Man Utd 1-1 West Ham: Anger and frustration at Old Trafford
“Annoyed, angry, that’s all.”
Ruben Amorim summed up his own feelings in his first response to the post-match press conference following Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with West Ham on Thursday.
But he could speak for the entire United fanbase, including those who booed his team at Old Trafford.
He certainly spoke for former captain Roy Keane, who used similar terminology to summarize his feelings about the current United team.
“The word everyone would use is disappointment,” Keane told Sky Sports at the end of another game in which United had taken a significant lead in the Premier League, but he conceded late and took a point.
“I do not trust and believe in this team. There are more goals.” [in them] But there are still big question marks in defense and midfield.”
Amorim seemed unusually uneasy as he spoke his words, though he insisted he was calm.
He said his tirade after the home defeat against Brighton in January, in which he cut his hand and smashed the television in the dressing room, would not be repeated.
Instead he will wait and address the situation at Carrington on Friday, believing it would be counterproductive to speak to his players while emotions around the game are still high.
But Amorim knew what went wrong.
He knew why his team could not maintain the lead provided by Diogo Dalot in the second half.
And Soungoutou knew why Magassa reacted quickly to Noussair Mazraoui’s header from Jarrod Bowen’s corner and scored his first goal in English football in the 83rd minute.
West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo said it was a “deserved” draw for the team, who sit third with just two points away from home since their only away win at Nottingham Forest in August.
“It was a long ball,” Amorim said. “They won the second ball against three men.
“Second balls are sometimes tactical things. We try to adapt to the players we have.
“The ball was away from the opponent in the last minutes. We cannot make a team that taller than us take a corner.”
The problem for Amorim is that a pattern is developing.
Keane emphasized this and said: “Wait a minute, you think they’re making progress, they could be fifth but they can’t get the job done. They look scared to get the job done.”
Victory at Nottingham Forest on 1 November would take United to second place. They were ahead and needed an equalizer in the end to equalize. A week later, they scored the same goal against Tottenham and the result was the same, a draw in extra time.
Immediately after the international break, they were offered a place in the Champions League if they won against Everton. They lost against 10 players on their own field.
Now that’s seven minutes away from fifth place. They sit eighth out of 11 clubs, separated by four points. No one knows whether they are good, average or bad.
The consensus is that United are making progress, but with more than £200m to spend from 15th place last season it wouldn’t be that difficult.
In October, United won three consecutive matches and Amorim became manager of the month. Now their run is one win in five. The worry is that they are going backwards.
Amorim rejects this idea.
“It’s not going backwards,” he said.
“We had some moments. This could happen.
“You were talking about the time we were running and [saying that] Even though we weren’t perfect, we were perfect. We are inconsistent.
“If you look at the goal, there is a long ball in the 83rd minute and we have everything under control. We have to do better.”
United travel to youth team Wolves on Monday. They will again play the last game of the Premier League round of matches and there will still be a target to aim for, with each failure that target will fall further.
Won’t they fail again against the team that can’t beat anyone?
