Ruben Amorim is calling time as Manchester United’s slump continues

After Tottenham’s chaotic Carabao Cup quarter-final exit last week was compounded by an Old Trafford defeat by Bournemouth, things went from bad to worse as they suffered a third straight defeat.

United captain Bruno Fernandes’ red card for a second yellow card turned the tide of the match soon after the break when Mateus Cunha headed home from a corner at a shaky Molineux.

The Wolves star came on as a substitute for Hwang Hee-chan to complete a 2-0 win in stoppage time as Amorim’s 10th match in charge ended in a fifth defeat, leaving the side 14th in the Premier League table .

“Ideas take time,” United’s head coach said. “I already told you it’s going to be a tough time and we’re far from the end of it and that’s it.

“We have to go on and focus on the next game.”

Asked how long he thought it would take to make his mark, Amorim said, “I have no idea. I don’t know. Instead of me trying to figure out how long it would take, just day by day.

“Improving, trying to watch videos, using every minute of practice and trying to win some points because that’s really important at this moment.”

United are closer on points to the relegation zone than to the Champions League places ahead of their final match of 2024 at home to in-form Newcastle.

“At this point, we just have to survive and buy time to work as a team,” Amorim said.

“We already knew that. I start this job and you start with a team, a new idea, no training time, lots of games, hard games.

“We already knew that, so it’s a long journey, as I said on the first day. We have to continue and we have to fight these bad moments because that’s part of football.”

Explaining to Amorim that he cannot think about European qualification at the moment, he said: “No, no, no, no.

“We have a lot of things to work on at our club – on the pitch, off it – so let’s focus on every game, every time and use every minute of training and playing to improve the team.”

While United nurse their wounds, Wolves head to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday looking to continue their perfect start to life under Pereira, with Gary O’Neill’s successor completing an impressive 3-0 win over Leicester in style.

“A fantastic feeling,” said the Portuguese after his first home match in charge. “Special because of the spirit of the team.

“Now, I think we can see that the players are willing to suffer together. They are ready to run, fight, compete for every ball.

“I feel they have the confidence to play and win games and that’s the most important thing for me.”

Pereira’s name was buzzing around Molineux after the win, in which Cunha was the star and the forward’s goal from a corner was the key moment of the triumph.

United also conceded in the same way at Spurs last Thursday, with substitute goalkeeper Altay Bayindir in place of Andre Onana between the sticks.

Asked if he had watched the video, Pereira said: “Of course we analyze every match.

“We try, I think the whole staff tries to understand the movements or the spaces that we can explore and we try not to let them do that against us. This is football. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t.”