That’s the view of Reds hero Graeme Souness.

United and Liverpool played out a boring 0-0 stalemate at Anfield yesterday, with the Red Devils having just one shot on target.

Mourinho, who hit out at Jurgen Klopp after the game, was slammed for his defensive tactics.

However, Souness says Liverpool were set up to shut out United, claiming Klopp is also at fault.

“The United manager treated this like an away leg in the knockout stage of the Champions League, then. This was all about not losing. Defeat would have dented his team's confidence and handed momentum to their rivals, including Liverpool,” Souness wrote in his Times column.

“A point, though, keeps them in touch with Manchester City and they move on without blemish to Huddersfield on Saturday.

“The final result might have been a draw but this was a victory for pragmatism.

“Liverpool fans know that while Mourinho teams like to park the bus on the road this often leads to them nicking a goal on the counter-attack remember Chelsea's 2-0 victory at Anfield in 2014 which knocked Liverpool off their stride in the title run-in.

“This clearly influenced Jurgen Klopp's approach.

“As conservative as Mourinho's tactics were, the Liverpool manager was hardly putting an accent on attack when he named Can, Henderson and Wijnaldum in midfield.

“Mourinho feeds on tactical naivety with the kind of avidity you find in a starving vulture chancing upon a carcass, so going all-out attack only to lose 1-0 was not an outcome that Liverpool, with just one win in their past seven games, could countenance.”