To be brutally honest, Jose Mourinho can retire this evening with the knowledge that in terms of the bigger picture, it was mission accomplished. His players did all that was asked of them and more. As for Jurgen Klopp and his band of artists, there will be better days where they will find space ahead of them and teammates with their passes. If the gameplan was to press Manchester United into submission, then the much vaunted Gegenpress needs to develop a variation or two.
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This was a day for tactics, midfield battles, committed challenges and not giving any quarters. In a match where all the pre-kickoff hyperbole was about the sense of the occasion, the final product was dull, dour and occasionally (only occasionally) feisty affair. Both sets of players left the pitch knackered and bruised as ‘damage containment’ was the mantra of the day.
Nevertheless, all matches must as a rule have 5 Talking Points. Here they are in all their glory.
1. Ashley Young, Ander Herrera, and Marouane Fellaini: Horses for courses
There are United fans who still wonder what Ashley Young and Marouane Fellaini are doing in the same squad as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba. Today Jose Mourinho showed those fans the true worth of an English International has-been and a much maligned Belgian whose only real fault is that David Moyes overpaid Everton to get him. In a game where United recorded just 35% possession (their lowest since Opta started keeping record), the two players, ever on the fringes of this star(?) studded squad, were two of the best players in a Manchester United jersey not named De Gea or Herrera.
Often times Young looked like the only creative United player on the pitch. He spun and wove and ran and then spun and wove some more, before sending in hopeful balls into the box for Ibrahimovic, who was so starved of service, he must’ve been waiting on some United Nations Relief service. Fellaini tackled everything that moved, often breaking a Liverpool move before it began. He also had the most touches of any United player in the Liverpool penalty box. The Reds depend on pressing high up the pitch, winning the ball in dangerous areas and attacking at the speed of a Quentin Tarantino action set piece, before the opposition midfield has a chance to recover. Fellaini ensured to an extent, that most of these moves never materialized. He also contributed heavily to the smattering of attacking play United engaged in.
But real praise must be reserved for Ander Herrera. The combative Central Midfielder totaled 5 take-ons (completing 100 % of all take ons), made 50 passes, most of any player in the match, 11 interceptions, most in the game and the highest total in a single Premier League game this season, made 5 successful tackles and won 4 aerial duels. For a player who was being kept out by Wayne Rooney early on the season, this was the match where the Spaniard vindicated his Manager’s faith in his abilities. Fair play.
On a day, where Jose had probably briefed every player individually about which Liverpool player they would be marking (having left the folder marked ‘attack’ at home), these two players set the benchmark when it came to effort and energy. That, United fans are what squad players are for. They chomp at the bit for some playing time.
2. Liverpool needed a lot more Lallana and a bit of Wijnaldum
This Liverpool team score and score, take a break and then score some more for fun. They do it because the players are on the same page. They move with the cohesion of a well-drilled and finely-tuned unit and understand the spaces that their teammates want to occupy. Remove two cogs from the wheel and although it turns, it also creaks.
So when it was declared before the match that Adam Lallana wasn’t fit to start and Giorgio Wijnaldum wasn’t fit to play, Liverpool must have held their collective breaths. Their fear was well founded as this Liverpool team with Can in the centre and Firmino on the flanks didn’t understand how to attack with cohesion. Case in point would be the performance of one Sadio Mane, who decided most times to take matters into his own hands as he couldn’t find the out ball. With the United midfield paying him extra consideration, this meant an evening of wasted dribbles and more often than not, passes to Coutinho, who while pumped up for the game, seemed to make the wrong decision every time.
A lot will be written about how the Manchester United players worked overtime to shut down the Liverpool midfield and rightfully so. Liverpool however, didn’t help their own cause with their errant decision making and error prone passing. Playing with teammates they aren’t used to, in a match this big, brought out the jitters. Not having the creativity of Lallana and the calmness of Wijnaldum exacerbated said jitters. Having Lallana on for thirty minutes or so itself seemed to reinvigorate the tiring Reds.
What a difference Lallana and Wijnaldum make to this team. Who would’ve thought that sentence would be written in 2016?
3. Who are you and what have you done with Daniel Sturridge?
It’s no secret that Daniel Sturridge has fallen down the pecking order at Liverpool. It’s also not a secret that this is the one player Klopp has no idea what to do with. The Manager played him out on the right early on in the season, only for the player to complain about not being played in his natural position. Time on the bench followed, only for Sturridge to be given the chance to lead the line in this match due to injuries in other positions.
What followed was 60 minutes of ineptness and a general sense of meh. Once an integral part of an attack that included the wily Sterling and the guile of Suarez, Sturridge thrived on leading the line and being the siege weapon that finally brought down the door. Now he exists in a state of flux, in a system that is fluid and affords him no opportunities for selfishness or errors. He is neither creator nor finisher and that doesn’t suit his game at all.
Let’s also admit that his heart's not in it. Sturridge has to be the focal point. Right now, he is an unprepared extra in a play where all the characters know their parts instinctively. He does not have the Manager’s trust. He has not finished a single game in the league and all his goals this have come against Burton. An egotistical Striker like Sturridge simply cannot strive in conditions where the onus of goalscoring is shared burden.
Perhaps it is time for Manager and player to sit down and discuss the near and long term future. Maybe a loan or permanent move in January awaits. January however, is months away and Klopp has to somehow figure out how to get the best out of someone who looks like he mentally already has one foot out the door at Anfield.
4. The League now has a blueprint for facing Liverpool
This match was a masterclass in how to deal with Liverpool. Their high press may be a source of anxiety for the clubs they face, but here Manchester United proved that if you keep a compact shape and giving the Liverpool midfielders no space or passing lanes through the middle is the best way to deal with their directness. With the trio of Pogba, Herrera and Fellaini shielding Bailly and Smalling, Coutinho and the rest of the tricksters were forced to find joy on the flanks, thereby involving Clyne and Milner. This is where United controlled and shaped how the game panned out. Jose Mourinho forced the Liverpool team into uncharted territory.
Aggressive and brutal in attack this Liverpool team might be, their full backs are a poor reflection of the talent of the rest of the team. Let’s just admit it. Clyne had a shocker. And for as much praise as Milner has been receiving recently, it would be wise not to forget that he is right-footed, make-shift Left Back at best. Nothing of quality ever came into the Manchester United penalty box and when it did, it was cleared with ease.
As the game wore on, the Liverpool players were forced into taking pot shots which are Mr. De Gea’s bread and butter. He did make a world class save or two, but by his own high standards, it was a quiet day in the office as the high work rate of United’s midfield three combined with that of Young and Rashford had won the battle in the trenches already.
Teams who play Liverpool will now be wise to try the same and see what Klopp can muster as an answer.
5. Can Mourinho bring balance to the Force?
It is apparent that this is not the Jose Mourinho of the past. This is a Mourinho whose legacy as the ‘Special One’ is on the line at one of the biggest clubs in the world. One who must balance pragmatism and ambition. But today was the day that the old Jose would have played one player in a position where he could have caused some attacking damage. Instead, he chose to give the Striker’s role to the surely exhausted, 35-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The man who cost 89.4 million Pounds is also visibly struggling. One can tell that his price tag is beginning to weigh on him. Every time Pogba did get the ball, there was a feeling that he was desperate to do something special with it. That desperation affected his decision making and at this point, it is time Jose Mourinho has a re-think about Pogba’s automatic inclusion. This is Manchester United. We are eight games into the season and are yet to see a performance from them that makes the viewer believe that they will be title contenders. Is it time for Mourinho to start tinkering with the lineup? The horses for courses strategy seems to be partially working. It is time the Gaffer recognizes that the only person undroppable in this team is David De Gea.
It wouldn’t have taken the old Mourinho five games to figure out Wayne Rooney is bang out of form. It wouldn’t have taken him eight games to figure out his best starting eleven either. Something has changed and an educated guess as to the reason for that has to be that he is still trying to shoehorn in all of United’s stars.
It must be said that the match against Liverpool was a step in the right direction. Manchester United have shown the world they have the fortitude to stop the Premier League’s most belligerent team in their own backyard. A little more elbow grease and new personnel could help them sort out the situation at the other end of the pitch as well.
