Ruben Amorim hailed the ‘spirit’ of his Manchester United players after they shut their critics up with a shock win away at Liverpool.
Amorim has spent most of the season so far in the spotlight with the idea of whether he needs to be sacked discussed on a routine basis.
But he masterminded his biggest moment since taking over from Erik ten Hag last November with a 2-1 win at Anfield to condemn Liverpool to four successive defeats.
‘In key points we had some luck, but we fought for every ball, we lost our composure in the second half,’ Amorim said.
‘But the most important thing was the spirit was there. That is the beginning of everything.
‘Sometimes you play more with the ball, other days you play without the ball. But if you have the spirit, you can win any game.’
Ruben Amorim (left) and Bruno Fernandes (right) hailed Man United’s mentality at Liverpool
Amorim has previously challenged his players to improve in their mentality and he got the very best of it when Liverpool came back to equalise through Cody Gakpo.
Harry Maguire, a controversial selection before the match began, produced a match-winning header late in the game to hand United a first league win at Anfield since 2016.
‘Of course we need moments: to score first, saves from our goalkeeper, one shot on the post – to start believing that we can win any game,’ Amorim said.
‘But you can feel it, any transition, some moments with the ball, they started believing it was possible.’
Amorim, in typical fashion however, won’t dwell on this result for too long.
‘Now I’m concerned about Brighton,’ Amorim said. ‘Yeah, because I have one year of experience, I will enjoy it. I’m not dumb, I have to. But let’s focus on Brighton.’
This was a huge feather in the cap of the United head coach and was vindication for his set-up that has drawn so much criticism.
Reports that players do not like his 3-4-2-1 system have been rubbished too, not least by captain Bruno Fernandes.
‘Our shape always gives issues to teams,’ Fernandes said.
Amorim (right) made some bold selection calls but he was vindicated with a priceless victory
‘It’s ungrateful to talk about the shape when we lose the games, it’s ungrateful to talk about the shape when we win the games.
‘We always believe in the system, either when we win or lose the game.
‘It’s about doing the right things in the right moments.
‘We had to suffer during in the game, but we had to believe in what we prepared for the game would give us the win here.’
Asked if this can be a turning point of the season, Fernandes added: ‘It’s not going to mean anything if we don’t win the game. We need to do it every week.
‘We know the demand of this club is very high. Everyone was weird about back-to-back wins, but we have to focus on the next game. It was good to win to be closer in the table to where we want to be.’
