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.