‘I Hope My Players Fight Each Other’ – Amorim Admits Man Utd Are ‘Nowhere Near’ After Dire Everton Defeat

Everton’s previous trip to Old Trafford produced Ruben Amorim’s ominous warning that “the storm is coming” despite Manchester United winning 4–0 that day. Twelve months on, the Portuguese coach delivered another cold dose of reality, and this time his words felt even more on the nose.

United’s 1–0 defeat to Everton will be remembered for the extraordinary first half clash between Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane a moment of chaos that left the visitors down to 10 men for 77 minutes. From a United perspective, that incident might as well be forgotten, because what followed only exposed every flaw Amorim had flagged before kick off.

For more than an hour, the United boss watched his side labour painfully.

Teenage defenders Patrick Dorgu and Leny Yoro repeatedly gave the ball away under no pressure.
Amad Diallo, thrown in as a No.10 after Matheus Cunha pulled out injured literally minutes after missing Altrincham’s Christmas lights switch on consistently chose the wrong option.
Normally dependable figures like Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes squandered chances with sloppy execution.

Up front, Joshua Zirkzee, on his first start of the season, and Kobbie Mainoo, on for Casemiro, failed to make any real case for more minutes something both desperately need ahead of next summer’s World Cup selection battles.

Even goalkeeper Senne Lammens will want to forget his attempt to stop Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s tame first half strike, the goal that ultimately split the sides.

Zirkzee did force Jordan Pickford into a full stretch save late on, but United produced little else.

The defeat means a five match unbeaten run has suddenly morphed into a three-game slide without victory and Crystal Palace away looms on Sunday.

“I know exactly where we are,” Amorim said. “We’re not there, not even close to where we should be to fight for the top positions. We have a lot to do, and we need to be perfect to win games. We were not perfect today.”

The numbers underline his point.

United led in both of their previous matches at Nottingham Forest and Tottenham. Win those and they’d have been sitting second in the ‘as it stands’ table. Instead, they needed late equalisers after throwing both leads away.

Against Everton, completing the Premier League weekend, United knew victory would take them fifth; a repeat of last season’s scoreline would have put them fourth.

Yet for 77 minutes, they had a man advantage at home and still lost.

It is the first time in Premier League history that Manchester United have been beaten at Old Trafford after the opposition received a red card. Of the previous 46 such occasions, United had won 36 and drawn 10.

“Old Trafford was saying ‘we’re here to take a big step’, and I felt we were not ready,” the manager admitted.
“People talk about our evolution these last five weeks, but I keep saying the same thing we’re nowhere near what we’re supposed to be.”

So the question now, exactly a year since Amorim’s first match a 1–1 draw against an Ipswich Town side that were later relegated is simple: how far away are United?

This is a team with no European commitments, unlike Palace, who play midweek. The club spent £250 million in the summer after finishing an unacceptable eighth under Erik ten Hag.

Now they sit 10th, part of a four team cluster with Spurs, Everton and Liverpool, all within three points of the top four. The upcoming fixture list offers ample opportunity to collect points. But which version of United will show up?

Amorim didn’t sugar coat his verdict.

“Frustration, disappointment,” he said. “They were the better team. We deserved to lose. Twenty minutes in, the opponent gets a red card we need to win this game, no matter what.”