Arne Slot pushed back firmly after questions about growing fan unrest following Liverpool’s draw with Burnley, asking for context and patience while defending his team’s approach. He made clear he was surprised at the suggestion some supporters were losing faith.

“Do people not expect that to be possible for me? To be successful?” Slot snapped when this question was put to him by Jules Breach for TNT Sports. “It’s new to me, but if you’re one-and-a-half years in the job and have already won the Premier League, when the club has won it twice in 30 years, I’m surprised to hear that.

“But if that is the situation, then I have to accept that. I’ve tried the same things as last season this time around. Every time we’ve been a goal down, I’ve made offensive substitutions, and wherever I can, I am playing a team that is as offensive as possible.”

Slot noted the run of form that has left Liverpool unbeaten in their last 12 matches, though only six of those have been victories. He explained a tactical shift after early-season exposure: adopting greater control of possession to blunt opponents and restrict counterattacks.

“You cannot play attacking football with the amount of ball possession that we have,” Slot argued. “Sometimes, it’s a disadvantage that we have that much ball possession, because then people expect more from the ball that you have.

“But the moment you don’t have it, you have to press really high, because with a low block, you don’t have ball possession. Everyone knows what we need to do in order to make the next step in this transition phase…”

On the Burnley game specifically, Slot refused to accept the idea the match was unattractive. “A Liverpool manager, let alone the players, can never be happy with a draw at home to Burnley. But if you exclude the result, which you can never do—it was the best performance against a low block since I’ve been here.

“We registered 32 shots, we had 75% ball possession, and so I couldn’t have asked for more from my players than they showed—except for the fact that we had to score more.

“They don’t do that on purpose. We had three balls cleared off the line, we missed a penalty, so I completely disagree with people who didn’t find that game attractive. The signs were only positive, and then the week before that, we played Arsenal, where many people were happy with our performance as well.

“Add to that the fact that Mo Salah is back, and so there are a lot of positives. There’s more room for positivity than the result against Burnley gave us.”

Slot also highlighted Salah’s return and underlined that the forward did not start any of the matches in the current unbeaten run, noting the first five of those absences were the manager’s explicit decision. “If the fans were frustrated with the way we played against Leeds and Sunderland, I completely agree with them as we didn’t create enough chances, but what is mainly forgotten is that [was] when Mo was out,” he claimed.

Manchester United left Turf Moor with a draw after a 2-2 result against Burnley, a game in which they dominated possession but failed to turn control into three points. The match swung wildly: an Ayden Heaven own goal put Burnley ahead at half-time, Benjamin Šeško struck twice after the interval to put United in front, and substitute Jaidon Anthony levelled to deny the visitors victory.

United began well and the away support were audible as they sang Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s name amid talk of a possible interim return. Early openings arrived but were not taken, and Burnley capitalised against the run of play when Bashir Humphries’ cross took a deflection off Heaven and looped over Senne Lammens.

After half-time Šeško changed the game. Fernandes slipped him in for an instinctive finish six minutes after the restart, and a second followed from Patrick Dorgu’s precise cross, Šeško guiding the volley into the net. United looked to have done enough, but Lisandro Martínez failed to close down Jaidon Anthony, who turned and fired the home side’s first shot on target into the corner.

Player contributions were mixed. Bruno Fernandes returned to the starting XI and set up the first Šeško goal before being substituted at 61 minutes. Patrick Dorgu impressed on the left, and Šeško converted two instinctive finishes to double his season tally. Ayden Heaven was unfortunate to be credited with the own goal and had a glaring chance to make amends later.

Substitutes included Mason Mount (61’), Leny Yoro (61’), Joshua Zirkzee (74’), Kobbie Mainoo (74’) and Shea Lacey (84’), with Lacey coming close to a late breakthrough. Unused subs were Altay Bayındır, Harry Maguire, Tyrell Malacia and Jack Fletcher.

Key match statistics underlined United’s control: possession 68% to 32%, expected goals 0.85 to 0.06, total shots 12 to 2 and shots on target 6 to 0. In the end United will view this as two points lost after a performance that produced control but not the result.

Darren Fletcher has confirmed Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes is fit to face Burnley on Wednesday night and has described his temporary appointment as a coach as a considerable honour.

Fletcher said: “It is an amazing honour to lead a Manchester United team especially as it was not in my wildest dreams that would be something which could potentially happen.” He acknowledged the awkwardness of the circumstances: “To lead out the team is an amazing honour and something I am really proud to do but not in the circumstances I expected it to, so that is something which doesn’t sit quite easy with me.” He added: “But I’ve just got to think I have a job to do and I just have to lead the team tomorrow [against Burnley] and think of the great honour and pride in doing that.”

Fletcher will be assisted by Travis Binnion, U21 assistant Alan Wright and former teammate Jonny Evans. He will be in charge for at least the Burnley match while United plan to have an interim manager in place until the end of the season, with a permanent hire expected in the summer.

BBC Sport reports Fletcher is among three club legends with whom “preliminary talks” have been held about taking the interim role until the end of the season. Former boss Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Michael Carrick, who had three games as a caretaker in 2021, are the other two named.

Pressed on whether he would stay beyond one game, Fletcher remained focused on preparation. “Focus on this game and then speak after the game,” he said. “It all happened very quickly on Monday with a game to prepare and a quick turnaround, training session to organise, speak to the players. The focus is on the Burnley game as I think that we give the Burnley match the respect and focus it deserves to prepare the team in such a short space of time.”

On player availability he confirmed: “Mason [Mount] and Bruno were pushing to play against Leeds and the decision was that they weren’t quite ready. They have trained and they should be back in the squad.” He added: “They are on managed minutes and restricted minutes because they have only just returned to training so that is good news, especially because they are players who have been in good form. Mason Mount’s form has been fantastic and Bruno Fernandes … you don’t have to speak about him.”

Fernandes had been ruled out of Amorim’s final three games with a rare injury absence; United scored three times in those three fixtures compared with 10 in the previous three when he played. Fletcher said his immediate concentration is on the Burnley fixture and said discussions about a longer-term role would follow after the match. “Honestly it is not what I have thought about. Focusing on Burnley, that discussion is for after the game. It has all happened so quickly so all my concentration is on Burnley. I know it is a generic answer but it is what it is.”