Coach Ruben Amorim will certainly talk about his regret when Manchester United could not come back against Tottenham. However, they should also blame themselves for letting Spurs lead by 3 goals.
The Red Devils were the better team for most of the first half but ended up 1 goal behind. Man United did not put enough pressure when the ball was passed to Pedro Porro and Dominic Solanke's rebound.
Man United's next two goals conceded in the first 10 minutes of the second half all stemmed from Lisandro Martinez's mistake. In the first goal, the Argentine midfielder's header-scoring goal accidentally became an assist for Kulusevski to easily score. The second goal was even worse when Martinez could not keep up with Solanke and let the Spurs striker cut in from the left wing.
A strong attack combined with 2 mistakes by goalkeeper Fraser Forster helped the "Red Devils" reduce the score to 2-3 and very close to a comeback. However, mistakes in defense, specifically by Andre Onana, caused them to concede a fourth goal. Therefore, Jonny Evans' late goal in the last minute no longer had much meaning.
Obviously, Amorim cannot let Man United concede such basic goals. In addition, the position of goalkeeper Altay Bayindir also leaves questions. The goalkeeper started for Man United because Amorim decided to respect Erik ten Hag's promise that he would play in the Carabao Cup. And when Man United stopped in the quarter-finals, the next time Bayindir appeared in the "Red Devils" goal would be very far away.
In the loss to Tottenham, Marcus Rashford continued to be left out of Amorim's squad. This is the second time in a row that the Portuguese strategist has left the English striker out of the squad.
"I chose players I felt they were strong enough to play a game full of determination. I treat everyone the same, there is no difference, including Rashford. It's all for the progress of the team, I don't think I was wrong to remove his name" - Amorim said when asked about Rashford.
With their elimination from the Carabao Cup, Amorim's side will have to focus on the Premier League, where they are 13th, six points behind the top four.
"I don't feel anything tonight. We can't think that winning the title will make everything okay. It will be a very long journey. We are improving and the team's goal is to win the Premier League. How long will it take? I don't know but that's the team's goal," Amorim said.
