Ruben Amorim explains why he was left 'mad and upset' despite much-improved Man Utd display in thrilling draw with Liverpool

The Red Devils headed into the contest on a historically poor run of form, with four successive defeats taking them through to the end of 2024 – with no goals recorded through three of those fixtures. There were fears that United could be on the end of another humbling setback at Anfield.

Amorim’s side displayed commendable fighting spirit on Merseyside, though, and could have taken all three points from a thrilling contest that ended in a 2-2 draw. United’s last victory saw them claim derby spoils against arch-rivals Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, with their boss unable to explain why they have been so inconsistent.

Amorim told Sky Sports when reflecting on an encouraging performance against Liverpool: “I get more mad because of the other games. It's even harder to understand some things. This is not about the system, the technique, it's about something else. I am upset today, really upset. I am pleased with the performance but everyone today is going to say that the team did a good job. Today I am allowed to be the only guy upset with the team — but today we were a team.

“We had some good games during this last month but then we dropped again. It's something that we need to be really consistent. We had this talk after Manchester City, it was the same. I want to see my team play so much better but I think the most important thing to address today is the mentality and that is the key for everything. Today we were a different team not because of the system, not because of a technical or tactical aspect. We faced the competition in the way we are supposed to face every day. Training and match, it doesn't match the place, the opponent, we need to face every day like that.”

Those words were echoed by United captain Bruno Fernandes, who is looking for the Red Devils to raise their game against every opponent – not just old adversaries. The Portuguese playmaker said: “Obviously, we've been criticised, and fairly, because the position in the table says it all. We've lost too many points. Even today, we can't be happy with the draw, because we need points more than they need.

“It's a really good result and a fair result, both teams played good football and it was intense. I'm pretty upset because we can show this against Liverpool at Anfield, first in the league, the outstanding team in the Premier League this season, why can't we do this every week?”

United sit 13th in the Premier League table, 23 points adrift of leaders Liverpool. They have another big game to come next Sunday when heading to Emirates Stadium for an FA Cup third-round clash with Arsenal.