Man Utd 4-0 Everton: Has Ruben Amorim brought back feel-good factor?

Despite lifting the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, the Red Devils seemed to lack any sort of identity under the haphazard style of Ten Hag, ending eighth last season, their lowest Premier League finish.

But Amorim’s 3-5-2 formation, which brought so much success at Sporting, is starting to take shape at United, with diligent counter-pressing instilled in the system.

Marcus Rashford and Joshua Zirkzee both scored twice, punishing Everton’s individual mistakes, while Amad Diallo was a constant thorn for the opposition.

United moved up to ninth in the table and are already eyeing a place back in the Champions League next season – they are just four points adrift of Brighton in fourth position.

Amorim drew at Ipswich in his first game, defeated Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League on Thursday and got another victory here. But Rashford, for one, is not getting carried away.

“The energy and the atmosphere speaks for itself,” Rashford told BBC Match of the Day. “It is down to the players to create this in the stadium but the fans today… that is what we want to hear: Nothing but positivity and pushing the fans forward.”

“He [Ruben Amorim] is definitely demanding but there’s encouragement to bring your strengths into the game. That is when you get a really good team performance.

“Hopefully we can build on this and keep pushing. It’s nothing to get overly excited by. We have to keep pushing every day to meet his demands.”

This was the first of nine games in an arduous December for Amorim and United and with time on the training ground limited during this period, his skillset will be tested with away trips to Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham coming up.