Ruben Amorim says he is managing arguably the worst Manchester United team in history.

United’s 3-1 defeat against Brighton on Sunday was their sixth in 12 Premier League games at Old Trafford this season and means they have now made their worst start to a league campaign since the 1893-94 campaign.

This was their 10th league defeat of a wretched season and Brighton’s third consecutive victory at Old Trafford and sixth win in their past seven league meetings with United, who were booed off at the final whistle. Amorim’s side are 13th in the table, 10 points above the relegation zone.

“We are the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United,” said Amorim, who has lost seven of his 15 matches as head coach since replacing Erik ten Hag in early November.

“I know you want headlines but I am saying that because we have to acknowledge that and to change that. Here you go: your headlines.

“In 10 games in Premier League, we won three. I know that, imagine what this is for a fan of Manchester United, imagine what this is for me.

“We are getting a new coach who is losing more than the last coach. I have full knowledge of that. I am not going to change, no matter what. I know we can succeed but we need to survive this moment. I am not naive. We need to survive now.”

‘I’m not helping my players at the moment’

United have conceded first in their past five home league matches with Brighton becoming the third side to score within the first five minutes at Old Trafford after Kaoru Mitoma exploited Noussair Mazraoui’s lapse in concentration to set up Yankuba Minteh to score. Bruno Fernandes equalised from the penalty spot before more poor defending and another blunder from André Onana gifted Brighton their second and third goals in the second half.

“The opponents are better than us in many details – that we cannot be consistent, that I’m not helping my players in the moment,” Amorim said. “It’s a hard moment, you have to acknowledge that we are in a very difficult situation, without all the bad records, as losing games at home, losing games in the Premier League, we are really underperforming and we need to win games, that’s all.

“I knew that it was going to be hard to put a completely new idea in the moment but when you lose games and don’t win three games in a row it becomes really hard. So that’s why I’m telling we are going to suffer because I will continue to do the same.

“To help my players is to give them the tools to play in this way but then without training is really hard, then without training and losing games, you can feel it in the end of the game, everybody was changing position and that is something I will not see again. We can lose but we have to maintain position.

“If I want to show to the media or to the fans, I put two strikers but I didn’t put two strikers because if I do it’s going to be more difficult for them to understand the way we play. I am just here to help my players but we need to understand we are breaking all the bad records. It’s a pride thing we need to change.”

Rashford ‘not what’s best for the team’

Marcus Rashford was not included in United’s match-day squad with Amorim insisting he was not going to include a player “I don’t believe is the best for the team”, despite the club’s struggles.

“It’s his choice and I don’t want to focus in this bad moment because in this moment Rashford is not here, because the last games we lost Rashford was not here,” Amorim said.

“I don’t want to put this moment on Rashford. Rashford is out of this moment because he is not playing. No matter what I am not going to put a player [in] that I don’t believe is the best for the team.”

Real Betis, meanwhile, are moving closer to agreeing a loan deal for United’s £85 million Brazil winger Antony.