Manchester United handed ruthless three word verdict amid Ruben Amorim January transfer warning

Manchester United are not "strong enough" to compete at the top end of the Premier League and Ruben Amorim knows they are "miles off it". That is the verdict of former Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given, who delivered a brutal reaction following United's 3-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth.

United were thrashed at Old Trafford by the in-form Cherries thanks to goals from Dean Huijsen, Justin Kluivert and Antoine Semenyo. It was a disappointing afternoon for Amorim's side, who had more shots and shots on target than their opponents but Bournemouth came out on top with the most important statistic - the scoreline.

The result is a body blow for United, who remain 13th in the Premier League table, a mammoth nine points behind fourth-place Nottingham Forest and 17 adrift of leaders Liverpool after just 17 matches. That gap between United and Liverpool just shows how far they are behind from winning the title at this point.

In an honest post-match verdict, Given, who played over 700 games during his professional career, said on BBC's Match of the Day 2: "I think [Andoni] Iraola is a good example because when we joined we were asking if it’s a good appointment after Gary O’Neil, look at the results, it’s not good enough.

"Is the Man United squad good enough, strong enough to compete at the top for the Premier League title? They’re miles off it and Ruben Amorim knows it. There will be hard months and hard work to be done, in January you’d like to think he’d be backed to bring his own players in."

Meanwhile, Amorim, who replaced Erik ten Hag as United's new permanent head coach in November and has won just four of his nine matches in charge so far, admitted conceding the first goal against Bournemouth was crucial.

He said in his