Paul Merson names the EPL club Amorim would have been a 'perfect fit' for

Paul Merson has suggested that Ruben Amorim would be a better fit at one of Manchester United's Premier League rivals amid the Portuguese manager's woeful start to the season at Old Trafford.

The former Sporting Lisbon manager arrived in Manchester amid much fanfare last November, following the ignominious departure of Erik ten Hag.

But rather than improve upon the side's position, the Red Devils continued to struggle as Amorim sought to impose his playing style on the existing squad.

Man United limped to a less-than-impressive 15th-placed finish in the Premier League, and were unable to win a spot in Europe after defeat in the Europa League final to fellow top-flight strugglers Tottenham.

After being heavily backed in the transfer window, fans hoped that Amorim would finally be able to blossom on English soil at the start of the current campaign.

But with only one win under their belt - against newly promoted Premier League side Burnley - and an unedifying early Carabao Cup exit to League Two minnows Grimsby, spirits remain low at Carrington.

Rather than suggest that the manager was unfit for English football however, Merson was keen to stress that he felt that Amorim's tactics could work - but at a rival club.

Calling his dogged devotion to his 4-3-3 playing style a 'worry', Merson added in his column for Sky Sports that Amorim was unwilling to change.

'He'll look at it and say "I've got where I am today by playing the way I play", using three at the back and high wing-backs,' Merson wrote.

'He would have been a perfect fit for Chelsea.

'They've got world-class wing-backs in Reece James and Malo Gusto, they've got the best holding midfield player in the league in Moises Caicedo. It would fit the players.'

Merson added that he believes that Man United will be 'nowhere near it' when it comes to the European places at the end of the season.

'He still hasn't won back-to-back games in the league, nearly a year in,' Merson continued. 'That's unthinkable for a club like Man Utd. Unthinkable.'

Amorim cut a bullish figure in the wake of the club's most recent defeat to Man City on Sunday afternoon.

The visitors lost 3-0 at the Etihad in a performance which worried a slew of Man United legends and fans alike.

'I won't change my philosophy,' Amorim said after full-time. 'If they (the United hierarchy) want it changed, you change the man.

'I am not going to change my philosophy. I will play my way until I want to change.

'Guys, I understand (the questions) and I accept it is not a record you should have at Man United. But there are a lot of things that you have no idea about what happen in the last months.

'I understand everything. It is normal (if fans are losing faith), but I don't accept that we are not doing better. We are doing better and the results don't show that, the record says everything, I understand.

'My message is I will do everything. I will give everything. It is not my decision, the rest. I will do my best. I am suffering more than (the fans).'