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19 hours ago
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Everton's last visit to Old Trafford triggered Ruben Amorim's infamous 'the storm is coming statement' even though his Manchester United side won 4-0.
Twelve months on, their visit brought more words of caution from Amorim about his side's evolution that proved equally perceptive.
From a United perspective, the jaw-dropping clash between Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane can be forgotten beyond the knowledge it left them facing 10 men for 77 minutes.
What followed backed up Amorim's pre-game view his side is "far from perfection".
For 77 minutes the United head coach watched his players toil.
He watched young defenders Patrick Dorgu and Leny Yoro needlessly give the ball away under no pressure as the home side were building attacking momentum.
He watched Amad Diallo take the wrong option as he tried to cause a nuisance, first as a number 10 replacement for Matheus Cunha - who was badly missed due to the injury that initially forced him to forgo switching on Altrincham's Christmas lights on Saturday evening.
He watched as the normally reliable Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes failed to execute correctly as chances went begging.
He watched as Joshua Zirkzee, given his first start of the season, and Kobbie Mainoo, given an extended run as a second-half replacement for Casemiro, failed to press their claims for more game time as is being demanded to maintain their respective World Cup hopes.
He also watched as goalkeeper Senne Lammens made a questionable attempt to save Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall's first-half effort that ultimately proved decisive.
Zirkzee did force Jordan Pickford into a full length save with a header near the end.
But there was nothing more.
As Amorim said on Friday, what had been a five-match unbeaten run could quickly turn into a three-game one without a win with a trip to Crystal Palace to follow on Sunday.
"I know which point we are in," he said. "I have that feeling during this run. I always talk about that.
"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."
It is worth recapping United's last three games.
At both Nottingham Forest and Tottenham, they led. If they had maintained the advantage, United would have been second in the 'as it stands' table. On both occasions, they failed the test and actually needed late equalisers to salvage anything after falling behind.
This time round, completing the Premier League match round, United knew a win would take them fifth. If they had matched last season's result, it would have lifted them to fourth.
Let's repeat. For 77 minutes, with that prize at stake, they played against 10 men, at home. And lost.
It was the first time Manchester United have lost a Premier League match at Old Trafford after seeing the opposition pick up a red card, winning 36 and drawing 10 of the previous 46.
"Old Trafford was there saying 'we are all here to give a big step up' and I felt that we were not ready," he said.
"Again, these five weeks, when everyone is praising our evolution, I'm always saying the same things. We are not even near what we're supposed to be in this club."
The big question, a year to the day since his first game, a 1-1 draw at an Ipswich side that got relegated, is 'how far away are they?'
This is a United side with no European distractions such as the one Palace have less than three days before the Selhurst Park encounter.
The club spent £250m in the summer trying to lift a group of players that had plunged to an unthinkable 15th last season.
As they sit 10th in the table, in the middle of a group of four clubs that includes Tottenham, Everton and Liverpool, just three points off the top four, where are United headed as they go into a run of fixtures that offers huge scope to collect points?
When they finished eighth under Erik ten Hag, it was regarded as unacceptable.
"Frustration, disappointment," was Amorim's response when asked to sum up what he had just seen.
"They were the better team. We deserved to lose.
"Twenty minutes in the game, red card for the opponent. We need to win this game no matter what."
Amorim even agreed with David Moyes in saying he felt the Gueye-Keane spat showed a welcome sign of desire. It is a sight he wants to see from his own team - without the red card of course.
"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."
So, after the steps forward - and manager of the month award - in October, November has seen regression.
We still don't really know what this Manchester United team is. It feels like Amorim thinks the same way.
What he cannot allow is the backward steps to take them right back to the meat of last season, when every game felt like a defeat waiting to happen. When he left for games worried about what he was about to witness.
"I feel afraid of returning of this feeling of last season," he said. "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."
