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?
