Amorim

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.

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has not ruled out Kobbie Mainoo and Joshua Zirkzee leaving in January to further their World Cup ambitions – but says the interests of his club will come first.

Neither player has started a Premier League game this season. Zirkzee has figured for just 82 minutes in the top flight, while Mainoo has played for 93 minutes since coming on at half-time against Burnley on 30 August.

Both players are known to be unhappy about the situation and – having lost their international spots with England and the Netherlands respectively – are keen to secure January moves to get regular game time before next summer’s World Cup.

Amorim sympathises with the pair, but says he will only sanction moves if they are right for United.

“I was a football player,” he said. “I understand everything, and I want to help my players in every situation.

“I understand the frustration of some players, seeing the World Cup is there. I know what it means.

“But the first thing is that the club comes first. If I can help the club and the players, I will be happy. If not I have to think about the team.”

Both Mainoo and Zirkzee could profit from the injury to striker Benjamin Sesko and the departures of Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo to the Africa Cup of Nations next month.

That is without the strange case of Matheus Cunha, who pulled out of a planned appearance to switch on the Altrincham Christmas lights on Saturday with an injury a club source described as “minor”.

United are on a five -game unbeaten run heading into Monday’s game against Everton at Old Trafford.

But United’s two most recent games were draws at Nottingham Forest and Tottenham that required late equalisers after Amorim’s side had squandered first-half leads.

For that reason, the former Sporting boss is reluctant to say the “storm” he predicted in his early days at the club has passed.

“I don’t like to say the storm is over,” he said. “It’s my job, especially in our club, to always have that feeling [that a storm is coming].

“It gives me the sense of urgency in every training [session] and, in the Premier League, everything can change so fast because all the teams can win any game.”

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim accepts £73.7m striker Benjamin Sesko has struggled at times in his first few weeks at the club but urged him not to take criticism from club legends personally.

Sesko has scored two goals in his first 11 appearances for United.

He last found the net against Sunderland at Old Trafford on 4 October and his performance at Nottingham Forest last weekend prompted former skipper Gary Neville to declare the Slovenia international was “miles off it” compared to fellow new arrivals Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo.

Amorim does accept there is substance to Neville’s comments. However, he also feels they lack the context of Sesko moving to a new league at the age of 22, having only spent two seasons in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig.

“I’m relaxed,” he said. “[But] he’s not relaxed.

“I understand how things are in football and he’s going to struggle. That is normal. He has no experience here.

“The first impact [is] when everyone says that you are so good, you are the next big thing and you hear that about Sesko.

“Then you come to one club that is the hardest club. If you don’t perform every week, you are going to hear a lot of things from club legends, from pundits, from the media – and sometimes they are right.

“Of course, nobody likes to hear but he struggled a little bit, and that is a fact. So, let’s embrace that.

“It is hard to hear but it’s not personal. It’s an opinion that is going to change in three weeks. Everything that is true today, in three weeks, could be a lie.”

Sesko is understood to be spending huge amounts of time at United’s Carrington training ground as he gets an understanding of the performance levels he is delivering compared to those he is required to meet.

He often arrives more than 90 minutes earlier than the normal meeting time of 09:45 and does not leave until 16:00, long after most of his team-mates.

United sources remain confident they made the right decision to sign Sesko, while at the same time sending Rasmus Hojlund on loan to Napoli, even though the Dane has scored four times in nine appearances for the Italian champions.

“Ben is a young kid, a control freak,” said Amorim.

“He wants to control everything – and he’s not going to control everything.

“He has more potential than I was thinking [but] we need to understand how he likes to play and also to put in our ideas.

“I’m quite relaxed with that. He is going to be our striker for the long term but he’s going to have these struggles and these bumps during the ride. That is a normal thing in football.”

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim backs striker Benjamin Sesko to find his feet at Old Trafford and insists his early “struggles” are “normal” amid the scrutiny the Red Devils face from the media and “club legends”.

READ MORE: ‘Control freak’ Sesko should ignore critics – Amorim

Ronaldo, who left United to join Real Madrid in 2009, rejoined the Old Trafford club from Juventus in August 2021.

However, he had his contract terminated in November 2022 after he criticised the club and said he had “no respect” for then manager Erik ten Hag in a previous interview with Morgan.

In his latest interview with the broadcaster, the 40-year-old said: “I’m sad, because the club is one of the most important clubs in the world and a club that I still have in my heart.

“They don’t have a structure. I hope that changes in the present and future, because the potential of the club is amazing.

“They are not on a good path. And it’s not only about the coach and players, in my opinion… He [manager Ruben Amorim] is doing his best. What are you going to do? Miracles are impossible.”

Amorim, who took charge of United in November 2024, led the club to last season’s Europa League final but they missed out on the trophy – and qualification for this season’s Champions League – as they lost to Tottenham.

They finished 15th in Premier League, their worst performance since the 1973-74 campaign in which they were relegated from the top flight.

They spent more than £200m in the summer but started this season slowly – including being knocked out of the Carabao Cup by League Two side Grimsby Town.

Amorim appeared to be under pressure, but United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe said the Portuguese needed three years to prove he is a “great” coach.

In an interview in March, Ratcliffe said the club had “not performed at the level that has been expected” since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson as manager at the end of the 2012-2013 season, adding that some United players were “not good enough” and some were “overpaid”.

Recently, United have shown an improvement in form, winning three of their past four league games – including a victory at Liverpool – and are eighth in the table.

Match of the Day’s Ashley Williams and Alan Shearer look at the performance of Manchester United’s Amad Diallo and the challenge of fitting him into Ruben Amorim’s system after the Red Devils’ 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest.

WATCH MORE: Late Amad volley earns Man Utd point in thriller at Forest

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