'Disappointed' - Ruben Amorim says Manchester United lacked 'respect' in key area vs Everton
Man Utd came from behind to draw 2-2 with Everton in the Premier League on the final visit to Goodison Park.
Ruben Amorim believes Manchester United lacked 'respect' with their defensive positioning against an Everton side that pose a great threat from set-pieces.
United came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw on their final visit to Goodison Park yesterday, with two goals from set-pieces themselves, but they had fallen behind to a soft goal from an Everton corner. The United defence failed to clear their lines on numerous occasions before Everton striker Beto fired a low effort into the ground that looped over the head of Andre Onana to give the home side the lead.
It was a disappointing start to match from United, not only because they went behind, but largely down to the soft manner of the opening goal that allowed Beto to continue his fine scoring form with little challenge from the defence. Speaking after the draw, Amorim revealed what disappointed himself the most about the result.
Manchester United didn’t play in the first-half
Amorim rued the soft nature of the opening Everton goal and in particular how easy they found it to cause United from a set-piece situation. "I see what players saw and they know and what people see,” he said in his post-match press conference.
“We lost a lot of balls without any pressure. We have free men, sometimes we don’t respect the positioning and anyone who watched a little bit of Everton in this field, they will be really good on second balls and the two goals are second balls, fighting in the air. That's why you get disappointed. We didn’t play first half. But it’s a good thing that in the second half they play in the same position with more energy, more quality and that makes the difference."
When further pressed on the poor first-half performance, he added: “We didn’t exist in the first half. Everything we did during the week, I think the free man was there, I think the space was there, I think we lose balls we cannot lose and the second half, I said no matter what, we are going to do what we did during the week but with a little bit more energy. I think you saw that it was not different in the position, it was different in the quality we play the game.”