Everton 2-0 Manchester United: Moyes could be on brink after one of the worst performances of the season

With David Moyes reportedly being under pressure to achieve a Europa League place, his position as boss of Manchester United could be imperilled after a dreadful 2-0 defeat to Everton.

The loss was worse than it sounds. United never looked like winning throughout the game, and generally put in a classic 'not playing for the manager' display. Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney were beyond awful. Juan Mata offered little. The defending left a lot to be desired, with Alexander Buttner and Phil Jones particularly terrible.

United weren't being overly troubled in midfield, but an awful final ball led to few chances on the Everton goal, and it was no surprise when yet another defensive error cost us, Phil Jones handballing after slipping in the area to give the hosts a penalty (and being fortunate to escape with just a yellow card.) Baines' penalty wasn't the best, but David de Gea leapt out of the way of it anyway and Everton went ahead.

Steven Naismith and Romelu Lukaku caused havoc up front, the former blazing over a fine chance after hold-up play from the on-loan Chelsea man, and it wasn't a surprise when the second goal went to Everton too, Kevin Mirallas taking advantage of some awful positioning from Buttner to stay onside and fire past De Gea from a tight angle.

Wayne Rooney had a good chance to get United back into the game in the second half, but took far too many touches and completely wasted the chance. Ordinarily we'd talk about other near misses, but there was just nothing here. United were utterly wretched, and it leads us to only one conclusion.

This blog has generally consistently focused on the wider picture surrounding Moyes, but if we still have performances of utter laziness from the players like this, it is becoming clear that there is not much he can do, and he has to go. Is it his fault? Maybe, but probably not, and certainly not entirely. So while he should go, we also need a long deep think about why the job was next to impossible for him in the first place.

Sometimes it's fine margins that lose a game. And United had a couple of good chances, so it's tempting to suggest it might have finished 2-2 or even better. But this was like Barcelona 2009, a game that felt like it could be played a hundred times without getting a positive result. This was the confirmation of a lot of things we already know.