Ruben Amorim accepts Manchester United "cannot run away" from the bad results they have suffered at the start of the season, but insists the system he plays is not to blame.
United are 14th after six games with two wins and a draw to their name, and head into Saturday's match at home to Sunderland with Amorim again under pressure after a 3-1 loss to Brentford last weekend.
United have taken just 34 points from 33 top-flight games under Portuguese head coach Amorim, and are yet to win consecutive top-flight matches.
Defeat to fifth-placed Sunderland heading into the October international break will inevitably turn up the heat on Amorim, though sources close to the club insist United have not - and are not - lining up a successor.
Criticism is coming from a number of quarters, including United old boys such as Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville, and much of it centres on Amorim's refusal to vary his 3-4-3 system.
He is adamant however, that it is small "details" which have cost United, rather than the system he plays.
"You cannot run away from from the results," he said at his pre-match press conference on Friday.
"We have to look at the games we lost. Did we lose against Arsenal because of the system? When you look at the game against (Manchester) City, was the first thing that you think when the game starts, (about) the system? I think you don't think about the system in that moment.
"And Brentford - the way we concede goals, the way we create chances - there is nothing to do with the system. That is my opinion. And I'm not saying that this team would play better in a different system or not. That is not my point.
"We are not the same team in some details (in the games United lost). We need to do the same thing in the same way every day and we are not doing that. That is my opinion.
"All the effort that we put (in), the maximum effort in every single thing, I think, has not been the same in all the matches. We have to find that balance. It will change everything for us."
Next up for United are a Sunderland side who have impressed on their return to the top flight under Regis Le Bris, with just one defeat from their six league games so far.
"It's a team that plays really well. It's a clear system, the 4-3-3, with a lot of rotations," Amorim said about Saturday's opponents.
"They are confident and they know that we are going to be under pressure, and we are.
"We need to be able to play with that and we are prepared for the tough, tough match."
Meanwhile former Manchester United star Antony says he was treated with "a lack of respect" and "rudeness" after being frozen out of Amorim's plans.
The 25-year-old Brazil international was part of the so-called 'bomb squad' at United of players deemed surplus to requirements and available for sale in the summer.
He ultimately joined Spanish side Real Betis, who he had initially played for on loan in the second half of last season.
Antony told ESPN Brasil he "takes responsibility" for his move to United not working out as he wanted, but has expressed discontent at how certain individuals treated him at Old Trafford.
"I'm not the kind of guy who gets involved in controversies, who names people, in fact, I won't mention anyone's name here," he said.
"But I think there was a bit of a lack of respect there, even a bit of rudeness too, with no one giving you a 'good morning', a 'good afternoon'.
"Not even that. But, anyway, that's in the past, I won't give much importance to these things. Now I'm here, at Betis, I'm living here, that's the most important thing for me."
