Harry Maguire admits Ruben Amorim's job is much more difficult because he is the “complete opposite” of Erik ten Hag, but has backed Manchester United's head coach to turn around their dismal season.
Amorim has been defeated in half of his 10 games since being appointed head coach and approaches Monday's league match against Newcastle, live on Sky Sports, having lost three in a row in all competitions.
The Portuguese has inherited a squad that Ten Hag has built to play transitional, counter-attacking football, making them highly unsuited to his philosophy, which emphasizes ball possession and deploying a high line.
Amorim also has the added complication of preferring to play with three players at the back, but Maguire believes he has what it takes to overcome his difficult start and push the club, who are currently 14th, forward.
“The problem is with the managers and the styles. It's not like they've come in and have the same style,” Maguire told Sky Sports. 'They are completely opposite when it comes to what they want and what they demand.
“So the transition period will be tough. We all have great confidence in the manager and his coaching staff. I am sure things will change. He knows exactly what he has to do to get this club back.”
“He came in and did everything he had to do. He's really demanding.”
United are closer to the relegation zone on points than the Champions League places heading into the visit of Newcastle, their final game of an up-and-down 2024, following their 2-0 defeat at Wolves.
Amorim, who will be without captain Bruno Fernandes after being shown a red card, has already been asked about the possibility of being sacked in the next two months.
Asked if Amorim is getting frustrated with the poor results, Maguire added: “He is a winner so I am sure he will be because he hates losing games.
“It's frustrating. We want to win football games and make our fans happy because so far this season it hasn't been good enough.”
United need a positive result to ease the pressure on their new head coach and improve the mood at Old Trafford, but face a resurgent Newcastle before taking on league leaders Liverpool a week later, another match live on Sky Sports.
Maguire says there have been no discussions in the dressing room about targets because of the dire position they are in.
He said: “We're just doing everything we can to move up. We can't really set a target at the moment because we are nowhere near good enough and nowhere near where we want to be in the rankings.
“It's really disappointing what we've done so far. Everyone knows that. We know it's not good enough for this club.”
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