Manchester United win over Liverpool FC showed Jim Ratcliffe might have fixed biggest problem

Manchester United’s victory over Liverpool was not only an important win for Ruben Amorim, it was a crucial one for the club's transfer policy as well.

Jim Ratcliffe famously labelled United as being 'the dumb money' in the transfer market and made it his mission as co-owner to ensure they would not repeat their mistakes when it came to signing players.

There has been a preference to sign Premier League proven players to minimise the 'risk' attached to new arrivals, an eagerness to explore untapped markets for youth signings, and a desire to sign players who will fit their tactical approach, regardless of who their head coach might be.

It accumulated in £215 million across the summer transfer window, as United brought in Wolves star Matheus Cunha and Brentford talisman Bryan Mbeumo, spent big on Benjamin Sesko and made a late move to sign long-term target Senne Lammens. They also completed the signing of teenager Diego Leon after a deal had been agreed at the start of the year.

United's transfer window will be headlined as a £215m spend, though the reality is the net spend was roughly £125m when you account for player sales, loan fees, and the various sell-on clauses they benefited from. It is still a large amount to spend, though it looks a lot better after the weekend win over Liverpool.

"You have to praise United's recruitment this season," Roy Keane said after the Liverpool win. "We know the importance of recruitment in football. We've slagged United off for years about it and we've asked who is buying the players. But the big plus this year is they have bought players who know the league in Cunha and Mbeumo. When you have a couple of star players up the pitch, it gives everyone a big lift."

Mbeumo was one of the standout stars of the Anfield victory, while Cunha produced his best performance in a United shirt so far. It was a huge call to drop Benjamin Sesko after goals in consecutive matches, though it was fully justified as a fluid front three terrorised the Liverpool defence from the very start.

There were always going to be questions over United's attacking overhaul, with not enough places to go around to fit every player into the line up. It would not be as big an issue if they were still in the Carabao Cup or had European competition, but the issue has been amplified in the first couple of months of the campaign.

Sesko is still an ideal fit when United need to roughen up opposition defenders and is a vital cog in matches when they dominate possession and look to break a team down, though they now have an effective alternative with a false nine that allows Mason Mount to start. United are no longer one-dimensional and actually have a few different approaches they can adopt depending on their opponents and what they need from the match.

The other huge improvement has come in goal. Senne Lammens was excellent on his debut against Sunderland, but the real test was always going to be Liverpool away. He was not necessarily a standout performer at Anfield, but the beauty of his display was in its sheer simplicity. The entire backline felt safer and secure with him in goal; he was assured with balls into his box and wasn't afraid to lump the ball long to relieve pressure.

It has felt like a long time since United had such assurance in goal, and you can take for granted the luxury of having a goalkeeper who can be trusted to keep things safe. A lot of that could be down to confidence, and though Lammens might have difficult spells ahead, right now, he has the full backing of the fanbase.

United got everything right on the pitch against Liverpool, and it looks like they got a lot right in the summer window as well. That dumb money is now looking smart.

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