Ruben Amorim’s damning assessment of Patrick Dorgu and Diogo Dalot

 Ruben Amorim has offered a scathing critique of Patrick Dorgu and Diogo Dalot’s performances this season as Manchester United continue to search for upgrades at wing-back.

The United manager has chopped and changed between Dorgu and Dalot at left wing-back this season but the poor form of both players has become a growing concern for Amorim.

Amorim said the pair had been “far from the best” and were not getting close to replicating in games the level they were showing in training. He also cited the marked difference between Dorgu’s displays for Denmark and those for United.

United are targeting central midfield reinforcements next year but it is understood Amorim would also like to strengthen at wing-back, even if there are no guarantees he could get what he wants in January with the club planning to do the majority of their business next summer.

Monday’s dismal 1-0 defeat to Everton, who played for 77 minutes with 10 men following Idrissa Gana Gueye’s red card, followed draws to Nottingham Forest and Tottenham, with Amorim saying there are “no excuses” not to beat Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday.

And the Portuguese has demanded far more from Dorgu, a £29m signing from Lecce in January, and Dalot than they are currently delivering.

“What I feel, when I see them training, is they are doing so much better than in games,” Amorim said. “Then Patrick, when I see him playing for the national team, he scored a great goal against Scotland [in Denmark’s 4-2 defeat].

“The decision that he made under pressure was completely different to the decisions that he is making in our team. So I just need to understand the context and try to help them. They are far from the best and they know it. So like a lot of players in our team, like myself, I just look at them and they have so much more to give.”

Amorim suggested Dorgu was riddled with “anxiety” when playing for United and highlighted the contrast between his cool-headed finish for Denmark against Scotland and his 33rd-minute miss against Everton, when he blazed a shot over the bar from 12 yards from Joshua Zirkzee’s cross.

“It’s the decision [making], he needs to be calmer playing the game,” Amorim said. “You can feel the anxiety every time Patrick touches the ball. I can feel the anxiety. You remember the shot against Everton? That was easier than the decision he had to make against the guys from Scotland. He made a great decision, and I saw it when he played in Italy. But here is different, and sometimes the pressure is hard for them in the beginning, but he has time to improve.”

Amorim would not be drawn on his January transfer plans but left wing-back is an area United could strengthen if the right options become available, despite the acceptance internally that the winter window is a difficult market.

“We have time to think about that, I don’t know what is going to happen in January,” he said. “We need time to improve the characteristics of the team. To give an example, the last game [against Everton]. We should have an Amad with the right foot to put on the other side to play against 10 men. So it’s this kind of characteristics that we will try to get to be a better team. Like any other team we need time to put the right characteristics in every single position to be prepared for it.”

Amorim’s criticism of Dorgu and Dalot follows similar complaints in recent weeks about Manuel Ugarte, the Uruguay midfielder who has been a huge disappointment since his £50.5m move from Paris St-Germain in August last year and another player who has yet to prove he can cut it at Old Trafford.

More generally, Amorim believes his United side are too soft when defending their own penalty area and need to be more aggressive shutting down opposition crosses. He also demanded his players get stronger “in the duels” and warned Palace will not give them an inch in that department.

“A lot of teams in some games are not getting in our final third but we are being really soft near the box,” he said. “So we need to improve that, especially in the last games, like against Nottingham Forest. We took a lot of crosses and we didn’t press well in that moment. Against Everton, we suffered a goal with their only shot on target.

“When I say soft, it’s the goal of Everton [for example]. We are there, near the box, we have more guys than Everton, we should be better and more strong on the duels. Crystal Palace are really strong with the duels – every time one against one – so if we need to take something from our opponent, we need to be strong on that also.”

Amorim added: “Against Nottingham Forest, to suffer two goals in two minutes after half-time, that is the concern. You are controlling the game against Tottenham and you have the same amount of guys when they score. We are in a good position, but we need to be better and more aggressive, so that is my biggest concern.”