Ah
you Mourinho! It is in these fixtures that he lightens up to become the party
pooper. He set it up and he delivered spectacularly. The moment United went
into the break not able to score after all their pressing, it was quite clear
he will order a shutdown and his players executed it all so well. Make no
mistake, it wasn’t a boring draw and it’s not like Liverpool played badly. If
you look at the game from a defensive perspective, it was an excellent game for
both the team’s defenders except perhaps Lorius Karius who looked pretty
suspect. David De Gea is the best goalkeeper in the world by a country mile.
The fact that he chose to stay without Champions League football only increases
my respects for him. And one midfielder controlled the game and that was Ander
Herrera who wasn’t exactly playing in his best position. But a great
performance from the Spaniard and a deserved Man of the match.
Enough
of United, where did we make the mistakes? Well, they were not bad but United
stifled Liverpool so effectively that one man was missed more than ever. Adam
Lallana’s introduction galvanised the team so much that one only wonders what
would have happened had he started. I might be going on a limb here but Klopp
really needs a couple of more players who should be in tune with that midfield
to not miss a player. Emre Can did not particularly have a good game losing the
ball a lot and a lot of defensive passes that got into the Anfield crowd’s
nerves. But the biggest disappointment of the night was Sadio Mane. Again,
Mourinho and his instructions were very clear to Daley Blind. Don’t lose Mane
and he did just that. Too many slips and misplaced passes. Klopp was right in
his post-match comments that Liverpool were not calm enough.
There
is one case that is very puzzling these days and that’s one of Daniel
Sturridge. He had an excellent game against Leicester despite not scoring a
goal, making the right runs and creating chances for others. But these days he
just seems too moody. Either him or Klopp needs to realize that he needs a
change of attitude or this could very well be his last season. Title chasing
teams cannot afford players who are on and off. It’s one thing that Liverpool
did not find him enough but he is not a Balotelli or a Benteke isn’t he? He
needs to be more involved too when he does not have the ball.
From
a defensive perspective, it was a pretty good game with Matip and Lovren more
than handling the threat of Ibrahimovic, Rashford and Pogba. But Karius still
looks very suspect. I guess Klopp gave this start not to dent his confidence
and the clean sheet should springboard him for better performances.
Tactically,
it’s a game that United won fair and square. For Liverpool it should feel like
a loss but there is no need for dropping shoulders because now that Liverpool
has played the big teams except Manchester City, it should not hurt them as
much. But Jurgen Klopp should deal with the exact same problem I mentioned
after the Burnley and Swansea game when teams counter Liverpool in their own
game. It just seems like a perfect template to stop Liverpool attacks. That
would determine where Liverpool finish in the league.
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