Ruben Amorim oversaw the most emphatic win of his fledgling Manchester United reign as they swept Everton aside, but described the 4-0 win as “far from a perfect performance”.
Speaking to BBC Match of the Day after the game, the Portuguese tactician said: “We have to improve, you can feel that in the game. After 15 minutes Everton controlled the game and it was difficult for us and we were losing the second ball.”
Amorim has placed heavy emphasis on intensity in the midfield, so will have taken great exception to his players being beaten to the ball by Sean Dyche’s men.
He was nevertheless happy about the reaction of his players. “I felt that the players could solve some problems that we have as a team because of the quality that they have, but it was far from a perfect performance but a really good result and tough match.”
There were certainly some hairy moments for United in the first half before Marcus Rashford opened the scoring from a Bruno Fernandes corner kick.
It was a well-worked goal from a set piece, and Amorim was keen to give credit where it is due. “You have to congratulate the players and the rest of the staff,” he told the BBC.
“The most important thing on set pieces is the staff, so great job. You can see how tall they are and how small we are as a team, so we tried to see where we’d have space to create danger.”
Any mention of danger in relation to today’s performance has to include Amad Diallo, who was on fire down the right flank.
“He is really big in talent, but small in size. He did a great job but he also has to improve. He is [in] a great moment,” Amorim said. “Ruud van Nistelrooy helped him a lot in his games in charge and now he’s helping me.”
Ever since Amorim walked through the door at Old Trafford the mood has picked up, and the convincing scoreline today has kept things positive.
“It helps to have a new face, it always helps. We have to be very clear to our fans and this will always help,” he said.
“Rather than trying to convince the fans about this performance we have a lot to do, it will take time. Sometimes we are not playing well but defended everyone together. Our fans just ask for hard work and then in time they will ask for better football.”
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Joe Ponting
Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried.
