Manchester United produced a surprisingly strong performance with a 2-2 draw away to Liverpool yesterday, and Samuel Luckhurst has credited Ruben Amorim’s clever tactics.
Amorim seemed to get a response from his Man United team as they earned an unexpected point at Anfield, and Manchester Evening News journalist Luckhurst has posted his thoughts about this on his official account on X, formerly Twitter.
Ruben Amorim issues teasing transfer update…
See below for Luckhurst’s insight into Amorim’s smart method of criticising his players for being afraid in order to get them to prove him wrong by producing a much-improved display in this difficult game away to rivals Liverpool…
Amorim's identified players who'll run in both directions. One of the most admirable aspects about #mufc was they didn't settle for a draw after making it 2-2. Accusing the players of being 'afraid' elicited a fearless performance. United's best at Anfield since 2015.
— Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) January 5, 2025
“Accusing the players of being ‘afraid’ elicited a fearless performance,” Luckhurst said. “United’s best at Anfield since 2015.”
Few were expecting MUFC to get anything from the trip to Anfield, where they’ve suffered some real thrashings in recent years.
Amorim has a fine reputation for his tactics and style of football from his time at former club Sporting Lisbon, but we’ve perhaps also seen his smart man-management now as well.
The Portuguese tactician could have been taking a big risk publicly criticising his players like he did, but it seems there was some benefit in hurting their pride a little bit and challenging them to show they can be braver on the pitch.
It’s been a hugely disappointing season at Old Trafford, and Amorim clearly still has a big job on his hands, with the team remaining down in 13th place in the Premier League table.
That’s far from good enough, but four points from trips to the Etihad Stadium and Anfield perhaps show that there’s something for Amorim to build on for the remainder of the campaign.
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