Erik ten Hag said both he and his players must "step up" and take responsibility for Manchester United's 2-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest - their ninth Premier League defeat of the season.
United faced Forest fresh from a 3-2 win against Aston Villa, but were dealt a blow before kick off on Saturday when Rasmus Hojlund, who scored the winner at Old Trafford, was ruled out through illness.
Sir Dave Brailsford, who is part of the INEOS Group who this month bought a 25 per cent stake in the club, sat next to former manager Sir Alex Ferguson at the City Ground to witness United's latest damaging defeat, a result that leaves them nine points off Arsenal in fourth.
"They [INEOS] know me. They know when I have a squad available the results will be there. This is part of a project," said Ten Hag.
"We were over-performing last year, this year we are underperforming. We have to step up and I have to lead that process.
"Definitely [Dave Brailsford] will see we have our problems. You want to build on the last result but we have to change our striker."
When asked to pinpoint the overarching reason for United's poor campaign, Ten Hag said: "No team can deal with so many issues and injuries we have.
"Today, again, we had to change as we lost Hojlund. Every time, we have to swap our team and that doesn't help support the routines in the team, therefore it's also explainable as to why you are so inconsistent."
Ten Hag will look for a change in fortune in January when players such as Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez, Mason Mount, Victor Lindelof, Hojlund and Harry Maguire are expected to return from injury and illness.
Next five Premier League fixtures
"In January we have a lot of players returning so then our levels can be higher," he added.
"They [the fans] want to have us winning and that is what we have to serve them."
Numbers behind Man Utd's poor season
- Man Utd have scored only 22 Premier League goals this season - only the bottom two sides have netted fewer.
- Ten Hag's side have suffered 21 defeats in all competitions in 2023 – only in 1930 (28), 1972 (25) and 1921 (24) have they ever lost more in a calendar year.
- United have lost 14 in all competitions this season - the most before the end of the year in a single season since 1930/31, when they finished bottom.
- Their nine league defeats this season is as many as they suffered in the whole of 2022/23.
