The foundations for Manchester United's transformation from an 'anxious and afraid' team on Monday night to one that could take the fight to Liverpool at Anfield were laid at Carrington last week, when Ruben Amorim finally got what he had been waiting for since he first walked through the doors of the training ground on November 11.

The 39-year-old began his tenure during an international break and has since been unable to put together more than one training session. The schedule has been dominated by games, recovery sessions, and preparations for the next opponent. But after last week's dismal defeat to Newcastle, Amorim got the training time he had been desperate for.

While his side spent their final session of the week preparing for Liverpool, the head coach and his staff had used back-to-back sessions to drill the players in his 3-4-2-1 shape and instil what he had called on Friday "our idea to play football".

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The value of that time on the training ground was evident at Anfield. United deserved at least a point against Liverpool as they went from a team fearing a relegation battle to one capable of matching the league leaders. Diogo Dalot felt those sessions and a more combative approach helped produce the on-pitch transformation.

"I think we started the game really into the attitude that we want to show from now onwards. It changed also that we had a little bit more time to train. People might think that it was an excuse but it's not," he said.

"We actually had some time to get to know more a little bit what the manager wants us to do. I think put a little bit more everybody on the same page. I think we showed today that we can be a really good team. I think that's what we need to build more, a proper team, fighting for the badge and then the result I think will come."

Amorim had been insistent that the lack of training time was a hindrance to his methods as he sought to instill this group of players in his favoured back three formation. After an initial bounce in results, the hectic schedule had caught up with them recently, with five defeats in their last six Premier League matches.

But Dalot felt the belief and trust in the system grow during the week in training, and that was on show during what was United’s best performance under Amorim so far against Liverpool.

"It's training, it's proper training, it's time on the pitch, know what everybody wants to do, almost like trusting ourselves that everybody will be in the right position to play in every aspect of the game in every inch of the pitch," he said.

"When you have time to know what to do, I think it becomes more natural. And today you saw the structure much more compact, probably a bit more playing almost like we knew that this player would be in that position."

Dalot felt the Anfield performance now sets the standard for what United must deliver consistently, not only in terms of quality but attitude as well.

"We knew that the only way to come out of here proud of ourselves was if we had the right attitude, fighting for the result," he said, and the good news for Amorim and the players is that another free week awaits ahead of Sunday's FA Cup third-round trip to Arsenal.

"That will be, I think, really good for us to keep on the same mentality, same track," said Dalot. "And we have a very difficult game again to play away from home.

"We have a good week to train, prepare the game against Arsenal and I think [the Liverpool game] is a good sign for us to show that when we train properly, when we know what to do, when we have the right approach, we can do things like this."