Jose Mourinho was involved in a tense post-match interview following Manchester United's 3-1 defeat at Liverpool, and denied that his players have downed tools.
Midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri came off the bench to fire Liverpool back to the top of the Premier League and ramp up the pressure on Mourinho with a convincing victory on Sunday.
The Switzerland international's two-goal 20-minute cameo spared the blushes of goalkeeper Alisson Becker, whose 33rd-minute howler had gifted Jesse Lingard an equaliser the visitors barely deserved.
It was indicative of the mentality of the two managers that Mourinho sent on defensive midfielder Marouane Fellaini at half-time with the score at 1-1 while Reds boss Jurgen Klopp turned to Shaqiri when that scoreline had not changed midway through the second half.
That proved to be the masterstroke as he scored twice, both via deflections, to add to Sadio Mane's 24th-minute opener as Liverpool beat United for the first time in nine league meetings.
Even with a game to chase Mourinho decided £89million midfielder Paul Pogba was not part of the solution as the French World Cup-winner was an unused substitute.
Following the match, Mourinho was interviewed by Sky Sports and took exception to a question over whether the United squad are giving their all for him.
When asked whether the United players are giving him 100 per cent effort, Mourinho replied: "Are you calling the players dishonest? I believe they are honest and you believe they are dishonest.
"A footballer player has to give maximum, every day, every minute, the club pays him, the fans love them 24 hours a day. If the players don't give that, you call them dishonest. But I would not call them that.
"Liverpool are a better team than us, we cannot compare physicality, intensity, but we were in the game. In the moment, they scored the third goal which killed it but we had as many chances in the last 15 minutes of the game."
Additional reporting by the Press Association.
