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Ruben Amorim says Manchester United's win over Liverpool at Anfield is his biggest achievement in the job to date, despite being in the role for nearly a year. Though it sums up how much of a struggle it's been for him, the Portuguese also explained how he masterminded the Premier League victory over Liverpool on Sunday, with two key changes proving crucial.
The Portuguese head coach has been under pressure all season but made the bold decision to bring in Harry Maguire for the trip to Anfield. In his pre-match interview, Amorim explained this was to help United’s attacking threat from set-pieces.
That has been a particularly concerning area all season for Liverpool, with Arne Slot listing the Reds’ inability to deal with crosses as a major problem in recent weeks, while referencing how his side had conceded 40 percent of its goals this term from set-pieces.
Amorim’s decision to introduce Maguire in place of Leny Yoro was inspired, as the former Leicester City man headed in the winning goal in the 84th minute.
"I think that was the biggest win in my time at Manchester United. It means a lot today but tomorrow it won't mean a lot," Amorim said. "It's three points and it's a good victory..
Asked after the match how he managed to overcome Liverpool and end United’s winless run at Anfield, Amorim replied: “We just saw the game and knew how important our set-pieces are and the guys that have more experiences - imagine something happened in the beginning against us. Harry Maguire has the experience to help the other guys.”
Another key decision from Amorim was to drop Benjamin Sesko in place of Matheus Cunha. Again, the United coach targeted Liverpool’s center-backs and felt they would struggle to deal with Cunha’s habit of dropping into deeper positions.
Again, that was the case, with Cunha’s dribble and shot resulting in the corner from which Maguire headed home the winner.
“[Ibrahima] Konate and [Virgil] van Dijk, they like the confrontation,” Amorim told Sky Sports after the match. “They like that one of them goes to the ball, the other one goes to the second line.
“But you can see that more or less all of the transitions were from Cunha. He was so far from the center-backs that he helped us to get the ball.
Expanding on the reasons behind United’s win, Amorim added: “In some key points we had some luck, but we fought for every ball.
“We lost our composure a little bit in the second half but the spirit was there and that is the most important thing. If you have the spirit you can win any game.
“We needed some moments like to score first, some saves from our goalkeeper, one shot on the post, to start believing that we can win any game. Then you can feel it.
“Any transition, some moments with the ball the team starts believing that it is possible.
“Every time you play in this environment, if you block well in the beginning, you can feel the fans turning. We feel that in our stadium and all the big teams feel that. We tried to do that.
“I think we have to have more possession to rest our players. They struggle a little in the end because they are used to having the ball. A good win.”
The win sees United move back into the top half and within two points of Liverpool. The champions now sit third in the table and trail leaders Arsenal by four points.
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