Manchester United’s fourth pre-season fixture of the summer ended in a draw as Rúben Amorim’s men were held to a 2-2 draw against Everton.
Manchester United have carried on their strong pre-season form into the first half of the game against Everton, with skipper Bruno Fernandes opening the score, converting a penalty in the 19th minute.
Ruben Amorim will be encouraged by Bryan Mbeumo’s impressive start to life on his debut for the club, while Kobbie Mainoo and Amad also impressed.
Despite being on the front foot for a majority of the first half, United conceded five minutes before the break after Manuel Ugarte was dispossessed far too easily deep in his own half.
In the second half, substitute Mason Mount scored a beautiful goal to grab the lead back in United’s hands, but an unfortunate own goal from Ayden Heaven after Amad’s attempted tackle deflected off his shin saw the sides finish with a 2-2 draw.
Amorim’s verdict on the leveller
Speaking just after the referee had blown the half-time whistle, Amorim spoke on the quite sloppy goal that his side conceded, saying: “When I think Ugarte has the ball, you can see the defence walking towards the box. So we need to sprint.
“When Ugarte loses the ball, we need to be at least in the edge of the box. So these small details we have to improve.”
The attack has seemingly become more familiar with Amorim’s tactics, linking up well together, as seen by Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha’s interchangeability in the attack, with the pair swapping between No. 10 and as a striker.
In defence, however, Amorim will be extremely disappointed by his defence’s response to Ugarte losing the ball.
During Amorim’s time at Sporting CP, whenever his team lost possession, they would deploy an aggressive counter-pressing tactic to regain it as soon as possible. He will be disappointed to see his back line being so deep and slow to react to the turnover in play.
Shaw and Dalot may get left behind
As the ball was crossed in for Iliman Ndiaye to finish, you could see both Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot raise their hands for offside in a feeble attempt to protest the goal.
While not solely responsible for conceding the leveller, it could be said that the pair don’t really look up to speed in Amorim’s system.
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Dalot, who thrived at right-back under Erik ten Hag, which saw him win Players’ Player of the Season in the 2023/24 campaign, hasn’t adapted well to life as a wing-back in Amorim’s system.
Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu’s brilliant performances and Diego Leon’s promise at left-back so far in pre-season has seen Dalot fall down the pecking order.
The same can be said for Shaw, who injuries have plagued throughout his time in Manchester. Deployed mostly as the left sided centre-back, the signing of Ayden Heaven in January limited his game time, but despite that, he still remains a key figure in the dressing room, and could add some vital experience on the left flank and become somewhat of a mentor considering the ages of Dorgu (20) and Leon (18).
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