Ruben Amorim admitted Manchester United were “confused” and “afraid” as his first match in charge of the troubled club ended in a frustrating 1-1 draw at struggling Ipswich on Sunday.
Amorim’s initial taste of the Premier League started with Marcus Rashford putting United ahead in the second minute.
But Omari Hutchinson’s deflected strike hauled Ipswich level before half-time to deny Amorim a debut victory after replacing the sacked Erik ten Hag.
Amorim has arrived from Sporting Lisbon to find a team in turmoil and languishing in 12th place in the Premier League.
While he was impressed by United’s work rate against third-bottom Ipswich, he conceded there were numerous flaws to iron out.
“It is a tough league. My players were thinking too much during the game. You can feel it. Not just on the ball but where they are supposed to be on the pitch,” he said.
“We lost some balls. When you start like this with one goal, you have to control the tempo. We cannot do it at the moment but they really tried.
“You have to keep the ball and know the momentum. We are doing some things not in the right moment. We have to address this.
“If you see the first half we were a little bit afraid. When we don’t have training, we had two days, they are confused a little bit. You feel that in the data.”
Despite having just two days to work with the whole United squad after the international break, Amorim deployed his preferred 3-4-3 formation.
That system helped Sporting win two Portuguese titles in his four seasons with the club, but Amorim said United found it tricky to adapt with little preparation time.
“It is hard with just two days. Everyone talks about the 3-4-3 but that is not the concern. A system is a system, but the understanding of the game we have to improve a lot in this area,” he said.
“I know it is hard for some guys to understand this. We have two ways. We try to just win games and don’t risk nothing. Then I guarantee at this stage next year we would have the same problems.
“So now we will have some problems, but we have to address the new idea and try to be better at the same stage next year.”
Questioning whether United have the strength required to succeed in the Premier League, Amorim added: “First they have to understand the game, then they need to be so much better physically to cope with the high pressure. We need time to work on this.
“They want this. Sometimes they don’t know how to get it. That is my feeling.”
