Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim says anxiety around Old Trafford is affecting players' mentality

Ruben Amorim claimed the anxiety around Old Trafford affected his players' mentality and admitted he faces a "big challenge" following Sunday's 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth.

Having conceded twice in eight second-half minutes to fall 3-0 behind at Tottenham on Thursday - in a game they eventually lost 4-3 - this time it took barely two minutes for United to capitulate to the same scoreline against Bournemouth in a game where they had previously looked likely to make a comeback from Dean Huijsen's first-half header from a free-kick.

Amorim pointed to anxiety, both in his players and around the stadium, to explain how they had thrown away any hope of a comeback so quickly for the second time in three days and urged his side to block out the noise to avoid a repeat performance in future.

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"I think the understanding of our game is a lot about mentality," he said. "You can feel it in the first goal-kick from [Andre] Onana, he is thinking what to do, trying to push the other guys - and everybody is so anxious.

"At this moment, in our club, everybody is tired of this moment. We know what to do, we have to address a lot of things but we are ready to do it. We already knew it, we knew the challenge is big.

"But it's one set-piece, one penalty, and a moment where we have to forget the context and keep the ball for a moment without trying to score two goals right away. It's a really tough moment and we have to understand what the players are thinking in that moment. We will address that."

Huijsen's opener added to the already long list of dead-ball goals United have conceded this season and further back, which led to Amorim putting Carlos Fernandes in charge of coaching set pieces - ahead of specialist coach Andreas Georgson - earlier this month.

Questions will be asked of his influence given United's continuing poor record, but Amorim said he bore responsibility for his side's inability to defend deliveries and suggested there would be no more backroom shake-ups to follow.

"The responsibility of everything is me, not Carlos," he said. "We are a team in the good moments and in the bad moments. We have a way of doing things.

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"We are working on that and we didn't lose because of set-pieces. We lost because we created more chances but we didn't score them, and then in that moment everything against us, they score. It's a difficult moment but the responsibility lies with me - not Carlos."

How will Man Utd improve?

Amorim has repeatedly taken responsibility for United's recent run of form but defended his record despite another heavy defeat, following a game where his side created an expected goals tally of 2.26 without managing to beat Kepa Arrizabalaga in the Bournemouth goal.

"It's my responsibility to coach them," he said. "Of course we want to improve. Everything is so hard in this moment. At a club like Man Utd, to lose 3-0 at home is really tough for everybody. The fans are really disappointed and tired, and you can feel it in the stadium.

"We are not giving the ball away as we were, we are controlling the game better, we don't concede a lot of space, transitions we control very well against a team who score 60 per cent of their goals from winning the ball in our half.

"It's about working on the way we play. To focus on the job, not the moment, not what you feel in the stadium.

"Focus on what you have to do when the ball is in one place or another place. That's the only way I know how to help my players, to focus on the job itself.

"Sometimes too many games is too much, but sometimes you need another game to go again. We'll keep going until the end."

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