José Mourinho accused Liverpool of being the cautious team in a dour goalless draw and insisted Manchester United’s meagre possession statistics represented a problem for Jürgen Klopp only.

United nullified a Liverpool side who had scored nine goals in their previous two home games, with Mourinho selecting a defensive line-up and seeking to hit the lone striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic with the long ball. Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard and Wayne Rooney were all on the bench while Anthony Martial was absent due to a training-ground injury. Yet Mourinho claimed it was Liverpool who approached the north-west duel with a defensive mind-set due to the presence of Emre Can and Jordan Henderson in central midfield.

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“We stopped them playing but they also did very well from the defensive point of view,” said the United manager. “They played Can and Henderson for some reason and they did that for 90 minutes when they normally project more players in attack. They were very cautious. They kept always Can and Henderson in position. They had only one player behind the three more offensive players. I think it was their intention to try and control us, which they also did well.”

Mourinho appeared aggrieved by the praise Liverpool have received for their attacking play this season and argued that Paul Pogba’s latest subdued display was the result of Klopp’s defensive strategy.

He added: “You know, I think like everybody else, on the defensive side of the game he was perfect. Even the goalkeeper [David de Gea] was on holiday for 90 minutes but he had two big saves to do and he did. When we recovered the ball I was expecting the team to be more dangerous, but I think we still had some important chances and Liverpool did too. They are a very good team. You like to say they are the last wonder of the world in attacking football but they are also a team that defends and thinks defensively. The fact they play Can and Henderson together and control the position where Paul wants to control. We thought there’d be only one player there but they played with two.”

United’s total of 35% possession was the club’s lowest in the Premier League since Opta began compiling statistics in 2003, but their manager even turned that into an issue for Liverpool rather than his own team. “Last season United won here when Liverpool had 14 shots on target and United had one,” Mourinho said. “How many shots on target did Liverpool have on target today? Two. Two shots on target with 65% of possession, you have to be critical of Liverpool. It is their problem, not our problem.”

Klopp claimed Liverpool lacked patience in possession and made life difficult as a consequence for Daniel Sturridge, who was replaced by Adam Lallana after 60 minutes.

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The Liverpool manager said: “I am not too happy. The game from the first second was very hectic and maybe that was what Manchester United wanted and we didn’t want, maybe it was more for their advantage. That can happen from the start but you have to find your way back to the way we usually play. We lost patience far too early and our passing game was not good. We had 65% possession but we have to do better. I didn’t expect we would have 10-15 chances. Second half we had chances but De Gea was finally warm and he made brilliant saves. They had that chance with Ibrahimovic.

“The best news tonight is we have one point more and a clean sheet, nothing else. We can do much better and we must do much better. We have to stay cool. When they want to chase us, we have to use counter-movements. We had these situations but in the last third we lost patience. It was like ‘Give it to Daniel’. It was a very difficult game for a striker. There was a really good attitude from my side. They tried everything, only with the wrong tools.”

Mourinho is under investigation by the Football Association for commenting on the referee Anthony Taylor’s appointment before the game. Afterwards he commented: “Can I speak about the referee without being punished? He had a good game and I am happy for him because people with responsibilities put a lot of pressure on him and it was very difficult for him to have a good performance, which he had.”