•Ruben Amorim
Manchester United keep finding ways to plumb new depths.
Ruben Amorim’s side set two new club records as they stumbled to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Chelsea last night at Stamford Bridge, reports AFP.
Marc Cucurella’s header proved the difference after a delightful assist from Reece James and condemned the Red Devils to an 18th league loss.
Ruben Amorim tried to take at least one positive, saying the performance will help him choose his starting 11 for the Europa League final against Tottenham this Wednesday, but there were few things to be cheerful about in the aftermath of the defeat.
For starters, Manchester United will end a first ever Premier League season without having won back-to-back games on any occasion.
Amorim’s side have won just 10 games out of 37 so far – their previous low was 16 in 2021-22 – and none of those have been consecutive.
Secondly, they’ve now gone eight games without a Premier League win for the first time in history.
The Red Devils are on a torrid run of six defeats and two draws in their last eight games, which is the worst run of any side.
Even Southampton, who have barely avoided being the worst team in Premier League history, have bettered that with three draws in their last eight.
That stands in stark contrast to United’s Europa League form, which has seen them set up an all-English final with Spurs after slaying Athletic Bilbao 7-1 on aggregate.
Roy Keane tore into Amorim and his players after another setback, claiming they lacked the requisite self-belief to beat Chelsea.
‘The fans here tonight, I don’t think they are angry anymore, there is an acceptance,’ Keane said.
‘Even the manager [Amorim] is interviewed and he is accepting where they are.
‘You have to be realistic, but show a bit of emotion and anger.
‘I think Man United fans will be going back to Manchester tonight thinking “that’s probably what we thought would happen”.
‘I didn’t [think they would win], I don’t think the manager did and, most importantly, I don’t think the players believed they could come and win tonight.
‘Even the Chelsea manager is patronising them by saying “they played well, they pressed us, they were dangerous”, they beat them 1-0 and United had one shot on target.
‘What they are doing is patting them on the head going “off you go back up to Manchester”, that’s what Man United used to do to teams years ago.’
United could have had a draw after Harry Maguire’s first-half volley, but that was ruled out for offside before Cucurella’s 71st-minute header.
