BREAKING: Manchester United’s leadership urgently summoned Ruben Amorim, directing him to adopt a 4-3-3 formation, leaving him stunned, while some club officials now believe his sacking is inevitable.

Ruben Amorim has insisted Manchester United will have to sack him if they want to change his 3-4-3 system that failed again at the Etihad Stadium.

Phil Foden’s first-half opener and Erling Haaland’s two second-half goals saw out a straightforward victory for Manchester City.

Former United captain Roy Keane, speaking as a pundit on Sky Sports, suggested that players have lost faith in Amorim’s formation and way of playing. And current managers such as Fulham’s Marco Silva have been talking this season about how to get the better of United’s system.

“There are a lot of things you have no idea what happened during these months, but I accept that it is not a record you should have in Manchester United,” said Amorim. “But I am not going to change. When I want to change my philosophy, I will change. If not, you have to change the man.

“We will talk about that [formation] in every game that we lose. I don’t believe that it is in the system, or whatever. I believe in my way and I am going to play my way until I want to change.”

United have recorded just eight Premier League victories since Amorim replaced Erik ten Hag last November, and no ever-present Premier League side have performed worse than his team in this period.

While Amorim saw positive signs from his team against City, the goals they conceded were poor defensively. United have made their worst start to a Premier League season after four games since 1992-93 under Sir Alex Ferguson.

Amorim had suggested he would speak to the club about his future during the international break and question marks will remain over his tenure while United are in the bottom half of the table.

“I understand everything. That is normal, that is normal with the results, I accept that,” he said. “I see that we are doing better but the results don’t show that. Again, I remember last year we played at my former club [Sporting Lisbon] against City. We won 4-1.

“It was not near the opportunities, the way we control the game compared to this game against City. But in certain moments we were not better than City. I understand that. It is hard and the record says everything. I understand.

“My message is that I am going to give everything. I will do everything, always thinking about what is best for the club. That was always the same message. The rest is not my decision. Until I am here, I will do my best. I really want to win games. I am suffering more than them.”

Amorim admitted he was ‘suffering’ during United’s slump – PA/Nick Potts

Fulham manager Silva recently outlined how to play against United before recording a draw against them, saying their set-up allows opposition to “create superiority in the middle”. Working as a pundit on the BBC, Robbie Savage suggested his Forest Green Rovers team would relish playing against United in the FA Cup, such is their current form.

Keane, describing United’s problems, added: “My worry is maybe the players haven’t got that much faith in it. As much as the manager is saying ‘this is where we are going’, as the results don’t come and you are getting beaten by the better teams, he is making loads of changes. It is like they are going round in circles.

“We gave him the benefit of the doubt when he first came in. You talk about the system but the manager is sticking to his guns, he is not budging. You look at the results and the points per game, goals for and against. It is not good reading. It does concern me.”

It was an emotional afternoon at the Etihad Stadium as the news of Ricky Hatton’s death filtered through to fans, who knew the former world boxing champion as one of their own.

“I had extra motivation going into the game, it was for him and his family,” said Foden. “It was all for him and we are delighted with the result.”

City manager Pep Guardiola added: “I’ve been 10 years here, there’s a lot of minutes silence, I don’t remember one so so so intense like today. I want to say thank you so much for Man United fans for the way they behave and they applaud.

“It was a special, special moment. Of course, there’s no words that can explain the pain that the family can feel right now for this loss. I know how incredible Man City fan he is, he could live the bad moments and the good moments in the last 10, 15 years. I think he will enjoy it. I know for the fans how close he was.”