No way, Jose
Rashford replaced by Matteo Darmian and Anthony Martial, who fulfilled a more reserved role than normal.
Yet if Mourinho’s set-up was predictable, it was also out of sync with how his side has played at the start of this Premier League campaign. Some suggested that 21 goals in seven games with only two shipped in return against the division’s lesser lights would see United carry this swash-buckling style forward into meetings with the rest of
the ‘top six’.
Mourinho has, after all, made a habit of wryly criticising “defensive football” in recent months.
The likes of Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have come under his glare for playing a fashionable three-man defence, which he claims it is actually a five-man backline and therefore conservative. Mourinho has also claimed that the Premier League is becoming increasingly defensive, despite an upward trend in goals-per-game during recent years.
Mourinho, however, is a politician with his words - applying spin and nuance in order to obtain a slither of psychological advantage. In his deeds, he is a pragmatist - doing whatever necessary to win or, failing that, not lose. The signs that a functional performance like this would come have been there all season.
It’s a novel idea, Manchester United turning up to Anfield and being ‘humble’, but that is exactly what they have done for their two visits under Mourinho.
This is not a criticism. In fact, the recent struggles of Jurgen Klopp’s side suggest it is the way to play against Liverpool. Keep narrow, restrict their space, trust them to waste their chances, take your own opportunities when they come your way and the result will follow.
Here, United set out to do exactly that. At least nine of Mourinho’s players took to the field with their duties being predominantly defensive. Henrikh Mkhitaryan soon shuffled into Mourinho’s ten behind the ball as well, with Romelu Lukaku left sometimes isolated up top.
It was ultimately enough to frustrate the hosts once again and take a point from a difficult fixture, but the real question is whether that will be enough come May.
Mourinho’s United scored just once while away from home against