Manchester United suffered a humiliating loss at the hands of the fourth division side Grimsby Town as they got knocked out of the Carabao Cup. The United haven't been at their best in the ongoing season, having lost one and drawn the other in the two games they have played so far in the Premier League and their hopes of winning a title further went down a few notches after Grimsby prevailed in a marathon penalty shootout 12-11, following a 2-2 finish at full time.
"Spoken really loud today what they want" - United manager Ruben Amorim cryptically suggested that his players didn't fancy playing against a League Two team before the game. However, their performance didn't even stand up to a team like Grimsby as at half-time the Red Devils were in shambles, being 0-2 down. Charles Vernam and Tyrell Warren's strikes in the 22nd and 30th minutes, respectively, had the United staring down at mortification.
United somehow managed to crawl back, late in the day with just 15 minutes left until the final whistle. Bryan Mbeumo finished it magnificently in the 75th minute to help Amorim and a dozen of his men sitting outside breathe a sigh of relief. Still, the job of firefighting had only begun. Harry Maguire then in the wee moments of the clash, pulled a rabbit out of the hat in the 89th minute to take the game to extra time. The shootout went on and on and on until Mbeumo's kick hit the crossbar for the Blundell Park to go absolutely mad.
'Something has to change,' says Amorim
United had been stunned. There were glum faces on the field and outside it. If Amorim could afford to run from Cleethorpes, hiding his face, he could and ask him what went wrong, the response was, "Everything."
"The way we started the game, we were not even here. When everything is so important in our club, everything that happened. It’s a problem in our club; we should do so much better. I just have to say sorry to our fans. I think this is a little bit the limit. Something has to change.
"I felt my players spoke really loudly today about what they want. I think it’s easy for you (how to interpret it). Let’s focus on the next game, and then we have a stop for the international games. We will think things through," Amorim added. United are scheduled to play Burnley on the weekend and signs are not great as they continue to remain winless. Amorim wasn't the one to chew his words as he called spade a spade, saying that they weren't just good enough.
"Doesn’t matter (that we lost on penalties). In the penalties, the feeling is the same. I think football was really fair today. The best team won," he added.
