Ruben Amorim takes blame for Manchester United's derby day Premier League defeat to Man City - ‘It’s my fault’

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Ruben Amoirm was left to reflect on another sobering outing in the dugout after watching his side being comprehensively beaten by Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium. The Red Devils have now won only eight of Amorim's 31 Premier League games in charge, and the Portuguese was keen to take the emphasis away from his players. United now have four points from their opening four games.

Amorim: I play my way, I'm not going to change

Video credit: SNTV

Ruben Amorim took the blame for Manchester United’s 3-0 derby defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Phil Foden’s opener and Erling Haaland’s brace sealed a comfortable win for the hosts, with Pep Guardiola’s side appearing to have rediscovered their mojo - having suffered back-to-back defeats to Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton & Hove Albion prior to the international break.

According to Opta, United have suffered their worst start to a top-flight campaign since the 1992/93 season.

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That was when The Red Devils won the first of their 13 Premier League titles, but Amorim can only dream of having such lofty ambitions this time round.

When reflecting on the game, he told Sky Sports: "If you look at the three goals, we can avoid the three goals. We can be more aggressive.

"In these kinds of games, with top teams, the small margins will make the difference. The performance is not good. In certain moments they were better than us and, in the end, you don't have a good feeling.

"We play against one coach that won six Premier League titles, and we are building things, trying to fight against these teams. I am not going to defend myself, it's always the same question, trying to protect myself. We need to do better.

"If I look at the game, last year we drew and won against City, and today we were a little bit better, but in the small details it was clearly not good enough. We are building things, but, of course, we need to win."

The Portuguese stressed he could not fault the effort of his side and says the onus is on him to give the players greater in-game understanding against the top teams.

"I didn't see one player in my team not giving the maximum," Amorim said. "The rest is with me. The disappointment sometimes I feel we could run more, but I didn't have that feeling today. It's my fault, not their fault, and I am fine with that.

"I know it's hard on our fans but again, I cannot point to one player [about a lack of] effort. With game intelligence we can improve, but that is my fault and we can improve."

Amorim also gave a staunch defence of his own approach in his post-match press conference, despite only winning eight Premier League games since his arrival.

"I will do everything I can for Man United," Amorim said. "This is my message to the fans. I’m suffering more than them.

"I won’t change my philosophy. If they [Ineos] want it changed, you change the man."

United are back in Premier League action against Chelsea at Old Trafford next Saturday before ending the month with a match away at Brentford on September 27.

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