Ruben Amorim has made the worst start of any Man United boss in the past 103 YEARS – the damning statistics that highlight the Red Devils’ woes this season

Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United slumped to their ninth defeat of the Premier League season on Monday evening as their miserable season showed no sign of improvement.

The 2-0 defeat to Newcastle was the Red Devils’ fifth defeat in eight league matches under the Portuguese boss and left the team noticeably sweating over their future status as a top club.

United are just seven points clear of the relegation zone. Any faint hope of Champions League or European qualification that might have accompanied Amorim’s appointment has been replaced by the cold reality of their situation.

Problems on and off the pitch date back well before the 39-year-old’s arrival at Old Trafford. Indeed, the blame for their current situation lies somewhere between the feet of former boss Erik ten Hag, the club’s minority owner, Ineos and his boss Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

But now that Amorim is tied to this awful mess, he is increasingly tainted by the putrid stench that has hung over every manager who has joined the club since Sir Alex Ferguson.

Only under the smooth-talking former Sporting boss it is even worse. United have not handled their 3-4-3 system well, allowing Amorim to make the worst start of any Red Devils manager in more than a century – 103 years to be precise. Unfortunately for him, there are other statistics that highlight his side’s decline since his arrival last month.

The Red Devils suffered their fifth Premier League defeat in eight games under the Portuguese boss on Monday

The year-end loss to Newcastle was the icing on Manchester United’s grotesque cake. The defeat left the club with their fewest points in a calendar year since 1989 (51), while they suffered three home defeats on the spin for the first time since 1979.

United’s six defeats in December are the most the club has suffered in a month since September 1930 and they conceded 18 goals – tied for the most goals conceded since March 1964.

‘It’s my fault too. I don’t think the team is getting any better,” Amorim admitted after their humiliation at the hands of the Magpies. “It’s a bit lost at the moment.

‘It’s a bit embarrassing to be coach of Manchester United and lose a lot of games. But we are dealing with difficult moments in everyone’s lives.”

In such a low-scoring sport, results in football can often be misleading. What will really worry Amorim are the underlying numbers that accompany his side’s worrying form.

In the eight league matches he has been in charge of, United have been among the worst teams in the division in a number of key areas. These include goals, shot conversion, shots on target, clean sheets, goals conceded and fouls leading to goals, to name a few.

The nine goals the team has scored under Amorim are the fourth worst in the top flight since November 22. Additionally, United’s shot conversion rate of 9.18 percent puts them in 14th place.

It’s a similar story for their shots on target (32), while their only clean sheet is the second-worst in the league. Furthermore, United have made four mistakes that have led to goals, with only two teams having a poorer record.

United conceded eighteen goals in December, the most they have allowed in a single month since March 1964

Only four teams in the division have scored fewer goals than Manchester United’s nine since Amorim’s appointment

Amorim took responsibility for United’s miserable run and admitted his new system is difficult for some players to master

Had the Premier League started when Amorim embarked on this massive undertaking, the Red Devils would be 17th with seven points from eight games. Their position outside the relegation zone would only be achieved with a superior goalscoring record for newly promoted Ipswich.

But even in this reality, mid-season relegation is somehow a real threat to the twenty-time top champions.

“That’s very clear, so we have to fight,” Amorim said when asked about the possibility of falling into the drop zone. “It’s a very difficult moment, one of the more difficult moments in Manchester United’s history and we have to deal with it honestly.

‘I am responsible. I don’t like coming here and making excuses. I think the people in this club have had enough of excuses. I think our club needs a shock and we have to understand that. It’s a very difficult moment and we have to fight for the next game.’

Just as Amorim predicted a storm upon his arrival, his final prediction may also be prescient. United make the tricky trip to Anfield to take on league leaders Liverpool in their next match on Sunday, ahead of an FA Cup third round tie against Arsenal in north London.

The shock could come when they welcome Southampton to Old Trafford on January 16. Defeat against the Saints, who have improved under new manager Ivan Juric, would see the older generation of United supporters relive the agony of the 1973-74 season. last relegation.

It might even push Amorim to abandon his favored system, which might simply be too complicated for the current crop of players to understand.

“I have to sell my idea,” he added. ‘If I keep changing, it will get worse. But I understand that they have a lot of problems because they played one way for two years. You can feel it, I can feel it. But I have to sell my idea, I have no other idea.

‘When you change coaches, especially at these types of clubs, it’s because they didn’t win. They are playing the system they bought into and are losing.

‘So I’m going to switch to that system? If I think the players with the right profile for each position will be different. This team was already in trouble.”