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Twelve months later, Amorim’s visit revealed more caution about the development of his side, which turned out to be equally perceptive.

The jaw-dropping collision between Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane, who faced them for 77 minutes against 10 men, is beyond the United’s comprehension.

What followed reinforced Amorim’s pre-game sentiment that his team is “far from perfect”.

The United head coach stayed with his players while they worked for 77 minutes.

As the home team was gaining offensive momentum, he watched as Patrick Dorgu and Leny Yoro, two young defenders, gratuitously give the ball away.

He watched Amad Diallo attempt to be annoying before being severely missed by Matheus Cunha because of the injury that initially caused him to forego switching on Altrincham’s Christmas lights on Saturday night.

He watched as chances went begging for the normally trustworthy Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes to go wrong.

He watched as Kobbie Mainoo and Joshua Zirkzee, who had a limited run as a second-half replacement for Casemiro, failed to press their demands for more game time to maintain their respective World Cup hopes.

He also watched as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s ultimately decisive first-half effort, which was saved by goalkeeper Senne Lammens, who made a questionable save attempt.

Near the end, Zirkzee did a header that nearly made Jordan Pickford go full length save.

There was nothing more, though.

What had been a five-game unbeaten streak could quickly turn into a three-game one without a win, according to Amorim’s statement on Friday, with a trip to Crystal Palace coming on Sunday.

He said, “I am aware of our current situation.” During this run, I experience that feeling. That is something I always bring up.

We are not even close to the position where we should be competing for the league’s best positions.

“We need to be perfect to win games,” he said. Today, we weren’t perfect.

Recapitulating United’s final three games is worthwhile.

They led both Tottenham and Nottingham Forest. United would have finished second in the “as it stands” table if they had kept the advantage. They both failed the test, and they needed late equalizers to recoup any losses after falling behind.

United knew that if they won, they would finish fifth in the Premier League match round. They would have finished fourth if they had done the same as last year’s performance.

Repeat, please. They played 77 minutes of their own home matchup against 10 men, and the prize was in play. and squandered

Manchester United won 36 of their previous 46 matches at Old Trafford and won the next 46. This was their first defeat in a Premier League game against Manchester United.

Old Trafford said, “We are all here to give a big step up,” and I thought we were not ready, as he said.

“Again, these five weeks, when everyone is praising our evolution, I’m always saying the same things.” We are nowhere near the club where we should be.

How far away are they, a year to the day since his first game, a 1-1 draw against an Ipswich team that was dropped?

There are no distractions from Europe for this United side, as there were for Palace just three days before the Selhurst Park game.

The club made a £250m summer investment to rebuild a group of players after last season’s unthinkable 15th.

Where are United heading as they enter a run of fixtures with a lot of opportunities to score points given that they are currently 10th in the table, in the middle of a group of four clubs that includes Tottenham, Everton, and Liverpool, just three points off the top four?

It was viewed as unacceptable when they placed eighth under Erik ten Hag.

When asked to summarise what he had just seen, Amorim responded, “Frustration, disappointment.”

They made a better team, they claimed. We had a right to lose.

Twenty minutes into the game, the opponent receives a red card. No matter what, we must win this game.

Amorim claimed that the Gueye-Keane incident represented a welcome sign of desire, which was expressed by Moyes in an interview. He wants to see it from his own team, of course, without getting a red card.

He said, “Fringing is not a bad thing.” They don’t like each other because they fight, though.

The meaning of “fighting is that you lose the ball and I will fight you because we will lose a goal.”

When they lose the ball, I hope my players fight back.

So, after the steps forward and the award for manager of the month in October, November has experienced regression.

This Manchester United team’s identity is still largely unknown. Amorim seems to think in the same way.

The backward steps, however, will return them to the crux of last season, when every game seemed like a defeat waiting to occur. When he left for the games, he was concerned about what was coming up.

He said, “I feel afraid of returning to this feeling from last season.” That is the main issue I have.

Early in the match, Keane and the Senegalese midfielder were dealt a straight red card for their actions.

There have been numerous instances where team-mates have lost their cool with one another but kept playing despite the Premier League’s only two similar red cards.

After Everton scored in a 1993 Merseyside derby at Goodison Park, Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar became furious with teammate Steve McManaman.

David Batty and Graeme le Saux, England’s David Batty, and Graeme le Saux lost it when they both attempted the same loose ball at Spartak Moscow on a chilly night.

In one of the most famous Premier League encounters, Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer engaged in mind-bending team-fighting, with Gareth Barry as opposing midfielder helping to break them apart.

Arsenal’s Nicklas Bendtner and Emmanuel Adebayor added an ugly row to the pain if losing to rivals Tottenham in the second leg of a League Cup semi-final 5-1 was not bad enough.

When Andy Griffin slipped to Carlton Cole to give Stoke a 1-0 lead at West Ham, the Hammers were leading 1-0.

Ricardo Fuller, the Potters’ forward, slapped his captain in the face and gave him an earful, which caused pandemonium to start to erupt.

In a goalless draw with West Ham, Aston Villa team-mates Anwar El Ghazi and Tyrone Mings scored.

Hugo Lloris, the team’s captain, criticized Son Heung-min for failing to follow his lead when Tottenham led 1-0 against Everton.

After the duly-fought 2-1 victory over Nottingham Forest, Arsenal’s Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko had to be separated.

The defensive duo’s heated argument was sparked by the Gunners’ backroom staff’s concession of a late goal.

As a result of the team’s 1-0 defeat at Wolves in February 2024, Sheffield United teammates Vinicius Souza and Jack Robinson had to be separated.

The video assistant referee looked for a potential red card during the bizarre argument between the Blades duo, but no decision was made.

BBC Football Reporter Troy Deeney will award you his team and manager of the week after each Premier League game this year.