Ruben Amorim arrived at Old Trafford with a cautionary tone and left with his words ringing truer than ever. Manchester United’s stumble, a home defeat despite facing ten men for 77 minutes, exposed a side “nowhere near” the standards their coach demands, and crystallised the Portuguese manager’s unease about the club’s trajectory.
For long stretches, Amorim watched his team grind without reward. Young defenders Patrick Dorgu and Leny Yoro gave the ball away in harmless areas, killing promising moves before they began.
Amad Diallo, introduced to spark mischief, repeatedly chose the wrong option. The usually dependable Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes misfired when chances arrived.
New starter Joshua Zirkzee and substitute Kobbie Mainoo failed to seize the moments they were handed to push for more minutes and keep their World Cup ambitions alive.
Goalkeeper Senne Lammens produced a shaky attempt to stop Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s decisive strike, while Zirkzee’s late header forced a full-length save from Jordan Pickford — a rare flash of threat in an otherwise blunt attacking display.
The jaw-dropping bust-up between Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane left Everton reduced to ten men early on, yet United could not capitalise. With a top-four place tantalisingly within reach — a win would have lifted them to fifth, matching last season’s result could have taken them to fourth — the home side squandered the advantage.
It was the first time United had lost at Old Trafford in the Premier League after the opposition received a red card, ending a run of 36 wins and 10 draws from 46 such matches.
“I know which point we are in,” Amorim said, underlining a sense of realism that has become his hallmark. “We are not there, not even near the point we should be to fight for the best positions in the league. We have a lot to do and we need to be perfect to win games. We were not perfect today.”
He pointed to recent matches where United had led only to be pegged back at Nottingham Forest and Tottenham — missed opportunities that, cumulatively, reveal a team still learning how to close out games.
Amorim surprised some by echoing David Moyes’s view that the Gueye–Keane spat showed a kind of hunger. “Fighting is not a bad thing,” he said.
“Fighting doesn't mean that they don't like each other. Fighting is that you lose the ball and 'I will fight you because we will suffer a goal'. I hope my players, when they lose the ball, fight each other.” He wants intensity and accountability — but not the chaos that costs a man.
A year on from his first game in charge, Amorim’s question — how far away are they? — hangs heavy. United have no European distractions and invested heavily in the summer to climb out of last season’s slump, yet they sit 10th, clustered with Tottenham, Everton and Liverpool, just three points shy of the top four. October’s progress and a manager-of-the-month accolade now feel tempered by November’s regression.
Amorim admitted his fear of slipping back into last season’s malaise. “I feel afraid of returning of this feeling of last season. That is my biggest concern. We need to work together. We are going to work together. The players are trying but we need to be better.”
If Old Trafford was meant to be a statement of intent, the message was muddled.
The challenge for Amorim and his squad is clear: turn flashes of promise into consistent performance, channel internal fire into collective strength, and stop letting precious points evaporate when the stakes are highest.
