New manager Ruben Amorim says Manchester United are “a huge club, but not a huge team” as he tries to take them back to the top of English football.
United have improved since Erik ten Hag was sacked on October 28.
But Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat to Arsenal, combined with results elsewhere, means they have risen just one place in the Premier League table to 13th since Ten Hag’s departure.
Amorim, whose side host Nottingham Forest on Saturday (17:30 GMT), admits his side were second best to Arsenal and the match was a reality check.
“That’s very clear,” he said. “We are a huge club, but we are not a huge team. We know it, so there is no problem in saying it.”
That, however, does not mean that the club must readjust its objectives, according to Amorim, who began working as United manager on November 11.
He said he accepts that the club’s history means that demands will always be through the roof.
“We’re not one of the best teams in the league,” he said. “We have to say it and think about it clearly.
“But [in] Our past, our club is perhaps the best in the league. So here we have a problem. “We have to focus on the small details and that’s how we will improve as a team.”
At the beginning of his reign, Amorim said he wanted his players to work hard.
United players have faced accusations of a lack of effort in recent years during a turbulent period that has seen the arrival and departure of a series of managers.
The problem currently is the number of games they are playing. Amorim has started his time at United with 11 games in 37 days (his former club, Sporting, has seven in the same period), making it impossible for him to develop his fitness.
And until that happens, fans can’t expect their team to challenge again.
“If we want to win the Premier League, we have to run like mad dogs,” Amorim said. “Even with the best starting eleven on the planet, without running they won’t win anything.”
