RUBEN AMORIM had his gloves on at Old Trafford on Monday night. The gloves have to come off after that defeat for Manchester United.
Amorim was frank, as ever, in his assessment at the post-match press conference and admitted he is “afraid” that United could regress to their form of last season.
He accepted it was his fault that United’s players “didn’t understand the moments of the game during the 90 minutes”.
Amorim sounded keen to get back to Carrington to debrief them. United’s training session on Tuesday was always scheduled as the starting players undergo recovery days the day after a match.
Yet someone needs to take Amorim to task, too. It is results and performances like Everton that fuel the scepticism around United’s most dogmatic manager since Louis van Gaal.
United have players that any manager would gladly inherit, yet they might have to be deprogrammed.
Players complained that they felt like robots under Van Gaal, who would berate some for dribbling and ordered them to take a touch before shooting.
United’s football was so tedious season-ticket holders threatened to not renew unless Van Gaal was sacked.
Amorim is nowhere near as unpopular as Van Gaal was in his second season – he was sacked at the end of it after winning the FA Cup – but United looked as rigid as they did ten years ago in the loss to Everton.
Again, United did not change formation in-game. We have become used to working out Amorim’s attempted game-changing changes purely by how a substitute will fit into his 3-4-2-1 system.
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There was the intent, with the half-time introduction of Mason Mount for Noussiar Mazraoui. Amad shifted to the right wing and Mount flanked Byran Mbeumo behind Joshua Zirkzee.
By then, Everton had had the best part of 40 minutes playing with ten men and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s goal was only ever going to reinforce their focus.
Everton also knew United would stay in the same shape. David Moyes has overseen hundreds of backs-to-the-wall game plans since he first managed in the Premier League in 2002.
Moyes did a number on Amorim, who is becoming an unwittingly defensive coach by his repeated failure to strike the right balance with his selections.
Not for the first time, Amorim picked seven defensive players in United’s starting XI. Amorim actually selected eight at Goodison Park in February.
If you start a game with six defensive outfield players and only four attackers, do not be surprised if you fire blanks. Especially with Zirkzee up front.
Amorim’s tendency to play two out-and-out full backs clips United’s wings. Mazraoui, who had a decent first season, started for only the fourth time this term against Everton. His lack of a pre-season and recent injuries have taken their toll.
Patrick Dorgu was billed by United insiders as the first truly data-led signing. The numbers do not add up.
Dorgu was initially pitted against Seamus Coleman, 16 years his elder. After Coleman headed down the tunnel in the ninth minute, Lewis O’Brien was the auxiliary right back for Everton.
Yet Dorgu is a reluctant attacker. The Stretford Enders got on his back for refusing to take on O’Brien. At Tottenham earlier this month, Amorim shook his head after the Denmark international played a backward pass when Mbeumo made a forward run.
Mazraoui and Dorgu lined up at Spurs and they were United’s weakest players. So why retain them for a home game against a team that was 13th at kick-off?
The ‘United way’ is mythical but the club’s wingers identity isn’t. That has all but died under Amorim, with Amad the only out-and-out winger who has survived his purge.
United do not miss Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Antony, players with enough baggage to fill a carousel. Alejandro Garnacho, undeniably talented, burned his bridges.
But the current options, bar Amad, are not going to bring supporters to their feet. Dorgu is too raw, Mazraoui is not a marauding full back and Diogo Dalot has been out of form all season.
The alternatives are the unsellable bomb squad member, Tyrell Malacia, and the 18-year-old Diego Leon, now behind Malacia in the pecking order.
It felt like a trick of the mind United only had three injuries. Suddenly Malacia and the untried 18-year-old Shea Lacey were on the bench against Everton.
United have a surfeit of No.10s but are still blunt at the tip of the arrow. Zirkzee started for the first time in 225 days and it is 359 days since his last Premier League goal.
Zirkzee is neither here nor there. Amorim admitted in February he is more of a No.10 than a No.9. United have been a slicker side with a false nine this season. There is something false about Zirkzee.
It is not Zirkzee’s fault United bought him as a support striker for Rasmus Hojlund only for them to discover Zirkzee is not a striker. He will see out the season at United but this has to be his last.
United will need bodies when Amad and Bryan Mbeumo are at the Africa Cup of Nations. Like compatriot Wout Weghorst, that is all Zirkzee is: a body.
Zirkzee also had gloves on against Everton amid the chill. He never warmed up.
Man Utd ratings vs Everton
MAN Utd blew a chance to go into the top four after failing to break down ten-man Everton at Old Trafford.
There were very few positives to take from the 1-0 loss that saw old boss David Moyes chalk up his first ever win as a visting manager at the Theatre of Dreams.
But who was the best of a bad bunch for Ruben Amorim’s men… and who had a nightmare night to forget?
Read SunSport’s Katherine Walsh’s full ratings on United’s flops to find out….
