‘Nothing is worse than losing games’ says Amorim

After a couple of gaffes in midweek, United keeper Andre Onana was dropped. Still, it didn’t make much difference as replacement Altay Bayındır made an error of his own with United going down 4-1 to Newcastle at St James’ Park on Sunday night.

Sunday’s win sees Newcastle up to fifth on the table, and with a game in hand, they are now just a single point behind Nottingham Forest, who lost on Saturday.

Newcastle put four past Manchester United

Newcastle, who were playing without manager Eddie Howe at eth ground after he was admitted to the hospital on Friday, started well, with Sandro Tonali putting them ahead in 24 minutes.

Manchester Utd restored parity in the 37th minute courtesy of Alejandro Garnacho, but the second half was all about the Magpies, as Harvey Barnes bagged a brace before Bruno Guimaraes capitalized on Bayindir’s bungled clearance to make it four.

Speaking to the media after the game, Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes told Sky Sports: “There’s not much to assess, we lost the game. In the first half we did good, in the second half we couldn’t keep up the way we wanted to play.

“We know that it’s been a tough season; nothing to add to that. Our position in the table is not where this club belongs, but unfortunately, we are not getting the results. We need to look forward as we have a big game coming up, we need to clear our heads and go for it.

“We are in this position because we have not been consistent in the performances we put out. We lack being more fearless, being braver. Today was not the case because we ended up conceding goals by trying to be brave.

“It’s easy to criticise because this club has never suffered like this, so it’s normal. You have to be aware you play for United, and criticism will be there.

“Our fans have been there all season during bad moments; today they were there at the end trying to cheer us up. It’s time we give something back.”

Meanwhile boss Ruben Amorim added: “There were many mistakes. Newcastle were stronger in second balls. We did a lot of mistakes that made it harder to win a game. That’s all.

“It’s a little bit of everything. it’s hard to point to one thing. It’s really hard to win against these top teams like Newcastle. When we make mistakes to help the opponent, it’s even harder. Let’s rather focus on Thursday.

“I think you can see that we can do so much better. That’s it. Let’s focus on Thursday. All the mistakes we did today we cannot do Thursday.

Asked about the criticism the team are currently receiving he said: “I understand but I don’t care.

“Nothing is worse than losing games. People can say whatever they want to say. I don’t want to defend myself or anything like that. If you look at our position in the table, it says it all. Thursday is really important. Losing games is the hardest part by far of this job. Let’s focus on Thursday.

“Thursday is really important. We have a chance to get Champions League. It’s an important game. It will be really hard. We have to focus on that and get to the next stage. We have a season a lot like that with difficult losses. We are used to getting up. Let’s do that Thursday. It’s a different game. We need to give something to our fans and to go to the next stage,” he said.