Brendan Rodgers admitted he was managing a fractured dressing room after Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat at a resurgent Manchester United.

Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Robin van Persie inflicted Liverpool’s seventh defeat of the Barclays Premier League season to move within five points of Manchester City in second.

Rodgers, who faces a tricky Capital One Cup quarter-final at Bournemouth on Wednesday, is struggling to find solutions after this latest defeat.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers looks down after his side's 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford

Raheem Sterling shows frustration after another missed opportunity during the difficult defeat

The Liverpool manager said: ‘We have to recapture the team ethos. With the emphasis of the team, it is clear to me that we are searching to find solutions.

‘The players are working hard, the players have given everything, they are pressing and they are working.

‘In every dressing room there have always been been issues, but it is not something I discuss outside of the dressing room. The players are honest but we are not getting results.

Rodgers says his players are honest, and will keep working hard to get results as the season goes on

Rodgers, who chose to field Sterling as his central striker, admitted there is tension in the dressing room

‘I can’t fault the commitment of the players because they gave everything.’

Rodgers axed Belgian keeper Simon Mignolet and replaced him with Brad Jones for the trip to Old Trafford and also changed to a 3-4-3 system.

It played straight into United’s hands and Louis van Gaal’s team, who have now won six games in a row, were 2-0 up at the break.

Rodgers added: ‘Simon has been fine, I spoke to him after the Basle game in the Champions League and he understood it.

'Brad Jones didn’t have much to do and he’s ending up picking the ball out of the net three times.

Brad Jones, who replaced Simon Mignolet in the Liverpool goal, had no chance with Juan Mata's header

Rodgers was upset with the second goal, which was clearly some way offside, but missed by the linesman

Rodgers pointed to David de Gea's excellent performance as one of the reasons for his side's defeat

‘This will be for an indefinite period. In my first year Brad did well and sometimes coming out of the firing line can help.

‘I just felt after Basle game that there was a chance to make the decision.’

Rooney scored United’s first goal but their next, scored by Mata, should have been disallowed for offside. Van Persie wrapped it up for United after the break with a clinical strike.

Despite the emphatic scoreline, United keeper David de Gea was man of the match for a string of excellent saves from Mario Balotelli and Raheem Sterling.

Rodgers added: ‘We didn’t deserve to lose, but we need to be more clinical.

‘Their keeper got man of the match and that tells you everything. We created more chances against United than in the last five or six games but we are disappointed with the first and the third goal.

‘The second one was clearly offside. With the players we had we did the best we could.’

Van Gaal’s side are eight points behind Chelsea and are in third position in the Premier League after this convincing victory.

Mario Balotelli and Sterling cut dejected figures as they get ready to kick-off after conceding at Old Trafford

David de Gea celebrates Rooney's goal moments after making the save from Sterling's point blank strike

The Manchester United keeper was man of the match, denying Liverpool with several superb saves

Balotelli came on as a second half substitute but failed to find the net again for the Reds

Despite their good form the Dutch coach refuses to accept that his team can challenge for the title in his first season in England.

He added: ‘The most important match is always the next one. We are winning now, six matches in a row but we have to improve our style.

‘We can kill the game easily, but we must improve. Everyone is happy now - my cook is happy and my wife is happy because we beat Liverpool.

‘We have a way of playing that takes into account the qualities of the opponent and my staff are always looking for the way we can inflict pain on the opponent.

Despite the comfortable victory, their sixth in a row, Louis van Gaal admitted United have to improve

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‘You need luck, but you can force the luck. That was not the case at the start of the season.’

Van Persie added: ‘The fans were absolutely brilliant from the start to the finish. They were our 12th man again. David was outstanding again. He was absolutely brilliant like he always is.’

United are dealing with another injury after Marcos Rojo pulled out on Saturday. Van Gaal refused to discuss the extent of the problem.