Manchester United vs Liverpool: 5 things the Reds could have done better

Liverpool suffered another defeat against Manchester United yesterday at Old Trafford, but the result could have been vastly different had the Reds set a few things right in what was a miserable first half display.

1. Team Selection

Brendan Rodgers seems to have this big affinity to picking Joe Allen. But Allen is going through a very rough phase. Going through a bad patch at Swansea is vastly different to one at Liverpool. At Swansea, you’re often unnoticed. But when you’re playing for Liverpool, you need to be on the button every single time or you could suffer a fate similar to what Allen did yesterday. Allen just could not conjure up two successful passes together. Jordan Henderson is in the middle of his best phase for Liverpool, and Rodgers did not make best use of that. Also, Steven Gerrard seems to play with a lot more freedom going forward when he is playing alongside Henderson and Lucas Leiva. But yesterday, Allen’s nightmare put a lot of pressure on both Gerrard and Lucas Leiva against Tom Cleverley and Michael Carrick who both were outstanding in the middle of the park for United. Also, there is the old adage that, ‘If you’re fit enough to make the bench, you’re fit enough to start’, and Rodgers must have dwelt along similar lines and taken a gamble to start with both Daniel Sturridge and Fabio Borini alongside Luis Suarez.

2. Non-Functional Wings

Both Stewart Downing and Raheem Sterling never threatened to do anything that could worry the United defense. Downing has shown lately that he can be an attacking threat but that has always been when he has played on the same wing as Glen Johnson. Johnson often keeps the full back occupied and frees up some space for Downing, but against United, young Andre Wisdom hardly ever got forward, and even when he did venture forward, there was absolutely no conviction in his forays. Raheem Sterling was given a stern test by Rafael, and the youngster could do next to nothing as he was given little or no space to work with. If Glen Johnson is to fill in as emergency left back, he needs to dramatically improve his crossing with his left foot.

3. Pressure in Midfield

In the first half, the trio of Gerrard, Lucas and Allen hardly ever pressed the United midfielders, giving Cleverley and Carrick all the time in the world to pick out their passes and orchestrate play. Danny Welbeck often dropped deep and made surging, forward runs which heaped the pressure on the Liverpool rearguard. This drastically changed in the second half when Suarez was pushed deeper and he began to hound the likes of Carrick and Cleverley. And as Liverpool began to dominate the midfield, the strikers began to get more sights at David de Gea‘s goal.

4. Quicken the approach play

After the Merseyside derby, Phil Jagielka said, “Liverpool pass the ball for the sake of passing”, and Liverpool seem to be proving him right. Right now, Liverpool are just too slow with their approach play, and the passing needs to be fast and slick. The likes of Joe Allen and Lucas Leiva often passed the ball sideways or backwards when there was a simple forward pass available. Liverpool need to find the feet of Suarez as often as they can because the Uruguayan is a magician with the ball at his feet and can create opportunities out of nothing. But, yesterday in the first half, Suarez was made to feed on scraps, and was often a peripheral figure in the game.

5. FINISH

New player, Same old story! Daniel Sturridge had a glorious opportunity late on to level the scores, but fluffed his lines. There were also a couple of chances that fell the way of Sturridge and Fabio Borini, which, on another day, could have easily gone in. That said, United’s rearguard often denied Liverpool the space, and much credit should be given for that. But, as has been the case on many occasions in the past, Liverpool did not take the opportunities that came their way.