Sir Alex Ferguson set out on the defensive all the time – so why can’t Mourinho do the same thing?
IF you had offered me a point from Anfield ahead of kick-off on Monday, I would have taken it.
So to see some people questioning Manchester United's result against Liverpool didn’t make much sense at all to me.
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That being said, we were awful in attack and I’ll agree on that part. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba were isolated but they were both bang out of form and bang average.
Chances are always scarce at Anfield but our attack was so non-existent and it was the attack which failed to complete Jose Mourinho’s game plan.
However, defensively we were sound and we controlled the midfield. Ander Herrera was superb, Antonio Valencia and Eric Bailly were indomitable and Liverpool offered nothing.
So much has been thrown at United and Mourinho for adopting a defensive formation but they are ignoring context to fit a narrative.
Anfield is our toughest away game of the year, it's a ground where Fergie only scored 14 goals in his last 14 years in the league, a game where between 2007 and 2012 we didn’t win, a game where the concept of losing isn't entertained.
Of course we played on the defensive, Fergie had done it so many times over the years and Mourinho will continue to do so.
That's what can make him such a difficult manager to play on the big occasions, just ask Liverpool fans after he stopped them winning the league in 2013 - that and Steven Gerrard slipping, of course.
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Yet nobody mentioned how poor Liverpool were, how limp they were across the pitch. Come on, Valencia was doing back heel passes inside the first 30 minutes at Anfield - that shouldn't happen in a game between United and Liverpool.
If we were poor in attack, Liverpool were turgid everywhere until Adam Lallana's introduction gave them some verve.
Going into the match, I was nervous. Liverpool were the league’s in-form team and United had been so inconsistent. How were we going to stop the gegenpressing of Liverpool when our midfield had changed almost every game?
Yet, what became apparent was that I’d lived up to the hype. Mourinho nullified Liverpool’s pressing game simply by playing direct and avoiding the midfield, so much so that we were in control at Anfield for the first 60 minutes, bar a brief period of pressure at the end of the first half.
Was I happy with the point? Absolutely? Was I happy with the performance? Aside from our attack, definitely. I’ll take a point at Anfield every single year.
Losing that game ahead of Fenerbahce, Chelsea away and Man City in the League Cup would have been a disaster.
Instead, we head into the Fenerbahce game tonight with something to build on and we’ve definitely got to show more attacking verve.
This season is continuing in a stop/start fashion for United but while critics will try and slam Mourinho for his defensive approach at Anfield, United fans on the whole are happy with the point - especially if we can now convincingly push past Fenerbahce and grab three points at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
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