Match Report: Manchester United’s old rivals Liverpool are just
speck in rear view mirror
As the last seconds of hope were squeezed out of Liverpool, Sir
Alex Ferguson jabbed at his wristwatch and cast an accusing look at
the fourth official. Liverpool, for the large part, looked like a
team who are a speck in Manchester United’s rear-view mirror this
morning and their manager’s suggestion last night that “We are 24
points behind Manchester United but we are not 24 points behind on
quality” frankly stretched the bounds of credibility. Humour worked
better. “That win might be critical. I don’t think we’ll catch
United now,” said former Liverpool player
Jan Molby, who must have been joking.
Liverpool are yet to beat one of the Premier League’s top-10
sides this season and Rodgers seized on the notion, when it was put
to him, that a win against a big club might just be the “next step”
which changes everything. He quoted back Ferguson’s 1990 FA Cup
third-round win over Nottingham Forest and expressed hopes for his
very own “defining moment”. The more prosaic truth was that his
side looked short of class.
Rodgers characterises this squad as one assembled on a
shoestring, though that is not entirely true. Joe Allen cost £15m
and was the player Rodgers wanted at all costs, even if no cash was
left for Fulham’s Clint Dempsey. That leaves Rodgers needing to
persist with him, as an article of faith in his own judgement.
Rodgers rested Allen over Christmas because he was “jaded” but he
stretched logic yesterday by withdrawing Lucas Leiva, one of
Liverpool’s few productive players, and not Allen at half time.
Rodgers’ name for his holding midfielder is “controllers” but
United commandeered it, as Liverpool drifted deep. They enjoyed
comfortable possession – a novelty for them on these occasions –
and there were more than 10 passes in the build up to the goal
which put them ahead. Shinji Kagawa’s work off the ball was one of
its lesser appreciated subtleties but the finished product was
simple: Robin van Persie’s own movement allowing him to dart in
ahead of Daniel Agger’s challenge to meet Evra’s low cross and
scoop the ball beyond Pepe Reina.
It was a desperately timid first half from a Liverpool
perspective. Rodgers has been reading Deep Survival, writer
Laurence Gonzales’s study of why some people hold onto life and
others don’t, and for 45 minutes it looked like his side were just
trying to avoid a fatal blow. Liverpool supporters require
something far more visceral.
