Man United will lose many more matches from now until the end of the season. Looking at Ruben Amorim's record in the Premier League, he has played 39 matches with 12 wins, 9 draws and 18 losses. With the goal of returning to the European Cup, Man United should only hope that finishing in the Top 6 is already too good. However, even if they set such goals, their journey to get there is predicted to be extremely difficult.
David Moyes' 0-1 loss to his 10-man side was not simply a poor result. It was a weak, superficial and alarming performance. This is also the first time in Premier League history that Man United have lost at Old Trafford when their opponents have chased them.
It is more noteworthy that the red card came from Idrissa Gana Gueye's swings of his hand hitting his teammate Michael Keane in the face. Gueye was pulled off the pitch in a fit, thinking Everton were about to collapse. However, Man United could not take advantage of this gift from the opponent.
Instead of punishing the weakened opponent, M.U became the inferior team for most of the time, both before and after the red card. The performance was so bad that Amorim ended the match with a sarcastic reminder that he wanted his players to show fighting spirit like Gueye.
Losing points against 10 people and the performance was even worse than the result
Man United controlled the ball more after the break, playing like a normal 11-10 match. However, that alone exposed another weakness: more space, more time but less creativity. They could not break Everton's defense and could not respond to the opponent's opening goal.
This is the 6th match this season that Man United has had superior possession but still did not win. They have crossed the ball 38 times, the largest number since the beginning of the season. The hopeless crosses reminded fans of the "81- crossing disaster" against Fulham in 2014, one of the symbols of David Moyes' own failed period at Old Trafford.
Amorim has been criticised for not changing tactics against a 10-man opponent. He kept the 3-4-3 system instead of changing the attack method when he was behind. Amorim has complained that this system is only scrutinized when the team loses but is completely overlooked when the team wins. This time, he is right because the problem lies in the attitude of the game rather than the tactical diagram.
Low intensity, lack of attack plans and Sesko's missed
Amorim pointed out the lack of intensity as the main reason for the recent loss. The absence of Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko - who can take advantage of crosses - has left Man United lacking a real point to play. Joshua Zirkzee played hard in his first starting match in 225 days but was still not sharp enough to make an impression.
However, the paradox is that Everton used two older players from Carrington - Michael Keane and James Garner, both of whom played more minutes than the total number of minutes Amorim has given to the young generation of Man United this season.
The recent loss turned M.U's 5-match unbeaten streak into 3 non-Winning matches and the mentality will decline very quickly after the dismal performance at Old Trafford.
Amid the two extremes of invincibility and helplessness, where is Man United really?
Man United enters this round only 1 point behind the Top 4 but is only 7th on the rankings. Statistics show that the 7th team will average lose 12 matches in a Premier League season. After 1/3 of the season, the "Red Devils" have lost 4 and are on schedule according to forecasts.
After the match, as usual, Amorim made strong statements when he emphasized that the compliments in the past did not accurately reflect the level Man United had to reach. However, the most worrying thing is when the Portuguese captain admitted that he was afraid of the feeling of returning from last season.
The hype of last season has not completely disappeared. It was present in every ball, every indecision, every moment Man United let their 10-man opponent overwhelm them right at home. The current worry is not the Red Devils' loss, it is how they lost.
A team lacks spirit, lacks ideas, lacks courage and if it does not change immediately, this type of defeat will continue.
