Man United match thread.

[dom9]

Or just be good enough to win the game, like.

[Fosterbloke]

Or just be good enough to win the game, like.

In a game of fine margins, small refereeing decisions can make all the difference.

[danperkins]

Annoying to see Firmino drop so, so deep time and again leaving no-one through the middle.

this is the thing I have been saying for the last year or so .. It's so frustrating. He was in the areas crossing balls into box where we actually needed him. We don't have a midfielder likes of Lampard who will get in the box and Salah and Coutinho won't do it enough. We were the better side but a draw for United away at Anfield is a good result for them whereas it's still 1 win in 8 for us with Spurs away next. Genuinely don't think we learned anything new with that performance. Clean sheet is great, Gomez deserved man of match, Salah had great first half but we needed to win that. Was a horrible second half they killed the game dead. Don't really know what else to say about game as it was so meh.

[baitman]

deleted.

[baitman]

the forum could do a few of these as an xmas special, im sure a few of the lads would wear one with pride

[RedReet]

Disappointing result but very good defensive display.

We've drew far too many games this season, but we have been the better team in all those games and they only team who deserved to beat us were City, who we were arguably better than until the red card. We're not that far off, despite so many people suggesting we need to tear up the team and start over. VVD could perhaps turn a few of those 1-1's into 1-0's or another pacy attacker turn them into 2-1's.

[Fosterbloke]

You mean with Van Dijk, Keita and Lemar?

[RedReet]

You mean with Van Dijk, Keita and Lemar?

Any one of those could make a big difference. Get all 3 in January and we'll easily catch City.

[RedReet]

Annoying to see Firmino drop so, so deep time and again leaving no-one through the middle.

I thought he played quite well. Should have had an assist with the Matip chance and probably should have did a bit better when picking Salah out in a dangerous position.

He was certainly far better than Lukaku. At least when he isn't scoring, he generally still contributes to the game.

[Charly]

What we need is the mighty duck attack.

[Nicey]

Thought we played extremely well, kept our shape well, was very cautious, very patient but ultimately our finishing let us down again. Overall whilst frustrating considering the other results, it could have been a lot worse. Mourinho did what he does, thank **** i dont have to watch that ****e week in week out ... that was ****ing Peak Mourinho

[RedReet]

Jose Mourinho – the enemy of football: Manchester United manager turned Liverpool showdown into a non-event

• Jose Mourinho's Manchester United were stultifyingly dull against Liverpool
• The Portuguese manager had nothing to show for spending more than £100m
• Mourinho's conservative tactics turned a heated rivalry into a non-event
• United's boss reverted to his unattractive yet effective park the bus tactics

And so, after Manchester United's brilliant and entertaining start to the season, Jose Mourinho reverted to type at Anfield. It is easy to be cavalier against cannon-fodder but United's stultifyingly dull display here against the first decent team they have played was so devoid of creative intent it felt like an insult to the team's attacking traditions.

Some had persuaded themselves that Mourinho had emerged this season as a man who wanted to let his players' attacking instincts run free but this was a reminder of the pragmatism and conservatism that has long made him such a divisive figure in the game. Welcome back, the old Jose. Welcome back the Enemy of Football.

After the more than £100million that Mourinho spent on strengthening his team in the summer, anyone watching this grim dance of drudgery was entitled to ask the Portuguese: 'Is that all you've got?' I mean, really, is that all there is? After spending nearly £150m on new players in the summer, is there nothing more? Is there no more confidence in his players than this? Is there no more desire to lift his team above the safe and the secure?

'That's your idea,' Mourinho said when I asked him about United's lack of ambition. 'That's what you can analyse.'
Thanks for that.

He was similarly enigmatic when someone suggested the match had hardly been a feast of excitement.
'It depends what for you is an entertaining game,' Mourinho said. 'One thing is an entertaining game for fans, another thing is entertaining game for the people who read football in a different way. That's different. For me, the second half was a bit of chess but my opponent didn't open the door for me to win.'

One of the sad things about United's ultra-cautious approach was that this is hardly a Liverpool team riding the crest of a wave. Liverpool have won once in their last eight games but Mourinho approached this match as if he were taking his team to face Lionel Messi and Barcelona in the Nou Camp. He turned a keenly anticipated match into a non-event.

In his post-match comments, he blamed Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp for the stalemate. It was Klopp's fault, he said, for playing a strong midfield. 'I had nobody on the bench to try to make a difference,' Mourinho said. Which may come as rather an unpleasant surprise to Juan Mata.

As United's stifled creative players headed one by one for the touchline in the second half, they looked like refugees from the land of entertainment. No wonder they trudged to the bench heads down and demoralised. This kind of football is no fun for anyone.

Especially after the barnstorming start that United have made, it was strange to see them showing such starkly limited ambition. When they did venture forward, their attacks usually broke down because Romelu Lukaku was so isolated. We wondered which United was going to show up when things got serious this season. Now we know.

Anthony Martial, preferred to Marcus Rashford, played left-back for much of the first half and with United intent merely on frustrating Liverpool, it was no surprise that the home team supplied the vast majority of the excitement.
Mohamed Salah, fresh from his heroics in leading Egypt to the World Cup finals, was superb in the opening 45 minutes, constantly evading the attentions of Ander Herrera and running at United's defence.


Salah lashed one shot just wide after David de Gea's outstretched left boot had denied Joel Matip's close-range prod, Philippe Coutinho began to exert his creative influence and, in the early minutes of the second half, Emre Can should have scored when he ran on to a Joe Gomez cross but lifted his shot high over.


And so it went on. Liverpool pressing forward and probing and United soaking it all up. It was like a football version of rope-a-dope. Except Ali came off the ropes in the end. United never did. They sucked it up right to the bitter end. There was a very occasional counter attack and United should have scored from one before half time but Simon Mignolet saved from Lukaku and Alberto Moreno blocked Ashley Young's follow up, but it was difficult not to feel sorry for United's more creative players.

The fact that Rashford did not start was a harbinger of the way this game was going to go. Only one team tried to create chances. United merely relied on trying to capitalise on a Liverpool mistake.

That is an acceptable tactic, of course. There is no football law against it and Mourinho is far from alone in pursuing it. It would be fair to say, though, that this kind of performance was more suited to an underdog trying to snatch something from a big side.

This is fundamentally to misunderstand Mourinho's priorities, of course, but it felt as though United should have been better than this. That will not be Mourinho's view. Mourinho got the point he came for and maybe it will be a crucial point when the final reckoning comes next May.

But this kind of football is a far cry from the days of Sir Alex Ferguson when United won trophies as the great entertainers. United may win the title playing like this but they will not win many friends.

[Fredo]

Disappointing result but very good defensive display.

We've drew far too many games this season, but we have been the better team in all those games and they only team who deserved to beat us were City, who we were arguably better than until the red card. We're not that far off, despite so many people suggesting we need to tear up the team and start over. VVD could perhaps turn a few of those 1-1's into 1-0's or another pacy attacker turn them into 2-1's.

We're close. Really close I think, for things to click.

Yesterday Klopp resisted going gung ho and even was applauded by Mourinho for setting up the team defensively very well.

I think our shape has been very good since the start of the season, maybe barring a few games when we weren't good all game and made mistakes and have been unlucky.

United for all the money they've spent couldn't offer anything at all offensively all game. I think we are a better team despite being 7 points off. Only team running away at the moment is City.

[Bender]

Any one of those could make a big difference. Get all 3 in January and we'll easily catch City.

Yeah on a Monopoly board

[RedReet]

Yeah on a Monopoly board

Aye, the league is gone, but at least City are entertaining to watch and rather them than United or Spurs. We'll have to settle for a repeat of 2005.