What Ruben Amorim is thinking after Man United draw vs Chelsea as firm new manager warning left

Roy Keane has warned Ruben Amorim that it will take time to get Manchester United back up to scratch after a laborious 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Sunday. It is one of just two Premier League games that Ruud van Nistelrooy is expected to manage before handing over the reins.

In a disjointed match as a whole, United and Chelsea both lacked quality throughout and let the other side off the hook with failed attacks and miss-placed passes. Even with a buoyant pre-game atmosphere for Van Nistelrooy's maiden league outing as interim boss, things fell flat before long.

There were optimistic calls for penalties and the odd opportunity but in general neither side hit full flow and left plenty to be desired across the 90 minutes, with goals coming four minutes apart to liven things up after the break. It leaves United with just one in six in the league and still 13th in the table.

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When asked what Amorim, the incumbent head coach, would have been thinking watching the game from Portugal, where he is seeing out his days in charge of Sporting CP before taking over, Keane offered a damning assessment. “He should have signed a longer contract," the opinionated pundit bluntly put it after the game.

"It is a long way back for this team. I know a manager will come in, you hope he will get more out of this United team, but this is an average group. All the stats back it up, we keep repeating ourselves and we come to watch Man United today, you don’t know what you’re gonna get with them.

"They could have won the game with good chances at the end but they could also have lost it. It’s hit and miss. Not good. Not good. I hate using the word, boring seems a bit strong but you’re just looking at the lack of conviction. It suited them better at the end when the game was a bit open but really disappointed. So flat. Even the fans must be disappointed."

With Van Nistelrooy serving a clear but strange purpose in between permanent head coaches, questions remain for United. Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho might have done better with the fleeting times they were put in front of goal, whilst Rasmus Hojlund struggling with his back to Chelsea's defence was all the more startling when he was finally given an accurate ball to run onto in the build-up to Bruno Fernandes' penalty.

At the other end, Casemiro was still as much of a problem as he had been under Erik ten Hag, although Manuel Ugarte harried occupied space either side of his midfield partner to make up ground dominated by Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo. For all the money spent, Noussair Mazraoui is the summer signing looking most at home.

It is a state of affairs with no easy fix for Keane. "This team are way off in terms of getting back into that top four and competing," he continued. "Really disappointing performance. I think a bit of everything. As a team you look at them but certain individuals, maybe we think they are better than what they are, some of them.

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"They’ve got established internationals. You come and watch them and hang your hat on a team sometimes by saying ‘they’re technically very good’ or ‘they’re big and strong and physical’, but United are kind of average at everything. They’re not very good at anything special and the lack of goals is hard to believe.

"Then you look at the chances they’re missing and that’s why managers leave their jobs here. Not good enough. It’s proper hit and miss. United fans coming here today, they must be going away scratching their heads.

"It was very quiet today, Old Trafford. They were just sitting there hoping something might happen - not necessarily believing. I was glad when the referee blew the final whistle.”

The result leaves United still only six points off the top four but now as one of just three sides yet to hit double figures for goals scored. Only Crystal Palace and Southampton have fewer at this stage, and they are 17th and 19th respectively.

For United, it is the Europa League next up, with PAOK due to visit on Thursday. Van Nistelrooy will then likely finish off with Leicester City travelling to Manchester. After the international break it will be Amorim's job to tidy up.