United boss Amorim delivers brutal warning after West Ham defeat: “We’ve lost what makes us great

Rúben Amorim didn’t hold back. After watching his Manchester United side crumble yet again—this time to a woefully out-of-form West Ham—he stood in front of the media and delivered a damning assessment of the club he was hired to revive.

“We are losing the feeling that we are a massive club,” he said, eyes fixed and voice low. “It should feel like the end of the world to lose a game at home. If that fear is gone, we are in deep trouble.”

United had just lost 2-0 at Old Trafford. The visitors hadn’t won in eight league games. Yet West Ham walked off the pitch barely troubled, while Amorim’s players looked numb. What was once a fortress is now a free pass. Old Trafford, a name that once instilled fear, now offers comfort for the desperate.

This result wasn’t an anomaly. Since 26 January, United have only beaten Ipswich and Leicester, both already relegated. They’re winless in seven league games. Seventeenth-placed Leicester have more fight than the Red Devils right now.

“We have to think seriously about everything,” Amorim continued. “The final is not the issue.”

He’s talking about the Europa League showdown with Tottenham in Bilbao. It could offer a Champions League lifeline and an estimated £100m boost. But Amorim doesn’t think that matters. Not anymore.

“What we need to change is deeper,” he said. “The culture of this club. The culture of this team. If the same feeling is still here next season, then I shouldn’t be here. We should give space to different people.”

He’s not wrong. United are flirting with history—but the bad kind. With 17 league defeats already, it’s their worst season since 1973–74, when they were relegated. Nine of those losses came at home. That hasn’t happened since the 1930s.

And when asked how he feels seeing Manchester United 16th in the table, his answer came quickly: “Embarrassed.”

Even with superior expected goals (2.28 vs West Ham’s 1.56), United came away with nothing. Not for the first time, their performance failed to match their numbers.

“We don’t play well in Europe, but at least we fight,” Amorim noted. “We have urgency. We find a way. In the league, we lack focus. There’s no urgency at all.”

He’s not just pointing fingers—he’s calling for a reckoning.

“It’s a big concern,” he said. “We need to feel like it’s the end of the world when we’re not winning. Right now, it’s like people don’t care because our position won’t change much.”

That nonchalance, he warns, is fatal.

This rot isn’t new. José Mourinho once hinted that players picked and chose when to perform. The names have changed; the culture hasn’t. United used to have a big club mentality. Amorim says it’s disappearing fast.

“There’s a lack of urgency when we defend. And the same when we attack. That has to change.”

Despite the storm, some think Amorim’s brutal honesty could backfire. Danny Murphy, speaking on Match of the Day, criticised his tone.

“There’s too much negativity,” said Murphy. “He needs to offer solutions, not just gloom.”

Maybe. But for a club sliding into darkness, perhaps honesty is what’s needed. Whether Amorim sticks around to lead the rebuild is another matter.