Ruben Amorim has been accused of “pouring petrol on the flames” at Manchester United and sending a “really bad message” to his players after claiming they were arguably the worst team in the club’s history.

The United head coach responded to a dismal 3-1 defeat at home to Brighton on Sunday – their 10th loss of a miserable Premier League campaign – by suggesting there may not have been a poorer side in the club’s 147-year existence.

But Amorim has been heavily criticised for his remarks by Emmanuel Petit and Jamie Carragher, the former Arsenal midfielder and Liverpool defender respectively, who believe his damning assessment could cause more harm than good.

Carragher, the Telegraph Sport columnist, said he would not be surprised if United’s hierarchy felt the need to challenge the manager over his comments.

“For the manager to make a statement like that. I don’t feel for the players and their confidence – half of them are a joke anyway,” Carragher said on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football show.

“But I’d be very surprised if the powers that be above him weren’t having a very strong word with him and saying ‘You don’t speak like that as a Manchester United manager and engulf the situation we’re in. We’re in a poor situation, you don’t pour petrol on the flames’.

“I don’t know why he said that. He had like a smirk on his face when he was saying it, too. It was almost like he knew the magnitude of his words. I’m with Manu [Petit].

“I’ve got no time for this Man United team. I’ve been watching them for four or five years with different managers but I don’t know what he’s trying to do [with those comments].”

Petit believes Amorim’s withering appraisal will have gone down like a lead balloon in the Old Trafford dressing room and questioned what the Portuguese was trying to achieve.

“I feel pity sometimes for managers, especially in the press conferences when they’re trying to explain how miserable they are but the body language... I think if he keeps on going like that he will finish under the table at the end of the season,” Petit said.

“But the comments he made recently – we’ve been former players Jamie, you can’t say that. Even if you think that is the right moment to say it, players are listening, you know. I don’t understand it.

“It’s like with [Enzo] Maresca [the Chelsea manager] before Christmas when he was saying his team was not challenging for the title. If you think you have to keep it secret because you’re the manager.

“For me it’s something that impacts the dressing room, it goes into the players’ minds and at the moment those players don’t need that. They need confidence, they need some strong messages. This, for me, is a really bad message to send to your players.”