'I don't care' - Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim dismisses Arne Slot's 'long ball' snipe after victory over Liverpool

Harry Maguire powered home a late header to claim a precious 2-1 victory and snatch all three points away on Merseyside on Sunday. Amorim walked away from the game as a renewed man and quite possibly back from the brink of being sacked. The Red Devils are now just three points off second-placed Manchester City and some optimists are even earmarking them for a surprise title challenge.

There is nothing better than a late winner against your fiercest rivals and the Maguire goal could prove to kickstart the Red Devils’ season. It not only marked one of the best performances United have had under Amorim, but it coming at Liverpool’s expense made the win even sweeter, and Slot slightly more bitter.

The Dutch coach had been critical of the way in which Amorim had set up his side to defend deep, hit the Reds on the break and knock balls long into the box or into channels. Speaking to BBC Match of the Day after the game, Slot said: "It is always difficult to play against a team that defends in a low block and mainly plays the long ball. It makes it even more difficult when you go one down after one minute when one of our players are on the floor.

"If you would have told me before the game that against the low block, against so many long balls, that we would have created as many chances as we did I would have not expected us to lose. But that is what we did. We had enough chances to score more than one goal, but on the other hand again conceding two and one of the two was the set piece."

The Dutch coach then doubled down on his previous comments. Ahead of the Reds' game against Brentford this weekend, Slot commented: "The main difference between this season and last season is the playing styles we face.

“I've looked when we had a few days off at how many long balls we already had to defend - 178 in seven games and then United came and we had to defend 59 long balls. That's different from the first half of last season."

While Slot is still torturing himself with the memories of last week’s game, Amorim claimed that he has moved on from the victory in his press conference ahead of United hosting Brighton. "Liverpool is in the past, I don't want to comment. That is not important," he said.

Amorim said the only thing that was important to him at the moment is what his next opponent will try and do. He comes up against the Premier League’s youngest manager in Fabian Hurzeler and will be looking to make it three wins on the trot – even if that means employing different tactics.

"I understand everything. I am really pleased that the team can play different games," Amorim said. "[Liverpool] was an important win, but I was the first one to say that we need to play better with the ball. So, I don't care what Slot is saying, what people are saying about our team. I can evaluate my team and I am really clear that we should play better with the ball. We are going to try to do that in this game."

Long balls may have to be employed if Amorim’s Red Devils are to disrupt the young German coach’s spritely Brighton. The Seagulls have had the better of United for much of the last three years, losing just once in the Premier League, but now that Amorim has won two consecutive games in the division for the first time, what is to say he cannot add to that?