Breaking news: Manchester United makes final decision on Ronaldo future after he slapped a kid and smashed his phone after a match .

 David de Gea chose to say it was 'a 

disgrace'; Gary Neville waded in with

 the observation it was a 'joke' - perhaps

 a better phrase for this current Manchester

 United team is 'impostors'.

Goodison Park has always had the 

capacity to scramble United's senses and 

no manager, not even Sir Alex Ferguson, 

has been immune to suffering defeat 

when this old stadium starts shaking and 

the noise resembles a jumbo jet's engines

 roaring into life.

There have been heavier losses here, 

too, not least the 4-0 drubbing in April 

2019 that left Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with

 hollow eyes, looking like he had seen a 

ghost. Strange results can happen at this

 time of the season, particularly when 

a team are in Everton's situation, 

fighting for their lives.

But this? This was the worst Manchester

 United performance at this venue for 

30 years, a performance that was an affront

 to those who had taken every possible 

seat in the Bullens Road Stand, as they

 always do.

United have some of the traveling

 fans in the business, they know the 

time of day and provide constant, colourful 

backing. It started that way on Saturday 

but, gradually, as the minutes ticked by, 

it felt as if someone had a remote control 

pointed at them and was turning the 

volume down to mute.

That Everton ran collectively six miles 

further than United says many things and 

you could not shake the fact they had stopped

 trying or - worse - given up. Those who 

are beholden to statistics may try to argue 

that United deserves more because they 

had more possession but that is nonsense.

Marcus Rashford, Cristiano Ronaldo 

and Jadon Sancho were lamentable, Alex

 Telles looked like he had won a raffle to 

be included in the team; Nemanja Matic,

 once a giant, is creaking and Paul Pogba's

 efforts when he was introduced were insulting.

Bruno Fernandes was similarly shocking 

and you have to ask why, when his future 

wasn't a point of scrutiny and United 

have won nothing since he has been at 

Old Trafford, has he been rewarded 

with a new deal?

In the not so distant past, United would 

arrive here looking the business on and 

off the pitch but they were embarrassed 

by Everton's desire and application and 

willingness to do the basics of football -

 running, tackling, working - that you 

need at any level.

If you don't score in 95 minutes against

 a team who conceded three goals against

 Burnley it is difficult to explain,' said 

Ralf Rangnick, the latest United manager

 to leave this corner of Merseyside

 looking haunted.

'For us as a coaching staff it is difficult

 to understand why we didn't create more

 chances in a game like this. I know 

we have fantastic supporters away and 

at home and the only thing we can do 

is stick together and try to improve and 

raise the level of performance in 

the next game.'

Nice words but, with this group of players

, they ring hollow. The most telling sign

 of all was, as the squad made their way 

to the changing rooms, the fury that was

 unleashed on them from the Bullens Road

. They know a United team when they

 see one. What they saw here were impostors.