Manchester United silenced Liverpool at Anfield in what was a turning point for them under Jose Mourinho
Jose Mourinho's side held Liverpool to a goalless draw at Anfield in the Premier League on Monday night
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FOR SOME, Monday night was evidence of Manchester United’s shortcomings.
But for them it was evidence that this season they will be challenging for the title.
They went into enemy territory at Anfield, silenced the Kop and stifled Jurgen Klopp’s free-scoring side.
It finished goalless but United returned home around midnight believing they had reached a turning point under Jose Mourinho.
Captain Wayne Rooney only played a small part as a late substitute but he is now convinced his side will be making a big noise in this title race.
He said: “I think we’ll be challenging this season.
“We’ve still got that belief and it is even stronger after working with this manager and the players over the last few months. I think we’ve got a fantastic squad.”
These were sentiments echoed by stand-in skipper Chris Smalling.
The defender said: “I think we have more than enough to do well. We have shown we can score goals.
“We have shown we can keep clean sheets and not give too much away. We can do both sides of the job.
“It is all about consistency now. We need to go on a little run and show people we are a threat.”
But what is Mourinho’s United? Certainly it is better than under Louis van Gaal, even if the Dutchman — bizarrely — had a better record at this stage last season.
And Rooney believes they are finding their identity and that it will emerge in the coming months. He said: “It is a different way of playing, but if you’re an individual you should learn what the manager wants.
“As a team it’s going to take a little bit longer.
“We knew it was going to take a bit of time.
“I’m sure over the next few weeks or couple of months we will have our way of playing and it will be his way of playing.”
Right now you get the sense Mourinho is just clinging on, eking out results while he gets his ideas across and builds some consistency into this United team.
He is still working on eradicating the Van Gaal philosophy from the minds of those players who suffered under it.
And he is still working on getting world record signing Paul Pogba to knit together with his other stars.
He played further forward behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic on Monday but his performance was still nothing special.
Rooney said: “Paul is a fantastic player, I think he is working hard and he is doing well.
“It is a different league to what he’s been used to — he didn't really play last time when he was here so this is all new. He will shine for us this season, there is no doubt about that.”
Remember, United also have still to really witness what Henrikh Mkhitarayan can do for them, with reports from the training ground suggesting it could be something very special.
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Mourinho always likes to go into clubs and make sure the team stops conceding goals first and then build.
In that sense you can see progress. This looks a solid back four with the best goalkeeper on the planet — witness his two saves in the second half at Anfield.
We will, of course, know more in just over a week.
In that time they will have played in three different competitions, at home to Fenerbahce tomorrow in the Europa League, away to Chelsea on Sunday in the Premier League and then at home to Manchester City in the EFL Cup.
To get a draw at Anfield was certainly not a bad start to this run.
Smalling added: “The fixtures we have got this week can make it a turning point in our season.
“We have a clean sheet here and that is something we have not had in a few games, so we can kick on now on Thursday and Sunday. Our confidence is good.”