Ruben Amorim questions Man United players after Grimsby defeat: ‘The best team won’

Ruben Amorim has questioned the performances of his Manchester United squad after his side were dumped out of the Carabao Cup by League Two Grimsby Town.

Manchester United exited the competition after a dramatic penalty shootout that ended 12-11 when Bryan Mbeumo struck the crossbar with his second spot-kick.

The Premier League giants had appeared condemned to a premature departure earlier when they fell 2-0 behind at Blundell Park, with a listless and lifeless first half performance seeing them dramatically outplayed by their fourth-tier opponents.

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While late goals from Mbeumo and Harry Maguire salvaged a 2-2 draw in regulation time, Grimsby were deserved winners to plunge Amorim into further misery after a winless start to the Premier League season.

Familiar problems from the Portuguese manager’s first season in charge appear to remain despite heavy investment in forward areas this summer, while another error from Andre Onana will bring renewed scrutiny on the goalkeeping options at the club.

Amorim cryptically appeared to suggest afterwards that some of his squad had sent a message with a performance that he felt fell well short of their standards.

“I know that the best team won,” he told Sky Sports . “The only team that was on the pitch. The best players lost. Any team can win against group of players. I think that the team and the players spoke really loud today. That’s it. We lost, the best team won.

“It’s not just the space [Manchester United gave Grimsby], but the way we started the game without any intensity. All of the ideas about the pressure, we were completely lost. It is hard to explain.

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"I think that is the problem. When you lose but see something new, it's different. When you see something like today, it's hard to talk about that. I just want to say I'm really sorry for the fans. The support they gave me, with all the support they help the team. I have nothing to say. I'm really sorry."

Onana’s fumble in the lead-up to Tyrell Warren’s goal on the half-hour mark followed a similarly costly mistake from Altay Bayindir, who has begun the season as Amorim’s first-choice goalkeeper, in the 1-0 Premier League defeat to Arsenal.

Manchester United have been linked with potential alternatives in goal, including Paris Saint-Germain’s Gianluigi Donnarumma, but Amorim believes that just blaming the goalkeeper overly simplifies their problems.

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Asked about Onana’s performance, Amorim replied: "With all due respect, when you lose to a fourth division team, it's not the goalkeeper. It's everything. It's the environment, it's the way we face the competition. We know that we are in a moment where people will pay attention to everything. We showed that performance today, so my players spoke, for me, really loud."