Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has admitted he could not have envisioned a scenario where he would win just four of his opening 14 Premier League games in charge.
United head to Everton this lunchtime in desperate need of three points after last Sunday's 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur marked a sixth defeat in their last nine league matches.
The Reds will make the trip to Goodison Park 15th in the table after winning just eight of their 25 league matches this season. Amorim arrived at Old Trafford in November and United were just four points shy of the top four, whereas now they are 15 points short.
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Having overseen no shortage of success at Sporting Lisbon, Amorim was expected to hit the ground running and bring fresh energy to Old Trafford. Instead, he has overseen a run of results that he did not anticipate.
"If you said to me in the beginning that you are going to win four matches in 14, I don't believe you," Amorim told TNT Sports. "I would say you are crazy, you know? And that for me is the hardest part."
Taking charge of 21 games in total so far, Amorim has lost nine games already, with eight of those being in the Premier League.
The United head coach continued: "It's your pride as a coach - it doesn't matter the context. You are [at] Manchester United and you lose nine games in the Premier League.
"As a player… you know that when you get in this moment sometimes it is really hard to turn things around. And we are in this moment. So, I was expecting hard days, but not like this."
