Lisandro Martinez has directly contradicted Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim – but with good reason.

After United slumped to their 10th Premier League defeat of the season against Brighton earlier this month – a result that left them 13th in the table – Amorim described the team as "the worst team maybe" in the club's history. Later, he claimed he was "failing" his players, though Martinez's latest comments suggest otherwise.

Following his winning goal in the 1-0 victory Fulham on Sunday, the defender insisted that Amorim had given the squad confidence since arriving in November, and that their on-field cohesion was getting better. "I feel very confident. The coach gives us that confidence," Martinez told Telemundo Deportes.

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"The connection we have... at the back, they [the players] know that if you are attacking, if you are in front, you know they are covering you. So when you already know and when you go back a little bit and your colleagues are there, covering, you go with more confidence."

Results under Amorim have left a lot to be desired, but performances have, generally-speaking, been on the up since Erik ten Hag's departure. United have beaten Manchester City and Arsenal – albeit on penalties – and drawn with Liverpool in the last month-and-a-half. And, after back-to-backs wins against Rangers and Fulham, they are finally starting to look up the tables domestically and in Europe rather than down.

Those results came as welcome relief for Amorim, who reportedly blew a gasket and broke a TV in the dressing room following United's 3-1 defeat to Brighton. He also appeared desperate in his post-match interview and spoke concerningly of the need to "survive".

"In 10 Premier League games we've won two," he fumed after the game. "I know that. Imagine what this is for a Manchester United fan and for me. You're getting a new coach who is losing more than the last coach. I have full knowledge of that. But I'm not going to change [the system], no matter what.

"We need to survive this moment because I'm not naive. We are being the worst team - maybe - in the history of Manchester United. "You want headlines. I am saying that because we have to acknowledge that and to change that, too."

A couple of days later, Amorim blamed his harsh words on "passion", but openly acknowledged the struggle he was facing. "I am feeling that I am failing my players," he told TNT Sports. "That feeling is really hard to deal [with]."

He continued: "It is more about me than the other people because I have a clear idea that tomorrow nobody is going to remember me, so it's not about me or what other people think about me - that will pass in two weeks. I am just focused on my feelings and the way I need to do my job.

"I need to feel like I am not disappointing people. It is more about that than the pressure from outside. For me, believe it or not, it is always the same because I don't read anything. It is more about the pressure that I have inside; I don't like to lose, and to lose so many times is really hard to cope [with]."

Thankfully for Amorim and United, there's now a degree of optimism in the air after the results against Rangers and Fulham. Moreover, the Red Devils have the opportunity to win three on the bounce for the first time this season against FCSB in the Europa League on Thursday, with victory there also guaranteeing the club's spot in the knockout rounds.