Football News: Liverpool v Manchester United - A Quick Liverpool Perspective

Liverpool v Manchester United

Yet another poor performance, in a string of poor performances. This time it started out promisingly, with the team showing great intensity, attacking verve and using the width really well to pull United out of position and get the ball into dangerous areas. Then, after a few minutes of putting Man Utd under the cosh and looking like they were going to put them to the sword once again, Alexander-Arnold starts drifting inside in his inverted full-back role, the intensity and pace of the attacks vanished, along with the width. The game turned into a borefest of Liverpool passing it around slowly and cumbersomely, putting very little pressure on the United backline and either losing possession cheaply or hitting and hoping from distance. It did mean Liverpool ended up with a large amount of shots, but very few of them were actually good chances. In fact the best chances, for Liverpool, were from corners and fell to the centre-backs. Overall the best chances ended up being Man Utd chances, as Liverpool saw their chance to win slipping away and threw more and more bodies forward.

It is worrying how long this has been going on now, with the lack of width and intensity producing repeated poor performances. Sometimes they are rescued by introducing width in the second half, but it is an accident waiting to happen. What is even more worrying is some of the ridiculous, and frankly idiotic, justifications for the tactics being employed. Though I think the very worst was the one that stated it allows the team to change when it is not working. So why not start with something that works at least some of the time, then change if that is not working? You can change any system very easily mid-game, so justifying a failing tactical approach by saying you can change it is just bizarre. You need to move the opposition around to tire them out during the match, playing with no width allows them to play the way every defence wants to - narrow and compact. They are not being moved about, they are not getting tired and so are not as likely to be forced into sloppy errors. The better way would be to attack with width, force them out of their shape and then flood the centre, when they have left gaps. Not flood the centre where they are waiting for you.

To be honest, I am fed up and bored of talking about this terrible tactical approach that Klopp and Lijnders have foisted on the club. Almost as bored as I am having to watch the limp, lifeless displays of slow, passing for passing's sake approach that passes for football right now. There is so much more that can come from this team, as they showed in the first few minutes. This team is capable of pulling opponents all over the place, attacking with width and verve, playing exciting, attractive and enjoyable football. And it can win doing so. I just wish someone could actually explain a benefit that comes from this approach, which right now just smacks of the nonsense that we see at goal-kicks in the Premier League now. When the centre-back places the ball on the edge of the 6-yard box and passes it 3-yards to the side to the goalkeeper, who is then usually under immediate pressure because it has given time for the opposition to race into the box. It makes absolutely no sense and often results in loose passes, while offering nothing that I can see. It does not provide a base to launch an attack any easier than it would for the goalkeeper to kick it out to a defender, who would at least then be wide of the goal in the event of a loose touch or misplaced pass. All it does is create opportunity for the opposition as far as I can see.

It is the same with this current tactic. There is nothing that it provides that cannot be done just as simply or even better in most cases, by playing a simple back four. In fact, in many ways it has negatively impacted Liverpool's play as it has taken away Alexander-Arnold's excellent crosses from high up the pitch. For some teams I can see the sense in not wanting your full-backs charging down the flanks, but his delivery is far too good to remove it from the arsenal available to the team. At least if someone else was providing some width to create gaps for Alexander-Arnold to put the ball into down the centre it would make sense. As it is, all it has done is shut down most of the available attacking options by allowing the opposition to just sit deep and within the width of the 6-yard box.

What is telling is that, despite having two keepers on the bench and a paucity of attacking options, Klopp chose not to include either Gordon or Doak in the squad. Neither have impressed when given chances, neither look anywhere near ready for the first team and that does look an area of the squad that will need to be looked at in the summer. Salah cannot carry on forever and there is no real alternative within the squad right now. It is going to be an issue during AFCON as well this January/February time.

United came with a game plan, and showed why they have such an excellent defensive record away from home. They kept compact and very rarely allowed Liverpool any chance to get through them at all, working hard and doing a good job of frustrating Liverpool by allowing no space for them to play through. Overall they will no doubt be pleased with their performance, especially considering they were not at full strength and going to Anfield where their recent record is poor. The only real black mark for them was the bizarre double booking for Dalot. The referee had been fairly lenient up until then, but flashed two quick yellows at Dalot almost before anyone had time to realise that it was two. It was almost like he had a bet on a certain number of bookings or a red in the game and wanted to make sure, with time running out, that it came in! I am sure Dalot said something, but players on both sides had been doing that all match to him and the ref never reacted to any of it until then.

It was a solid away performance from the Manchester side, with Mainoo impressing despite his youth and inexperience. At the other end of the age scale, Evans can always be relied upon to play well, when fit, and he helped marshal their defence. Their keeper Onana still looks dodgy as a week old kebab, but was not put under enough pressure in this game to cost them anything. What will disappoint Ten Hag is not taking the chances they got, as they got the better chances, despite rarely getting across the halfway line. This could have been a perfect smash-and-grab for the Red Devils on another day, with better quality finishing.

Quick notes on the players:

Alisson - while he was not exactly kept busy, other than dealing with back passes from the defence, when it matters he came up with the save. He is just so good that he makes it look easy.

Alexander-Arnold - started off brilliantly, getting forward out wide and torturing United with some great balls. Then he drifted inside and offered very little for the rest of the game in open play as there was so little space to play a pass into. I really do not understand why he did not continue to get down the flank and provide crosses, because that was causing United's defence problems. He did put in some good deliveries from crosses, which really should have seen at least one buried, but it is just such a waste of that ability to cross sitting him centrally in games like this. If Liverpool had scored and forced Man Utd to come out a bit, then it would make sense to move him central, but when they are just sitting deep, it makes absolutely no sense to have him there in the centre.

Konate - this is the kind of game where a Matip-style centre-back is missed. Konate is a better fit to the system, stronger defensively, quicker etc, but on the ball he just is not as good and far too often he is content to just slowly roll the ball back and forth between himself, van Dijk and Alisson. Defensively he was not really tested all that much until late on, even then it was quick breaks, rather than sustained pressure. While it is not really his job to score goals, he still should be hitting the target with the headers he got. They were very weak attempts.

van Dijk - in games like this, his calm, unhurried personality is a problem. When he is needed to be upping the intensity and playing the ball quicker, he stays calm and continues to roll the ball about. Also, he is fully capable of bringing the ball out as well, in fact probably better, than Matip, something which was required to give the United defence something different to think about. I woud like to know why he so rarely does it? He used to do it regularly when I watched him before joining Liverpool, the only issue with him doing it was the amount of time it would take him to amble back, as he would make little effort to get back if the opposition broke while he was upfield. I really think he should do it more often now. Especially if the system is to remain as an inverted full-back on the right, meaning the left full-back is sitting in as almost a centre-back, giving cover for him to bring the ball out. Defensively he is playing some excellent football once more, but there is more to him than simply being a great defender.

Tsimikas - he did not offer enough in this game in my opinion. It was there for him to attack down the flank all day and put the ball in, but he produced very little offensively. Certainly not as much as he should have done.

Gravenberch - it is not happening for him at the moment. He is not looking a good fit in the midfield right now, he runs well but with very little end product. It looks very nice what he does, but the important thing in football is the end product - if you beat ten men and then put the ball in the stand that is no better than just hoofing a loose pass into the stand in actuality. He has to learn to pick the right pass at the right time.

Szoboszlai - I was wondering if he had the right shoes on watching him in this game. He never seemed to be on steady footing and that is the only excuse/reason I can think of for his passing being so consistently off target. Even if he had the wrong ones on, that is on him too, as it is not like the old days and he has countless shoes available to him in various mould and stud patterns to pick from. Still, one thing you can never complain about is his effort. He may have lots more bad games in the future as well, but so long as he continues to put in the workrate he has done so far in his Liverpool career you would think he will have a lot more good games.

Endo - had a decent game, always there fighting for the ball when United had it. He may not be the greatest player in the world, but he does a good job and provides balance to the team with his defensive attributes.

Salah - not a vintage Salah performance, though he was probably the best of the front three.

Nunez - for all his hard work he is just not playing well right now. If only a break would go his way and a ball bounce in off his backside or something and maybe he can refind his form.

Diaz - drifted everywhere looking to get involved but did not do enough on the flank, where he could have had a lot more effect. Another who is way out of form, right now he would struggle to beat an egg, let alone an opposing full-back. He just seems to have lost the ability to dribble past players.

Gomez - on for Szoboszlai in the 61st minute. This season he has been very effective in the right-back position, showing much more forward drive than previously. If only he had the quality on the ball of Alexander-Arnold I am sure he would force himself into being a first choice player there.

Gakpo - replaced Gravenberch on 61 minutes. After Gravenberch got injured, his fellow Dutchman replaced him but had about as much end product unfortunately. He gets moved from position to position so much I am not sure he is fully confident in his role in the team right now.

Jones - took the place of Nunez in the 78th minute. Hard to judge his impact as the game was changing with the double substitution. Liverpool were throwing more and more bodies forward, using the width more but leaving themselves more open at the back, while lacking a big portion of their attacking players due to the substitution. Was that why he was not able to get as involved and create as much impact as he would have liked? It is difficult to say but it is worrying that even with those extra bodies getting forward, the team were still not creating anything of real value. He has the creativity and quick feet to make something happen, but he needs to be on the edge of the box to do that, and he was not getting on the ball there enough to make a difference.

Elliott - swapped in for Diaz, also in the 78th minute. He worked hard, got forward well, but was unable to make a meaningful contribution.

Written by Tris Burke December 20 2023 02:09:58