Ruben Amorim has said it would be “naive” to think he will be allowed to continue as Manchester United manager if the team’s poor results continue.

Amorim’s job is under intense scrutiny ahead of Sunderland‘s visit to Old Trafford on Saturday.

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The Portuguese coach has won just nine of his 33 Premier League matches since his appointment 10 months ago.

And he accepts that it will be “impossible” for co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe to continue to show faith if United’s form doesn’t turn around soon.

“Nobody here is naive,” Amorim told a news conference on Friday. “We understand that we need results to continue the project.

“We will reach a point that is impossible for everyone because this is a very big club with a lot of sponsors, with two owners. So it’s hard, the balance is really hard.”

United will look to extend their unbeaten run against newly promoted teams against Sunderland this weekend.

Their last defeat was against Watford in November 2021 — a result which prompted the club to sack Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Four of Amorim’s nine league wins have come against promoted teams — Southampton, Leicester and Ipswich last season and Burnley this term.

However, Sunderland pose a significant threat having adapted well to the Premier League, earning 11 points from their first six games. It’s the best start for a club coming up from the Championship since West Ham in 2012.

Ahead of meeting Regis Le Bris’ side, Amorim is facing more calls to change his 3-4-3 system, but he has again insisted he will not switch to a different formation.

“I’m the manager of the club, a big club,” he said. “And it’s the media that is going to dictate what I’m going to do? It cannot be. It’s not possible to sustain that.

“My biggest problem is for my players to believe in you guys [the media] when you say the problem of our team is the system.

“I get crazy about that because I can see the team.

“This team play in a different system for many years. And you were talking about the lack of identity, no idea, whatever. So it’s not the system. It’s the small details, the way we play the game.”

Defeat to Sunderland would ramp up the pressure on Amorim even further ahead of the international break.

There’s been speculation the 40-year-old could quit before he’s sacked if the poor results continue, but he says only the club’s hierarchy will decide his future.

“No, that is a decision of the board,” said Amorim. “I cannot do that. Sometimes I have that feeling and losing is hard.

“It’s so frustrating when you create the momentum, go to the next game, something happens. That feeling sometimes hurts me a lot. Also the players and especially the staff here. But that is not my decision.

“And I think it would be really hard to leave if I don’t do everything to follow my career here.”