Manchester United produced their best performance of a dismal season in Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Anfield. It left an angry Ruben Amorim scratching his head as to why his players have been unable to demonstrate that fight and character consistently. Telegraph Sport picks over the most encouraging aspects of an uplifting afternoon for United that Amorim will hope marks the start of a corner turned.
It is approaching two years since Bruno Fernandes was vilified for his petulance in United’s 7-0 capitulation at Anfield but this performance could not have been further removed from that dark day. Amorim had admitted United were starved of leaders heading into the game but got a captain’s display in every sense from his compatriot.
It has been a disappointing season for Fernandes but the reminders of his importance and influence come on those occasions he is missing and after sitting out Monday’s shambolic defeat to Newcastle owing to his third red card of the campaign – one of which was rescinded – he returned to the side with a bang against Liverpool.
His guile got a vivid showcase when he teed up Lisandro Martínez’s opening goal with a clever run and disguised pass and he also released Alejandro Garnacho in the build-up to the second. But it was his overall performance, both in terms of his quality in possession and industry out of it, that shone through.
The Portuguese was also honest enough to ask why United cannot produce that level regularly – and will not be satisfied until they do. For all the criticism he has received, no one has done more during the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era to try to drag a dysfunctional United forward.
The suspensions of Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte against Newcastle were untimely blows but even then Amorim should have known he was asking for trouble by starting Casemiro and Christian Eriksen in central midfield.
The return of Ugarte brought renewed energy and hunger to United’s midfield and now Amorim will need the Uruguayan – signed from Paris Saint-Germain for a projected £50.5 million in the summer – to deliver like this on a consistent basis.
Amorim has indicated that Ugarte – whom he knows well from their time together at Sporting – tends to need longer to recover after games. The head coach is also thought to be concerned about running into the same injury problems that have plagued United in recent seasons, which is one of the factors behind him regularly shuffling the pack and why he was reluctant to start Kobbie Mainoo against Newcastle. But he has got to find a way of getting Ugarte, Mainoo and Fernandes playing regularly together.
He may have missed a glorious chance to win it at the very end but there was little else to fault in Harry Maguire’s towering performance. Amorim announced before the game that United would be triggering an option to extend Maguire’s contract after talking admiringly about the way the England defender has responded from being stripped of the captaincy by his predecessor Erik ten Hag.
Excellent in the 2-1 victory at Manchester City, Maguire was even better against Liverpool and has become United’s most dependable centre-back. Michael Oliver got it badly wrong when he booked the 31-year-old for a perfectly timed challenge on Mohamed Salah. Maguire has been trying to hold a fragile defence together of late and will hope others now step up with him after a marked return to form from Lisandro Martínez and Diogo Dalot.
United’s travelling supporters made a point of chanting Joshua Zirkzee’s name after the Netherlands striker’s brutal treatment at Old Trafford earlier in the week when his first-half substitution was cheered before the player was booed as he left the pitch. Those scenes did not go down well with sections of United’s support and there appeared to be a concerted effort to get behind the 23-year-old at Anfield.
The Dutchman’s anxiety was probably evident in the bobbled pass he played to Maguire when a cleaner ball would have made it an easier finish. It was not the only show of unity on the day. The presence of injured players Mason Mount and Luke Shaw coming to Anfield to watch the game in person rather than from home was warmly welcomed by Amorim.
Alejandro Garnacho has not found it easy since Amorim came in and changed the system. Indeed, there were reports in the week that Amorim’s decision to drop him for the Manchester derby last month followed a show of dissent, with the Argentina winger said to have appeared to turn his back on the manager and walk away while he was giving him instructions on the touchline before coming on against Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League.
There was no such antics at Anfield as Garnacho came on in the 72nd minute with the instruction of further exploiting Liverpool’s brittle right side and did just that when he set up Amad Diallo’s equaliser with a cross.
Amorim did not want to dwell on the additional time he had with his players on the training ground in the week but it clearly made a difference. Attempting to introduce a completely new system and way of playing in mid-season with no time to train has been far from easy but the benefit of almost a full week of training was clear to see in United’s performance.
United worked on keeping possession, exerting greater control of games, offensive and defensive transitions, set-pieces and corners and the team were better in almost all departments. The good news for Amorim is he now has another full week in which to work with his squad before Sunday’s FA Cup third-round tie at Arsenal.
