Manchester United 0-1 Everton: Ruben Amorim says his team is nowhere near the level it should be

Everton’s recent visit to Old Trafford has angered Ruben Amorim “Statement the storm is coming” Although his team, Manchester United, won 4-0.

Twelve months later, their visit brought more words of caution from Amorim about his team’s development, which proved equally perceptive.

From United’s perspective, the stunning encounter between Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane can be forgotten beyond the knowledge that it left them facing 10 men for 77 minutes.

What followed supported Amorim’s pre-match view that his team was “far from perfect”.

For 77 minutes the United manager watched his players toil.

He saw young defenders Patrick Dorgou and Lenny Euro needlessly give the ball away under any pressure as the home side built attacking momentum.

He has seen Amad Diallo make the wrong choice as he tries to cause an upset, first as a replacement No.10 for Matheus Cunha – who has been sorely missed by the injury that initially forced him to give up turning on the Christmas lights at Altrincham on Saturday night.

He watched Brian Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes, who are usually reliable, fail to execute properly as chances dwindled.

Watch as Joshua Zirkzee, making his first start of the season, and Kobe Maino, who was given an extended spell as Casemiro’s second-half substitute, failed to press their demands for more playing time as needed to keep their World Cup hopes alive.

He also watched goalkeeper Senne Lammens make a questionable attempt to save Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s first-half shot which ultimately proved decisive.

Zirkzee forced Jordan Pickford into a full-time save with a late header.

But there was nothing more.

And as Amorim said on Friday, what has been a five-match unbeaten run could quickly turn into a three-game winless run ahead of a trip to Crystal Palace to follow on Sunday.

He added: “I know what point we are at now.” “I have this feeling on this tour. I always talk about it.

“We are not there, not even near the point where we need to be to fight for the top positions in the league.

“We have a lot to do and we need to be perfect to win games. We were not perfect today.”

It’s worth summarizing United’s last three games.

They progressed past both Nottingham Forest and Tottenham. Had they maintained the advantage, United would have finished second in the ‘as is’ table. On both occasions, they failed to test and actually needed a late equalizer to salvage anything after falling behind.

This time, with the Premier League round completed, United knew that victory would take them to fifth place. If they had equaled last season’s result, it would have lifted them to fourth place.