Ruben Amorim warned his players that Manchester United will ‘have to take all the heat’ after stumbling to another Premier League defeat.
United were beaten 4-3 at Brentford as they continued to struggle domestically despite moving to the brink of the Europa League final, and Amorim accepts it is a trend that cannot continue.
‘This kind of season, we need to change that, they need to understand what is to play for Manchester United,’ he said. ‘They have to understand this season is really important, we cannot do this anymore.
‘So we have to take all the heat. At this moment we are losing games in the Premier League. We want to be competitive. It is really hard, but we are doing the best we can.’
Amorim made eight changes to protect players from injury ahead of the semi-final second leg against Athletic Bilbao on Thursday and named United’s youngest Premier League line-up ever.
But Mason Mount, whose second league goal for United was one of the positives, insisted that was no excuse.
‘There were changes but it's Manchester United so any team that goes out there that puts on the shirt we need to perform and win games,’ said Mount.
‘We need to do better. We need to win this game. I know there's a big game on Thursday, but first and foremost was today. It (the comeback) was too late when they scored four.
‘The season we've had in the Premier League is something we need to look at massively.’