Man Utd’s deep-lying, resilient defending at Old Trafford was reminiscent of a Jose Mourinho defence from 2017-18, as every player dropped back to put in a shift for their team.
In the first half, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s best tactical move was instructing supposed strikers Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford to drop all the way into auxiliary full-back positions, shutting down Liverpool’s favourite passing lanes into Salah and Sadio Mane.
A series of enforced changes saw United switch to a 4-5-1 after the break, further evidence of Solskjaer’s proactive tactical approach to management, and his side were no less defensively solid.
Luke Shaw and Paul Pogba were particularly impressive in the left channel, the former shepherding Salah out of the game and the latter repeatedly tracking runners
Solskjaer has surely now earned the job on a full-time basis. Not only has he brought attacking football back to Old Trafford, the Norwegian has even managed to improve the defensive side of things following the collapse under Mourinho.