Portugal Colonial - Amorim admits job cuts at Man Utd linked to poor results

The troubled Premier League club, who have experienced five successive years of financial losses, announced on Monday they expect up to 200 fresh redundancies as part of a "transformation plan" to improve stability.

Around 250 employees were laid off last year in a first wave of cost-cutting measures, which have also included raising ticket prices.

Amorim arrived at United in November to replace the sacked Erik ten Hag but has won just four Premier League matches during a miserable run.

United are 15th in the table ahead of Wednesday's home match against relegation-threatened Ipswich.

It is an embarrassing position for a club that have failed to mount a serious challenge for the title since Alex Ferguson won the Premier League in 2013 -- his last season before retiring as United boss.

Amorim, 40, was asked at his pre-match press conference whether this week's announcement of job cuts underlined the importance of success on the pitch.

"That is clear," he said. "Of course we have to address all the problems in the club.

"But one important piece of this moment is to understand how we got (into) this situation and it has to do a lot with the lack of success with the football team, because I think we are the engine of any football club.

"So I just want to help the club in my department, to improve the team and improve the players and to have success."

The former Sporting Lisbon boss admitted it was important for his team to lift the gloomy mood around Old Trafford, with Europa League and FA Cup success still possible this season.

"It's hard enough. This year was really hard for everybody," he said.

"We did as a club a lot of changes and, when then you are doing the changes, if you have a football team that is playing well and are winning games, in a certain way it's easier for the fans and for everybody to feel those changes.

"In this moment, we are in the difficult period inside of the club and inside of the pitch so we have to fight against this feeling and we have to do our job, and we're trying our best to help the team to perform better."

A.P.Maia--PC