Liverpool icon Barnes blasts ‘hypocrite’ Jose Mourinho

The Reds were denied a victor when David De Gea somehow managed to keep out Joel Matip’s close-range effort to ensure Manchester United left Anfield with a point.

Jose Mourinho may have been blasted for his tactics against Liverpool, but one of his players thinks it was the right thing to do.

Given Mourinho is only 54, it was always going to be unlikely he would stay at Old Trafford for the remainder of his career in the manner Sir Alex Ferguson did, with long-term managerial reigns like those of the Scot and Arsene Wenger at Arsenal a dying breed. Maybe his Liverpool could never play like that – my Liverpool did and got results on the back of it.

‘He has also used the term to describe other performances by those who insist on containing the opposition and have refused to play an open game against his teams. You have to ask questions of Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool, not Mourinho.

He said that in such a situation, which never came, United would have found opportunities on the counter-attack.

The Express report he said: “Let them (criticise) – we’ll see where we are at the end of the season”.

It might have been meant to draw attention to Klopp’s caution on Saturday, but it also said more about Mourinho’s outlook.

“I don’t think too much about it – I just move on”, said the striker, many of whose goals have come late in matches, which critics point to as evidence he does not score enough game-changing goals.

“I do not blame Mourinho for the boring display”.

‘Our CEO Ed Woodward promised me six bottles of Ribeiro red wine every time I would beat Liverpool.

There is an obvious, unavoidable comparison to be made with Pep Guardiola here.

“If we can take some those chances then we will certainly start getting ourselves back up the table, where we want to be and back in contention”.

“We were slightly disappointed because Manchester United are playing really well and scoring a lot of goals”.