Liverpool 2-1 Man Utd: Post Match Thread

[Darth Marty]

If it wasn't for Gerrard, Rafa would have been sacked by now. Be careful what you wish for.

Says the person who has obviously looked into an alternate dimension.

Thats a purely speculative and in my opinion bollocks, post.

For a start we have plenty of cover in midfield, the team seems to play well and maybe even better without stevie and of course we would have had the cash from his sale to strengthen our already strong team/squad.

You say he would have been sacked, I say he would have led us to No.19.

Both comments are completely useless as they are un-provable.

[Marky]

http://www.skysports.com/video/clips...3862&ssvPage=1

That's priceless

[dww]

David Pleat's chalkboard:
How wings brought lift-off for Liverpool's forward threat

Liverpool's speed and attacking intent was refreshing and Benitez's clever use of width helped overrun Manchester United

Rafael Benítez and his coaching team will take great heart from this performance. After starting second best and succumbing to a goal of genius, Liverpool fought back in encouraging style. We may have witnessed Benítez opening up his style of play, and his clever use of width helped overrun United. But it was in central midfield that Liverpool wrestled possession away from United, mainly thanks to the herculean efforts of Javier Mascherano and the calming presence of Xabi Alonso. The loss of United's holding midfielder, Michael Carrick, at half-time may have helped.

Nor did it help United that they split their front men - Wayne Rooney wide right, Dimitar Berbatov central. But there was speed and refreshing attacking intent from Liverpool, who had little to lose after conceding so early.

Yossi Benayoun - patrolling the opposite flank - made clever inroads in-field when play was out on the left. He was alert and quick to make runs on the inside of United's left-back and drifted in dangerously as Riera stayed wide on the left. The other advanced players looked for the Israeli with clever reverse passes (see diagram). Benayoun could gain more opportunities if Benítez continues to open up.

Liverpool were bright moving forward, quick on restarts and did not hesitate to roll free-kicks sharply to colleagues before United's players were properly set. Likewise, quickly taken throw-ins maintained a fast momentum. With Steven Gerrard coming on to play off Robbie Keane, Dirk Kuyt shunted wide and Ryan Babel introduced on the left, Benítez also subbed at perfect times, tightening the pressure and raising the crowd volume.

[wiw]

Signs of us playing more like Rafa's Balenthia?

[donpisci]

David Pleat's chalkboard:
Benítez also subbed at perfect times, tightening the pressure and raising the crowd volume.

Have to agree there...I thought Utd were starting to come back into the game, and then Rafa brought Gerrard on, who immediately passed the ball straight to Giggs!
Seriously though, the psychological effect it had on both teams when a player such as Gerrard is brought on when we are already comfortable, must have been huge.

[wiw]

Where's the 'diagram' ?


how about this for a comment

A neutral's observations. Utd didn't lose because they were crap. This new Carlos Queiroz free team was tactically out-thought by Benitez whose Liverpool are finally beginning to look like his Benitez's Valencia Crushing Machine. If they can keep this up things are going to be interesting especially seeing as they were without gerrard and torres. A statement of intent and squad depth if ever I saw it.

Finally utd lost because liverpool, out-fought them, out-passed them (with some great "at speed" passing) and had better movement. Kuyt a donkey? My, and most neutrals man of the match. He looks so much better playing in his native position up front rather than marrooned on the sidelines.

Utd were owned in a way most people of a certain age haven't seen for a generation.

[dww]

Where's the 'diagram' ?

Looks like you are going to have to buy the paper for that

[dww]

Signs of us playing more like Rafa's Balenthia?

The article I posted in the Rafa thread references that saying that it was reminiscent in that there were no superstars and they played as a unit directed by Rafa. The author seemed to agree with me that integrating the star players like Gerrard and Torres (and the rest of the world in calling for more star players which I'm not so sure about) into that way of playing is Rafa's next challenge.

[Vermilion]

Signs of us playing more like Rafa's Balenthia?

[livvy145]

[Joe King]

Victory at Anfield was a Benítez wet dream of a win

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2008/sep/15/premier.league.review

From the right angle Liverpool's defeat of Manchester United on Saturday might have the look of a turning point - or at least, a significant moment - for Rafa Benítez's Liverpool in the Premier League. They're joint-top of the table; they've beaten the champions for the first time in eight league games; and they did it, until Steven Gerrard's introduction on 68 minutes, without their two best players. At the final whistle Benítez was briefly beside himself with excitement. It's not hard to see why. In personnel and execution this was a Benítez wet dream of a win.

His team produced a controlled and tactically adept exhibition of what Sir Alex Ferguson called "tackling and harassing". It was a display of selfless verve from a Liverpool starting XI without any real stars, one that brought to mind Benítez's La Liga-winning, no-big-egos Valencia of 2003-4.

Benítez earned his reputation with this kind of greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts team-building. It's a specific talent; and one that remains distinct from other managerial skills such as, say, being able to assemble and get the best out of a squad of genuine superstar players.

It's also an approach that puts unusual focus on the manager. It stokes his self-regard, the sense of his own tactical cleverness, encouraging him to compete from the sidelines for the man-of-the-match champagne. At one point during a break in play at Anfield Benítez spoke urgently for more than a minute on the touchline to new signing Albert Riera.

Riera immediately began to pick the ball up in deeper positions and cause Wes Brown problems. This was real superstar management, the man in the suit practically on the field of play, his players a willing plasticine for his genius.

But does it change anything? Liverpool's problems remain. The club's fans must hope this latest one-off act of managerial wizardry will not be allowed to disguise the fact that the team are over-reliant on two players. They still need an injection of genuine quality in other positions, plus suitable backup for Gerrard and Fernando Torres.

Beating United was a triumph for Benítez's in-game brilliance and the zest of his supporting cast members. Winning the Premier League will require more stars, and not just in the technical area.

[wiw]

The article I posted in the Rafa thread references that saying that it was reminiscent in that there were no superstars and they played as a unit directed by Rafa. The author seemed to agree with me that integrating the star players like Gerrard and Torres (and the rest of the world in calling for more star players which I'm not so sure about) into that way of playing is Rafa's next challenge.

It's definitely a challenge he faces. Gerrards position remains a bit of a mystery in the future, but an injury to a CM or Keane would change things. Integrating both of them though is certainly harder. I think the reason the attack worked so well was both Kuyt and Keane's willingness to run and create space for everyone else..when you look at it we never really even attempted to penetrate Utd through the middle, it was all through the wings. Kuyt was also excellent in the air dealing with the early balls the whole game IMO. But coming back to Torres, he will obv give us an added dimension of pace and directness through the middle which can only help..and he really will thrive on the sort of service we showed yesterday.

I still think Gerrard as one of the '2' is what we will see..instead of 2 strikers doing the donkey work like on Sat, we will have one of Keane/Kuyt to do that, with Gerrard adding an extra attacking dimension further back and Torres further forward

[red g]

As statements of intent go, it was akin to parking a battalion of tanks on the Old Trafford forecourt.

Forget Manchester City's deadline-busting record signing of Robinho, which even upstaged Manchester United's £30.75million recruitment of Dimitar Berbatov.

Because as impressive as the goal the Brazilian scored on his debut was, and as much as manager Mark Hughes insists the 3-1 defeat by Chelsea was not a "reality check", the euphoria that has surrounded the City of Manchester Stadium was brought down a notch or two as they were clinically swept aside in front of their own fans.

The real statement of intent came at Anfield, where Rafael Benitez's Liverpool came from a goal behind to beat the English and European champions 2-1.

The scoreline barely told the story as having weathered an early storm - in which Berbatov went close himself and then set up Carlos Tevez to score - the hosts came into their own and dominated from the moment Edwin van der Sar needlessly palmed a deflected shot onto the legs of the Wes Brown.

Yes, as United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said after the game, Liverpool had "a bit of fortune with both goals" - with Ryan Babel's clincher hardly the cleanest of strikes - but if ever there was a case of luck being earnt then this was it.

Benitez has always exuded the air of a man who were he at a Blackjack table with 16 in front of him would rather stick than twist.

Yet this was different. Refreshingly different.

Maybe it was the realisation that United are now within one title of Liverpool's stand-alone record of 18 domestic titles.

Maybe it was the realistation that in his five years at Anfield his side have never truly done themselves justice in this fixture, though in truth their five successive defeats did not tell the whole story of those games.

Or maybe it was the realisation that - as many have speculated - this season is crunch time for Benitez in the Premier League.

Whatever, from the moment the first whistle blew it was clear something was different.

Rather than letting United have a few easy touches and find their footing in a white-hot Anfield atmosphere, Yossi Benayoun and Dirk Kuyt chased like terriers to force an error from the usually unflappable Red Devils backline.

Of course, their efforts would come to nothing as United not only opened the scoring but also looked much more the confident side for the first 25 minutes.

But it was a sign that maybe, just maybe, things had changed.

And from the moment Brown turned the ball into his own net it was as though a light suddenly switched back on in the Liverpool camp.

Javier Mascherano, possibly seeking redemption after allowing Tevez to evade his attention in the lead-up to United's goal, tackled like a demon and his central-midfield partner Xabi Alonso also caught the eye.

After a fitful start, debutant Albert Riera grew in confidence while on the other flank Benayoun was a bundle of energy and no little quality.

Up front Kuyt and Robbie Keane were tireless, even if the latter appears to have become a rabbit in the headlights when presented with a shooting chance.

And when Benitez had the chance to play safe as Benayoun and Riera tired, he did the opposite as Babel and Steven Gerrard were introduced.

Babel, of course, scored the winner while Gerrard's mere presence - as always - seemed to lift Liverpool's attacking threat to another level.

Before the game Sky pundit - and former Liverpool midfielder - Jamie Redknapp had suggested Benitez still "didn't get" the Premier League.

A familiar criticism - his constant tinkering and apparent refusal to go for the jugular have had Liverpool fans tearing their hair out at times.

Yet this could be the day people look back and say, finally, he got it. Could be.

Because as Liverpool bask in the glory of a deserved victory over the fiercest rivals, the elephant in the room is the return of the Champions League.

Benitez's perceived obsession with 'Big Ears' has certainly borne fruit in the form of that famous night in Istanbul - and a final appearance in Athens.

But that has come at an obvious cost domestically as United and Chelsea have kept them firmly off their "perch".

Beating United represents a step into unchartered territory for Benitez, but now the hard work really starts.

For a victory over the reigning champions - as impressive as it was - won't win Liverpool the title; indeed finishing above the Red Devils may not even guarantee that given Chelsea's early-season form.

Now Benitez must balance the demands of domestic and European campaigns as he has never quite managed before, and as Ferguson did so memorably last season.

He must prove that this isn't the latest false hope at Anfield. He must prove that, finally, he has cracked it.

[Liverta 78]

Fan zone reaction to win

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=9rJuznpwkCM

[JPK]

That clip of Babel making Brown look like a clown is class. Cheers Livvy.