“Frustrated, angry, that is it.”
Ruben Amorim opened his post-match news conference with that verdict after Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with West Ham, a reaction that echoed around Old Trafford as some fans booed the team off. Former United captain Roy Keane used similar language, describing the feeling of many supporters.
“The word everyone will be using is frustration,” Keane told Sky Sports. “I wouldn’t trust or believe in this team. There are more goals [in them] but defensively and in midfield there are still huge question marks.”
Amorim, appearing unusually agitated though insisting he was calm, said he would avoid an immediate dressing-room outburst like the one after the home defeat to Brighton in January — when he cut his hand and broke a TV. He plans to deal with issues at Carrington on Friday, preferring not to speak to players while emotions are still high.
He knew what had gone wrong against West Ham: why United failed to hold the second-half lead from Diogo Dalot’s goal, and why Soungoutou Magassa reacted quickest to Noussair Mazraoui’s goal-line clearance from Jarrod Bowen’s flicked header at a corner to score his first English football goal in the 83rd minute. West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo called the equaliser “deserved” for a side third-bottom and with just two away points since their August win at Nottingham Forest.
“It happened with a long ball,” Amorim said. “They win the second ball against three guys. Second balls sometimes are tactical things. We try to adjust with the players we have. In the final minutes, the ball was far from the opponent. We cannot let a team that is so much taller than us have a corner.”
The worry for United is a developing pattern of surrendering late leads. Keane pointed to previous examples: at Nottingham Forest in November, and at Tottenham a week later, United conceded late to drop points. After the international break they lost to Everton at home despite Everton being reduced to 10 men. Now, seven minutes from fifth place, United sit eighth in a congested table — 11 clubs separated by four points — leaving questions over whether they are good, average or poor.
There is a consensus that United have made progress from last season’s 15th place and more than £200m spent, but inconsistency remains. In October Amorim won manager of the month after three wins in a row; now the run is one win in five. Amorim rejects the notion they are regressing.
“It’s not going backwards,” he said. “We had some moments. That can happen. You were talking about when we had the run and [saying that] we were perfect, when we were not. We are inconsistent. If you look at the goal, after 83 minutes there is a long ball and we have everything under control. We must do better.”
United travel to bottom club Wolves on Monday, once more finishing the Premier League match round with a target to hit — and another chance to stop the slide.
