Manchester United deserve the criticism dealt their way by former captain Roy Keane, so sees Ruben Amorim.

United have the chance to salvage not only silverware, but also Champions League qualification, from a hugely underwhelming season, after they beat Athletic Bilbao 7-1 on aggregate over two legs in the Europa League semi-finals.

They will take on Tottenham, who have had a similarly disappointing Premier League campaign, in the final on May 21.

However, United are without a win in six top-flight matches, and Keane branded their league form as "disgraceful".

Ahead of facing 17th-place West Ham, who are only two points behind the Red Devils.

"We are trying to do our best, but I agree we can do better," Amorim said, as reported by ESPN.

"I don't have anything to say about the criticism, because we deserve it. If we cannot accept everything in this kind of season, I think we are in the wrong business.

"I fully acknowledge that and I agree with all the critics.

"We have to be smart and we have to take a risk. We have to take the risk to get a lot of criticism from everybody, because the standards of Roy Keane and all these guys are really high. But I have to make a choice."

With little but pride to play for in the league, in which United are guaranteed to finish in the bottom half, Amorim said he will look to get the balance right between protecting his key players and ensuring they have enough minutes in the legs in the build-up to the Europa League final.

He added: "Sometimes it's better to play. What I will protect is the players that can get an injury. We want to be competitive also in the Premier League. Bruno [Fernandes] doesn't have the problem of any injury, but Harry has. So we will have to manage that, but they have to play. And it's better to play than to stay out.

"We will not have a lot of training. They will fight for the place in the final in these games. I think against Brentford we had some mistakes.

"I felt that some of our players were thinking about this game [against Athletic Club].

"So we have to manage that. But we also have to acknowledge that we are Manchester United. We need to win games, also in the Premier League.

"We have to use every game to improve, even to prepare for the final, but especially to prepare for the future."

United’s 16 Premier League defeats this season are their most in a league campaign since finishing 13th in 1989-90 (also 16), while they last lost more times in a league season in 1973-74 (20), suffering relegation that campaign.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Manchester United - Amad Diallo

Diallo has returned from injury in a timely boost for United, and was superb from the bench against Bilbao, even if fellow substitute Mason Mount took the headlines with two goals.

Among players with at least 1,000 minutes in the Premier League this season, only nine players average more non-penalty goals and assists per 90 than Diallo (0.71 per 90), while he ranks first for possession won in the final third (1.5 per 90).

West Ham - Jarrod Bowen

Only Jacob Murphy and Harvey Barnes (both six) have been directly involved in more Premier League goals since the beginning of April than Bowen (five – three goals, two assists), while in 2024-25, only Mohamed Salah (57%) and Alexander Isak (44%) have been involved in a higher proportion of their side’s goals than Bowen for the Hammers (17/40 – 43%).

MATCH PREDICTION: MANCHESTER UNITED WIN

United are unbeaten in their last 16 Premier League home games against West Ham (W13 D3), winning each of their last four without conceding.

West Ham have won three of their last four Premier League games against Man Utd (L1), as many as in their previous 28 beforehand (D6 L19). They are looking to complete their first league double over the Red Devils since 2006-07.

And, United are without a win in their last six Premier League games (D2 L4); only between September and November 1992 (D5 L2) have they endured a longer winless run in the competition’s history.

However, only Leicester City (seven), Ipswich Town (six) and Southampton (five) have picked up fewer Premier League points than West Ham since Graham Potter's first game in charge in January (14).

Indeed, the Hammers are winless in their last eight league games (D4 L4), last enduring a longer run in the competition in May 2011 (nine games).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Man Utd - 50%

West Ham - 25.8%

Draw - 24.2%