran from inside his own half for another one-on-one with Bayindir that he converted. Not for the first time, Amorim felt United lacked aggression.
"If you look at the goals, we can avoid that kind of goal," he opined. "We have almost everyone behind the ball and we could be more aggressive.
"The second goal, in the moment of the game that we are pressing City. We suffer a goal in the throw-in when we want to recover the ball instead of covering the space and then to win the ball. We let two players of City one against one. The approach that we had in that play we can avoid and we can close our goal.
"The third goal, Haaland has all the space. A confusion with our players and then he has all the space to play. In these moments I felt that if you look at the goals, there are moments we could avoid. That is the key of the game, it's to take advantage of these moments and they took it.
"In transitions, a great shot from Bryan (Mbeumo). In those moments they were better than us."