Liverpool vs Manchester United - Talking Points
Liverpool are further ahead of Manchester United now than United ever were ahead of Liverpool in the Ferguson era
Yesterday afternoon at a packed out Anfield marked a big moment in the title race, Liverpool have now beaten every team in the Premier League and are 16 points clear with a game in hand. It’s unheard of in the Premier League, even Arsenal’s great invincible side wasn’t this complete. It also highlighted, in what is widely perceived as the biggest game in English football, the stark contrast between Liverpool and Manchester United.
Under Klopp Liverpool have patiently been building what has now become one of the great sides of the modern era. It started with the creation of the deadly front three of Mane, Salah and Firmino, which rival the brilliance of Messi, Suarez and Neymar, when they were at their best for Barcelona.
It has developed into a complete team, the final jigsaws in the puzzle being the signing of Van Dijk in January 2018 and then the addition of Fabinho last summer. They are now resilient and well organised defensively, with Van Dijk rising to become the best centre half in the world. Klopp has built a team that is starting to be recognised as one of the best of an illustrious Premier League era.
THE FERGUSON EFFECT
Whilst United have been wilting away ever since Sir Alex Ferguson departed at the end of the title winning season of 2012/13. In some respects, it has just brought to light how brilliant Sir Alex was at getting the best out of players because other than a few changes, that same title winning side were unrecognisable the following season under David Moyes.
Now some people would suggest that Ferguson jumped sail on a boat that was about to sink, leaving Moyes to inherit an ageing squad whose better days were behind them. Yet unlike Ferguson, no manager since his departure has got the best out of what they had at their disposal.
In their defence, they haven’t been helped by the appointment of Ed Woodward after the retirement of CEO David Gill. Woodward has been heavily criticised for his disastrous transfer dealings in his time at the club, with United spending ridiculous amounts on transfer fees and players wages. He has either spent big money on ageing players or players with no Premier League experience and has showed no sign of having a transfer strategy. Fans have time and time again been left frustrated and disappointed, as all the clubs exciting targets fell through. The result of this has been years of underwhelming results, an over reliance on young players like Rashford and now a team with incredibly little squad depth.
THE TRANSFER WINDOW
January, for well organised and efficiently structured clubs like Liverpool, is a relaxing month transfer wise. No panic buys are needed because the squad depth is in abundance and the one target Liverpool did have in MInamino, was brought in on January 1st.
On the other side of the spectrum you have Manchester United who (despite having an injury crisis on top of an already thin squad) are frantically trying to bring in players, being linked with almost every highly rated young player. But nearly three weeks into the window, have still not done a thing. The ongoing deal with Bruno Fernandes which started in April last spring, still finds United and Sporting at a stalemate, with Manchester United’s stubbornness once again putting a deal into the brackets of uncertainty.
The need for signings became even greater when Solskjaer told the press after the Liverpool game that Rashford will be out for at least six weeks with a double stress back fracture. It can’t be ignored any longer, the club needs reinforcements, long-term ones would be ideal but in the current situation, just having extra numbers is important to help prevent further injuries in a busy upcoming period.
MIND THE GAP
It’s striking just how different things are at Manchester United compared to Liverpool right now, at United everything is manic and uncertain, whilst at Liverpool there is a calmness, a long-term vision and a relentless game by game focus from the players.
Despite the clear sense of organisation and belief at Liverpool that everything is under control, it always felt like before yesterday’s game there was this doubt in Liverpool fans minds, a club still haunted by the Gerrard slip in 2014.
Despite being worlds apart in terms of their respective squads, Manchester United have had a habit of being Liverpool’s undoing in recent years and they are the only team to take points off them this season. If they ended their unbeaten season to their biggest rivals, a capitulation far greater and more catastrophic than the one in 2014 could have followed.
Despite being the much better team in the first half, Liverpool somehow only found themselves 1-0 up and the game was still finely balanced. United were a different team in the second half in comparison to the nervy side that was outplayed in the first. Martial had a great chance to equalise but he was unusually rash in front of goal. Further chances were few and far between, but a sense of unease had grown inside Anfield and the atmosphere was suddenly quite tense.
The players though unlike in 2014, stayed compact and resolute, making it very difficult for Manchester United to find space. Then practically the last kick of the game saw United exposed at the back with Salah breaking at speed, what followed was a moment which saw Liverpool fans doubts swept aside as relief and joy spread across Anfield, with the away fans stunned into silence. The belief was finally there amongst the fans that Liverpool will win their first Premier League title, as they sang “we’re going to win the league’ at full time.
This Liverpool team is superior to most of Sir Alex’s great sides in my opinion and the contrast between the two clubs in terms of direction and overall quality, is more emphatic now than any period under Ferguson’s reign at Old Trafford. Therefore, with a Premier League title on the horizon and more promising years ahead, Klopp has the opportunity to put himself amongst the likes of Johan Cruff, Arrigo Sacchi and of course Sir Alex Ferguson in the list of football’s great managers.
