The weekend that was

At Anfield, for a brief little moment before the beginning of the match, the rivalry between the teams took a back seat for the greater things in life to take the spotlight. But all that went away in a jiffy as soon as the game kicked off. And what a game it could have been had it not been for the referee. As the cliché goes, games should be decided by the players and the managers and not the referees, which was sadly was the case with Mark Halsey this weekend. I’m not even going to highlight the incidents as everybody knows that Liverpool were hard done by the referee.

In the first half, Liverpool utterly dominated Manchester United (an understatement) and it was all going according to plan until Shelvey’s sending off. Although I believe it was not a red card, Shelvey was a little naïve (no, I’m not going to label him stupid, the ball was there to be won and he will learn with age how to be smart on the field) to give the referee a reason with his over enthusiastic tackle. It was “youthful naivety” from Shelvey. An experienced head like Gerrard or Carrick would not have been naïve enough to put in such a tackle during the earlier stage of the game. The overall inexperience showed elsewhere too. For all his trickery, Suarez cannot operate alone at such a big stage in football. He has the calming influence of Forlan upfront along with him while playing for Uruguay , and a somewhat similar presence for him at Liverpool would do wonders. Yet again, I feel it would be a worthy gamble to play Gerrard upfront with Suarez offering support, cutting in from the left. However crazy it might sound, the lack of presence in the final third cannot continue for Liverpool.

It was also refreshing to see Brendon Rodgers staying positive and going for the kill despite being a man down, and credit to all Liverpool players for never giving up until the end. Although Liverpool were by far the better side, there was not much to show at the end of the day with no wins so far. Yet again, it’s their reluctance/incompetence/misfortune (however one sees it) to take their chances in front of goal that is costing them dear. Although the defeat hurts, fans would be happier with the performance as it is common sense that such kind of consistent performances (except against Arsenal, Liverpool have been pretty good this season) would eventually turn into results.

Sterling has earned deserved praise from everyone for such lively performances at a tender age. This time it was another youngster who caught my eye. Suso, at just 18 years and making his premier league debut in the biggest of matches, was not bogged down by the pressure. He was neat and tidy in possession and even played a couple of lovely balls (one particularly to Suarez). He looks like a fine prospect for the future, and is likely to add to the wonderful number of playmakers that Spain produces. And then Shelvey. Forget the red card, he has come a long way from last season and is definitely doing well, for such a young midfielder. For a clearer perspective, he is only 20, the same as Rodwell and about three years younger than Tom Cleverly. I just hope that Rodger shows wisdom in protecting these youngster from over exposure and burn out (remember Insua couple of years back?).

Moving on to Manchester United, what a difference Paul Scholes made since his introduction in the second half! Many would have felt that Liverpool’s numerical disadvantage led to an improved showing by Untied in the second half. However, I feel that Scholes’ introduction gave them a purpose and direction from midfield, which was clearly lacking in the first half.

The other major point which was clearly glaring was that in a game where the opponent is going to control the midfield, United need Fletcher even more than ever. Fletcher offers that tenacity and punch that the industrious Carrick cannot. And the tired old legs of Giggs did not help Carrick much either. Although United were far from convincing, they can take heart from the fact that none of their other title rivals have hit the ground running yet, especially City. To an extent, even Chelsea have been asked a lot of tough questions as they are starting to face tougher opponents. They found it difficult to break down QPR and similarly, it was not a breeze against Stoke either. Whereas Arsenal, for all the apocalyptic predictions after the sale of Van Persie, are coming together as a team and with Cazorla taking to the Premier League like a fish to water, it’s looking rather rosier for Arsenal than for any of their rivals at the moment. Early stages of the season is just about to give way and add more intrigue in the coming weeks across the table.