Stand-in Manchester United captain Lisandro Martinez summed it up nicely when he spoke to the TV people after the game. "The lads are very disappointed," he said in the aftermath of a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Wolves. "We expect better." Certainly, the United fans who booed their team off at full-time expect better.

This was a Wolves side who had lost 11 successive league games before Tuesday and remain on course to eclipse Derby County as the worst Premier League team ever - despite collecting their first point since the beginning of October. These were the same fans who bellowed the traditional United chant of "attack, attack, attack" in the second half as they watched their team struggle to create chances, then saw head coach Ruben Amorim replace one central defender in Ayden Heaven, with another in Leny Yoro, 15 minutes from time. Teenage forwards Chido Obi and Shea Lacey, admittedly raw and untested, remained on the bench.

Expecting better is what sums United up after the latest in a succession of home games that has seen them lose to 10-man Everton, fail to beat third bottom West Ham, and concede four times to Bournemouth. They did beat Newcastle on Boxing Day - but now this.

The marvel is that United end 2025 sixth in the table, behind Chelsea - who occupy what is likely to be the fifth Champions League qualification spot - only on goal difference. They can drop no further than seventh when the match round is completed on the first day of 2026.

"I'm really confident," said Amorim when asked how he felt as he approached the new year. "We just need to recover all the players. I don't know what is going to happen until the end of the season. Then we will make the resume of the season. But I'm really confident when we recover all the players we are going to be a strong team. There is no doubts in my mind."

In fairness to Amorim, he does have a long list of absentees. Mason Mount became the eighth player sidelined for the game due to an either injury or international duty when he failed to recover from the problem that forced him out of the win over Newcastle at half-time. The absence of skipper Bruno Fernandes was keenly felt and, with Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo at the Africa Cup of Nations and Kobbie Mainoo also ruled out with a badly timed issue that erupted on the training ground just before the defeat at Aston Villa on 21 December, the lack of creativity is clear.

Yet, with Matheus Cunha below par and Benjamin Sesko still finding his way as a United player, when Amorim looked at his other options, Joshua Zirkzee was the only one. This is the same player who has never convinced as being the right level for the club, who has been overlooked for virtually all the season and, on Tuesday, was taken off at half-time even though he put United ahead in the opening period with a deflected shot.

Amorim tried to gloss over the situation but, under the circumstances, how can any other conclusion be drawn than it is in all parties' interests to tie up a deal with Serie A side Roma, who want to take the Netherlands forward back to Italy, and use the money to bring in someone who can make United better?

"I just look at what I can do to win the game," said Amorim. "We needed to do what the game was asking because we were struggling. I'm not looking for age and experience. They put a lot of men in the middle of the park and, with Jack Fletcher, we balanced that."

Minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has already voiced his concern at the amount of money United have spent on players who are not contributing to the cause. Zirkzee, a £36.5m signing from Bologna in July 2024, is one of quite a few examples.

Wolves boss Rob Edwards said afterwards he mentioned the negativity in the stands to his players at half-time. There has been a lot of that at Molineux this season, so he knows how damaging it can be. "Everyone turned up expecting a win, maybe a comfortable one, and it wasn't that," he said.

Although Amorim stated he would not use the absence of key players as an excuse, he did reel off the names and said it explained a lot. "We are in a situation where a lot of players are out at the same time," he said. "Of course, when you play Casemiro and [Manuel Ugarte] in the middle, you know that is different to when you have Kobbie Mainoo, Mason Mount or Bruno Fernandes. That is normal.

"So, we just need to recover our players and the [other] players to return from Afcon then the fluidity is going to be different. Today, we could win but we had a lack of fluidity, a lack of quality and a lack of creation of chances. Then we suffered a goal with a set-piece. These details are important to win games in difficult moments."

It feels more fundamental. As Martinez said, better is expected. As 2026 dawns, it does feel that how United do in the winter transfer window will determine whether they will retain any hope of qualifying for the Champions League.