Sir Alex Ferguson built his career at Manchester United by establishing a siege mentality and that’s the sort of stuff Ruben Amorim has been trying to bring back.
There’s no better way to build a siege mentality in the squad than having the players and the manager prove people wrong, which is why the Liverpool game was so monumental.
Heroes emerged in that game, many completely written off previously. While there remains a need to put in those sorts of performances consistently going forward, a building block has been set.
The win will be particularly sweet for a Man Utd trio that had been completely written off early in the season by Liverpool man Graeme Souness.
They were among the architects of the positive performance against Liverpool.
Man Utd trio leave Graeme Souness red-faced
No Man Utd fan ever expects Souness to have any praise for a United player and frankly, not many would care about his criticisms because they don’t always come from a constructive place.
However, it is still sweeter than ever when United prove doubters wrong and there aren’t many who are bigger doubters and revel in United’s misery than Souness.
Early on in the season, when United were struggling for results under Erik ten Hag, Souness dropped a damning verdict on the Man Utd trio still trying to get to grips at the club.
He said that none of the three signings who had played consistently then – Noussair Mazraoui, Matthijs de Ligt, or Manuel Ugarte, ‘convinced’ him.
It is worth bearing in mind that Mazraoui has been one of United’s top performers since day one, De Ligt has stabilised after an iffy start and Ugarte wasn’t even playing much under Ten Hag.
All three are now first names on the teamsheet, with Ugarte, in particular, an untouchable now after recent performances, especially against Liverpool.
Mazraoui shone vs Liverpool too and while De Ligt didn’t have the best of times, he is still a first-choice selection for Amorim in the back three.
Ugarte was the only questionable one among the three and after his recent resurgence, he has completed the trio which leaves Souness red-faced.
Just the beginning at Man Utd
As sweet as it is to prove a critic wrong, the trio in question would know very well that it is just the beginning for them at Old Trafford.
Ugarte, in particular, didn’t just have to impress at United as a new signing, he had to do so to rebuild his image as a football player after a chastening experience at PSG.
He has gone some way toward doing that by reuniting with the manager who engineered his initial breakout in Europe at Sporting Lisbon.
A similar challenge awaits De Ligt, once dubbed the best defender of his generation, now showing that quality in spurts but not consistently enough to deserve that billing.
Mazraoui is arguably the one player who has already wildly exceeded personal expectations but his legacy will be certified if he manages to win titles at United, something that Bayern Munich did regularly.
The trio has gotten past the hard part which was settling into life at a new club. Now comes the time to contribute to its long-term success.
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