Ruben Amorim delivered a blunt assessment of Manchester United’s chaotic 2-2 draw with Everton in an uncharacteristically frustrated post-match interview, revealing he “doesn’t know” why his players continue to perform so inconsistently.
United found themselves two-nil down at the interval at Goodison Park after the David Moyes’ side thoroughly outplayed them in the first half.
Basic errors; inexplicable decisions; poor passes; terrible execution; United’s first forty-five minutes will have come as no surprise to the club’s fanbase but it appears their head coach is also beginning to lose patience with his adopted squad.
The Reds improved markedly in the second half, though it would be questionable to assess it as an actually ‘good’ performance – better than rubbish is still not good. Two brilliant goals from Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte rescued a point for United and it was Amorim’s side who were pressing for a winner as the referee blew the final whistle.
However, Everton almost snatched a late winner after a penalty was awarded after Ashley Young simulated enough contact from Harry Maguire’s silly shirt pull to convince the ref to point to the spot. VAR intervened to save United’s blushes and Andy Madley was implored to reconsider his decision at the monitor; which he duly did.
Amorim agreed with the reversal, describing Maguire’s interference with former United star Young as a “soft touch” in his post-match interview with TNT Sports.
But the United boss cut a much more frustrated figure than United fans may have come to expect from the usually upbeat interviews of the past few months.
He appeared at a loss for why his players failed to execute his game-plan in the first half, revealing the second-half improvement came as a result of United following the instructions in training, rather than a substitution or tactical change.
“In training, we continue to do the same. That’s why in the second half we didn’t change anything, we have to do the same thing but in a good way,” Amorim explained. “We need to play the whole game.”
The inconsistency United display in matches, despite positive performances in training, was a constant source of frustration for Amorim’s predecessor, Erik ten Hag. And it’s an issue the Portuguese coach appears increasingly angry with.
When asked why his side continued to struggle, Amorim bluntly replied: “I don’t know. If I knew I would change it. We have to continue to think about the next game, and everything we do in the week we have to do it in the game” – reinforcing this frustration with performances in training not being replicated on match day.
United’s struggles in front of goal continued at Goodison Park with the comeback draw inspired by strikes from midfielders. Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee produced a dismal combination of performances up front.
Amorim admitted his side continue to “struggle” in front of goal but appears to suggest it’s a team issue as much as a striker issue: “we’re not scoring goals, but also [not] creating chances”.
The head coach was then asked how he will seek to improve his team: “In this moment, we need to focus day-by-day. We need to survive this season, that is clear, and then to think ahead. But we have so many problems.”
If United continue to implode at the rate they are going, with the Reds only three places away from the relegation zone, ‘survival’ may simply constitute survival in the Premier League – a damning indictment on the club’s position, though blame for this lies far above the head coach being forced to face the cameras.
Featured image Jan Kruger via Getty Images
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Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
