Ruben Amorim delivers honest Man Utd 'rollercoaster' prediction | OneFootball

Ruben Amorim has warned that the rest of Manchester United's season may be "a rollercoaster" as the players continue to adapt to his demands.

The Old Trafford crowd were taken on a breathless loop in the closing stages of United's clash with Southampton on Thursday night. The hosts deservedly trailed their struggling visitors heading in to the contest's final eight minutes before Amad Diallo's first senior hat-trick salvaged all three points.

Amorim admitted that his side "didn't play well" against the Saints and warned that, with such little opportunity to work with a set of players he only met for the first time in November, it may not be a straight line to success.

"I think it's going to be hard until the end of the season," the Portuguese boss fretted while speaking to the assembled media on Friday. "It's going to be a rollercoaster.

"It depends on the time you have to train. We are still in the FA Cup and we have Europa League games. Then it's important to focus on next Thursday to win [against Rangers] and to try to be in the top eight.

Man Utd needed a late cameo from Amad Diallo to beat the worst team in the Premier League / Carl Recine/GettyImages

"We are trying to do everything at the same time. We have seven trainings together in 14, 15 games. It's really hard, but we continue and try to win, sometimes playing good, sometimes playing bad."

United impressed during their recent visits to the homes of Liverpool and Arsenal before the late escape act against Southampton. Amorim warned that United's historic preference to counter-attack - and subsequent struggles to break down a settle defence - will take time to fix.

"We were, in the past, a team of transition and we still are," the former Sporting CP boss shrugged. "You can feel it. To create chances in the final third, we struggled a lot.

"It's something that we have to change. To change, we need training. So to have time to change, we need to win games and we will try to do that."

The next turn in United's rollercoaster pits them against Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon. The Seagulls have won each of their past two visits to the Theatre of Dreams.