Why getting the sack isn't Ruben Amorim's biggest concern at Manchester United

Ruben Amorim accepts he is at risk of getting the sack at Manchester United if results don't improve but is willing to take the gamble of sticking by his methods, despite the lack of patience shown to previous Old Trafford bosses.

Amorim is 20 games into his tenure as United head coach but eight of those matches have ended in defeat and his team sit 13th in the Premier League ahead of Sunday's trip to Tottenham Hotspur.

The 40-year-old has been insistent that he won't abandon his 3-4-2-1 system despite the difficulties he has experienced in getting those methods across to a squad that look ill-suited to his demands. United flirted with a relegation battle over the festive period and have endured some wretched Old Trafford defeats under Amorim.

By refusing to compromise those principles Amorim is aware he is taking a risk by relying on the patience of his bosses, with the Portuguese the sixth permanent manager since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013, but he claimed that the biggest fear in his job wasn't getting the sack, but failing to win games.

"I accept that [risk]," he said. "It’s a choice you make when you’re a coach but I truly believe in the way I do things. I know in this kind of club with this kind of pressure you are always at risk.

"I am aware of that but it is not my biggest concern. I will say it again – losing games is the hardest part of my job, not being sacked. I just want to win games."

Amorim has often had to put square pegs into round holes during his first few months at United, with the squad not built to fill either his positional requirements or the physical demands of his system.

But there was criticism when he fielded left-footer Patrick Dorgu on the right against Leicester City last