Defender says his side played to Everton’s strengths; Manchester United coach admits they deserved to lose
Matthijs De Ligt has said Manchester United were not set up properly in the loss against Everton and instead played into their opponents’ hands.
United arrived at Old Trafford on a five-game unbeaten run in the league and were expected to build momentum against an Everton side reduced to 10 players, after Idrissa Gueye was dismissed inside the first 10 minutes for clashing with team-mate Michael Keane.
Yet the visitors still managed to win 1-0 through Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s sublime finish on the half hour.
Despite having a numerical advantage for more than 80 minutes, United struggled to impose themselves. Rather than using the extra space, they relied heavily on crosses and set pieces. Everton’s centre-backs dealt comfortably with the aerial traffic, and the absence of the injured Benjamin Sesko left United without a natural target in the box.
De Ligt said the team did not take advantage of Everton’s weakness.
“It’s quite clear, a bad night for us,” said De Ligt. “Seventy minutes more or less 11 vs 10, conceded a goal and not creating many chances, a few but not enough for a match against 10.
“A disappointing night. From our side, we didn’t do enough. Didn’t make the runs or bodies into the box. They are strong in the air so we didn’t have the players to score from that.
“We basically played to their strengths. These are the main aspects, but we have to look at ourselves and it’s not good enough.
“I just think we lacked a bit of urgency in several situations. You get punished if you lack this urgency. If you don’t score, you lose this game. We lacked this hunger to make a difference on the most important moments.”
The defeat leaves United down in 10th place, although still only three points off the top four. Amorim admitted United did not play at the level they should have.
“I think they were a better team with 11,” said United’s manager. “They then worked really well with 10 men for 70 minutes. So I think we deserved to lose.
“We didn’t play well. We didn’t play with the right intensity. I know which point we are in the moment. So we are not there, not even near the point that 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. I feel afraid of returning of this feeling of last season, that is my biggest concern. So we need to work together.
“We are going to work together. I’m not going. The players are trying, but we need to be better so we have training tomorrow, and we are going to prepare the next one.”
