Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim praised his team’s resilience and intensity after their gripping 2-2 draw against Premier League leaders Liverpool on Sunday.
Despite the spirited performance, Amorim admitted he was left wanting more from his side.
Just a week after warning that United’s struggles could lead to a relegation battle, Amorim’s team put on a determined display at Anfield. Goals from Lisandro Martinez and Amad Diallo marked United’s first strikes at Liverpool’s home ground since 2018, securing a well-earned point against the league’s top side.
“Today I’m allowed to be the only guy upset with the team,” Amorim told reporters. “But today, we were a team.
“I want to see my team play so much better, but I think the most important thing to address today is the mentality. That is the key for everything. Today, we were a different team, not because of the system, not because of the technical aspect of the game, the tactical aspect of the game.
“We faced the competition in the way that we are supposed to face every day, training and match. It doesn’t matter the place… we need to face every day like that.”
The result lifted United to 13th in the table, though they remain 11 points behind sixth-placed Manchester City and 13 behind fourth-placed Chelsea. However, the traveling United fans, who endured challenging winter conditions to attend the game, were thrilled by the team’s effort.
United captain Bruno Fernandes, who was among the standout performers, expressed frustration after the match.
“I’m pretty upset,” he said. “If we show this level at Liverpool, first in the league, why can’t we do this everywhere?”
Amorim echoed his captain’s sentiments.
“It’s really clear,” he said. “We lost three games in a row at home, some of the games we suffered two goals without doing nothing (defensively).”
The United manager, who took over in November, said he hoped a rare full week of training without midweek fixtures would help his squad improve further.
“I don’t want to use that, but of course, when you train, you understand better the way we play, the positioning, the characteristics of the teammates, the things that are really important. But I don’t want to use that today,” he said.
“Today is all about the focus when you are playing football, the focus on set pieces, the focus on passing the ball, not in the sloppy way, but in the way that we cannot lose one ball because in the other part of the pitch is [Mohamed] Salah, is [Luis] Diaz, so you don’t lose the ball.
“If you lose the ball in some parts of the pitch, you know that we are going to suffer. If you have that mentality every day, you are a different team and I think that is really clear.”
United came close to an unlikely victory, with Harry Maguire missing a late opportunity in the dying moments of the match.
“I don’t think anyone would have predicted them scoring two goals today or nearly nicking it at the end. But the key is that they have to back it up,” former United captain Roy Keane said during Sky Sports’ broadcast.
“The argument to all of this though is that you can’t just pick and choose when you want to turn up for a game at Manchester United,” Keane added.
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