Match Thread: Liverpool V Manchester United [All Pre/During/Post Match Discussion]

p.pete

PHB wrote: »

Very simple question:

Did Liverpool play better today than they have in the last 2 years at Anfield vs. United?

Doesn't matter, it's a kick in the teeth if we play decent against manu and don't get a result - there's no momentum from playing well that gets brought into the following games. Today has much more of a chance of springboarding some form.

Dave!

Terrible terrible performance... United didn't deserve to win at all. Couldn't string a pass together after about 15 minutes. The ball didn't get near our strikers in the second half. One of the worst performances I've seen from United in a while.

Van Der Sar is bogey as f*ck, Ben Foster better start seeing some game-time pronto. Wes Brown should have been taken off, he was the worst player on the pitch (take your pick though...).

On the plus side, I had a bet on Tevez to score first @ 8/1 Also had a bet on HT Draw/FT United...

Karmafaerie

PHB wrote: »

Indeed. Babel was absolutely unreal when he came on, tore Brown to pieces.

I'm so glad to finaly see him coming good.
People called me nuts when I got Babel on the back of my jersey last year!:p

Nalz

Well done Liverpool - deserved it, no doubt

In a nutshell 2-1 was the score to define the game today. United were well on top for fits 20 mins, but around the 22nd minute or Liverpool got their bit of luck and built on it. There goals may have been lucky but they deserved it, a fair reflection on the 90mins as a whole Didnt look back until the 94th minute. United only really asked questions in the first few minutes and Fergie just summed it up there:

"Some terrible defending, we might have got something from the game but the overall picture we were beaten by the far better team".

The disappointing thing from a United point of view is that Keane and Kuyt weren't great today at all, and still Liverpool were the better team for 70mins or so. With Carrick getting a knock and Vidic now suspended makes it worse.

I can't fault Berbatov today really though, he got very little service. There was more to blame than him, collectively as a team more so. Riera looked decent at times and with a few games under his belt he could be a key player for the Pool. There could be more to come from this Liverpool team, I know Ive said that before, and many Liverpool fans have said it. But gradually I think they're improving and will be closer again this year.

A bit of work to be done at OT...sloppy start to the season again. Will it work out for United again though is a big question.

Ref was a bit poor for both sides though.

PHB

Pyjamarama wrote: »

Yep, we hounded United which meant they couldn't just stroke the ball around all game like they did the last two times. Lets give Masch credit for the second goal, Giggs should have put it out but Masch still had no right to get that.

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

TBH, I find your arguement laughable.

Utd were shocking today. Liverpool were the better side by a margin, to say that Utd won the games previously under similar circumstances doesn't count for jack.

I'm not suggesting United deserved to win. I'm not suggesting United didn't score due to a defensive mistake. I'm simply pointing out, everything Liverpool did today, harried United possession, dominated in midfield, lots of whipped balls in, they've done that in the last 2 years. If you can't remember that, look at the posts on this forum after the games. The Rio goal for example is a classic example.

p.pete wrote: »

Doesn't matter, it's a kick in the teeth if we play decent against manu and don't get a result - there's no momentum from playing well that gets brought into the following games. Today has much more of a chance of springboarding some form.

It doesn't matter, you're bang on. I'm not saying it does though

ROCKMAN

This will hurt ,

WELL DONE LIVERPOOL enjoy the result and the day , DESERVED:(

How for more beer , make the bad memories go away

Mr Magnolia

PHB wrote: »

I'm not suggesting United deserved to win. I'm not suggesting United didn't score due to a defensive mistake. I'm simply pointing out, everything Liverpool did today, harried United possession, dominated in midfield, lots of whipped balls in, they've done that in the last 2 years. If you can't remember that, look at the posts on this forum after the games. The Rio goal for example is a classic example.

I remember it all well. It didn't happen today and shouldn't be offered as an excuse "we've been second best and still should have won it" doesn't wash as an argument for me - this is what I'm summising your arguement as, if it's not then apologies.

PHB

I'm not saying we should have won it We ****ed up twice, thus deserved to lose. We set ourselves out defensively, and thus deserved to play poorly.

I'm just pointing out, that this game was almost a mirror image of the last 2 years. People are going to try read lots into it, but most of the analysis will be stupid.

Trizo

Crap performance from Utd today , Berba had no service whatsoever, Liverpool played well fair result.
Utd's passing went to tatters when Carrick went off really shocking stuff i would have thought with the likes of scholes and andersen there would have been some better passing talent still on the pitch.
Cant understand what VDS or giggs were doing for the feck up's just hope they start cutting out these howlers. thats twice in 3 games for VDS !!!

p.pete

PHB wrote: »

It doesn't matter, you're bang on. I'm not saying it does though

This forum is an opportunity for me to express myself and for you to express yourself, while responding to your question why would I try to say what you're saying?

<edit>

or, indeed, while not answering your question

darkskol

Good play by liverpool today at last I can celebrate a victory over utd
Riera looked decent today, masch really is improving all the time (apart from not realising the match kicked off until 3 minutes into the game) anyone got any word on how serious his injury is?

Pyjamarama

PHB wrote: »

I'm not saying we should have won it We ****ed up twice, thus deserved to lose. We set ourselves out defensively, and thus deserved to play poorly.

I'm just pointing out, that this game was almost a mirror image of the last 2 years. People are going to try read lots into it, but most of the analysis will be stupid.

There is a huge difference between this and the previous games though...

1. We had some joy down the wings. Reira looked good and Babel was great when he came on. Even benni had one or two decent moments.

2. We tried played more constructive football. There were a lot less long balls and and sideways passes and while some didn't come off I was delighted to see us trying to get in behind United.

3. Pool actually won. If you think this won't affect the players then your crazy. There's no way we'll win the league or anything this season but i'd expect a few decent results now. 3 wins and a draw away to Villa... not too shabby... not too shabby...

Dave!

PHB wrote: »

We set ourselves out defensively

4-3-3???

gixerfixer

ROCKMAN wrote: »

This will hurt ,

WELL DONE LIVERPOOL enjoy the result and the day , DESERVED:(

How for more beer , make the bad memories go away

Good to see there are some real fans still out there like yourself who can come on this site and give congrats to your biggest rivals. Well done yourself. This site needs more like you sir.

Karmafaerie

PHB wrote: »

I'm just pointing out, that this game was almost a mirror image of the last 2 years.

Yeah.

Except for Babel time!!!


(Sorry, I'll stop soon!:p)

Nalz

Dave! wrote: »

4-3-3???

in fairness to PHB it was more 4-3-2-1 formation, we tried it... it could have worked but it didnt.

Liverpool werent outstanding but still were the better rteam for the majority of the match and fully deserved the victory, f'uck ups for goals or not. End of story really

genericgoon

Trizo wrote: »

Crap performance from Utd today , Berba had no service whatsoever, Liverpool played well fair result.
Utd's passing went to tatters when Carrick went off really shocking stuff i would have thought with the likes of scholes and andersen there would have been some better passing talent still on the pitch.
Cant understand what VDS or giggs were doing for the feck up's just hope they start cutting out these howlers. thats twice in 3 games for VDS !!!

Yep, this is the second time Carrick has gone off in a game and suddenly our ability to pass has disappeared. Scholes isn't good enough for 90 mins anymore and Anderson is runner and grafter. Hargreaves looked ok when he came on though.

All in all, we deserved to lose and well done to Liverpool.

United will have to take stock but hopefully with the return of Ronaldo and Fergie taking the hard choices when it comes to tactics and selection, we can get the season back on track again. Tbh, I'd be delighted with a draw against Chelsea next week now and move on from there.

gixerfixer

Could go on all day about formations and players being played out of position and players missing etc...but Liverpool wanted it more today and that's worrying if your a Utd fan. Well done the reds. You did the fans proud.

Jazzy

wheres that nani vs. babel thread again? ^^

Chong

I think most of us United fans who have come on here since full time have said fair play to the pool and a good win. There are select few though who dont believe the same.

Karmafaerie

Jazzy wrote: »

wheres that nani vs. babel thread again? ^^

Pyjamarama

United will need to raise there games an insane amount to get anything at Stamford Bridge. I don't know what formation they'll play but I'm not sure who'll take care of Deco. Especially with Vidic out.

Rooney on the right is such a waste for ye. He's great at harrying defenders into mistakes but I lost count of the amount of 2 on 1's Liverpool had on the left in the second half. And since he's not as quick as Ronaldo he's not as good an outlet on the counter, similarly when he does go back he's out of the game when United win back possesion.

I'm thrilled with how we used the width today, I can't think of the last time I said that. Aurelio is still a bit sus at the back but he can get forward well enough!

BrookieD

i have to say that Liverpool well deserved the win today, some ponts i took from the game.
Berbetov did nothing for me to warrant the price paid.
Riera played great with such a high profile debut.
Kuyt ran forever must have duracell in the tank or something.
Alonso and Mash ran the midfield. no contest there

Man Utd still for me when the did get the ball to feet and play in Tevez etc scared the life out of me as they always looked liked scoring. Liverpool on the other hand do not look like that, Maybey when Torres and Keane are firing we might look like a threat but at the moment we look lightweight up front.

Great game and we deserved that little bit of luck for the win. Heres to the return fixture. That should have some real bite in it. :-)

Chong

BrookieD wrote: »

i have to say that Liverpool well deserved the win today, some ponts i took from the game.
Berbetov did nothing for me to warrant the price paid.
Riera played great with such a high profile debut.
Kuyt ran forever must have duracell in the tank or something.
Alonso and Mash ran the midfield. no contest there

Man Utd still for me when the did get the ball to feet and play in Tevez etc scared the life out of me as they always looked liked scoring. Liverpool on the other hand do not look like that, Maybey when Torres and Keane are firing we might look like a threat but at the moment we look lightweight up front.

Great game and we deserved that little bit of luck for the win. Heres to the return fixture. That should have some real bite in it. :-)

Berbatov did nothing cause he absolutely no service.

mike65

When is Ronaldo due back?

Mike.

jesus_thats_gre

Well that was no where near as stressful as I thought it was going to be.

It feels good to finally get the win. The run that United were on was a particularly bitter pill to swallow as there were occassions when we were clearly the better team but were undone by silly mistake and unable to take our chances.

I am delighted too for the squad as they managed to do so well without Gerard and Torres. Alonso having the **** put up him during the summer seems to have had the desired effect. Riera really impressed me considering he was making his debut in the most difficult of fixtures.

I am not going to get carried away as to the significance of this result though. It means **** all unless we capitalise on it.

jesus_thats_gre

Mr. X wrote: »

I think most of us United fans who have come on here since full time have said fair play to the pool and a good win. There are select few though who dont believe the same.

Tbh, credit to a large number of United supports who have posted on this thread so far. I just hope that Liverpool fans won't get carried away.

Chong

mike65 wrote: »

When is Ronaldo due back?

Mike.

Wednesday night for Villareal, hopefully be back then fully for our Chelski game, pretty evident we need the git !!!

Dave!

mike65 wrote: »

When is Ronaldo due back?

Mike.

He could play against Villareal.

Riera was lethal today.

newballsplease

im a utd fan, ive to say...that was a shocking performance from them. they didnt show up after half time.
started well........... only lasted bout 15 mins.

we need ronaldo......badly.
rooney must get frustrated playing out of position.

Karmafaerie

Dave! wrote: »

Riera was lethal today.

He's reknowned as a big game player.
It's the games like away to stoke that I'd be worried about.

Necronomicon

Terrible performance from United. The start was almost too good to be true, but it didn't last long. As soon as Liverpool equalised, their growth in confidence was visible and they instantly became the better team. United couldn't string two passes together. I was hoping half time would be a chance for them to pick themselves up, but the second half started exactly as the first finished and you could tell the goal was always coming. The two goals may both have been down to individual fuck ups, but the performance as a whole was just not good enough.

I don't want to pick the bones out of Berbatov because he was starved of any service, but I think the system needs addressing before the Chelsea game. Rooney looked out of sorts on the right wing.

As bad as United were, credit where it's due to Liverpool. Good debut from Riera, there'll be some good competition between him and Babel. Getting a win is one thing, but doing it without Gerrard (effectively) and Torres will answer plenty of questions about their squad depth.

Couldn't have a worse fixture to try to recover, but major improvement needed from United.

Unearthly

Well done Liverpool. Deserved to win

I'm very disappointed at how Man Utd played. 2nd best all around it has to be said.

gixerfixer

Riera was brilliant today. With all the media focused on Berbatov he just got down to business straight away without any fuss. His backheel in the second half was sublime. Ronaldo is badly missed by United and they will be delighted that he is back next week.

Xavi6

Well it was an interesting game to say the least. I had predicted United to run away with it and it looked likely early on when they grabbed the lead. All credit to Pool though for the fight back without their two talismen on the field.

Despite there being some good individual performances there were some shockers that stood out -

Anderson - Horribly overrated and average at best.
Brown - Hopeless with the ball at his feet. Was made look a clown by both Riera and Babel.
Van der Sar - No explanation required.
Giggs - Waaaaay past his sell by date. Has to go.

Keane - I'm sorry but he was crap again. His laughable attempt to keep the ball in at the byline late on summed him up. 'Mr. Facepalm' I think I'll call him becasue that's what I do every time I watch him play.

Overall quite a good game. Would have preferred a draw though.

Karmafaerie

gixerfixer wrote: »

Riera was brilliant today. With all the media focused on Berbatov he just got down to business straight away without any fuss. His backheel in the second half was sublime. Ronaldo is badly missed by United and they will be delighted that he is back next week.

That's Rieras beauty.
He plays the cleverest little passes all the time.

It's lovely to watch.

(if it works!;))

Mikeyt086

The best team won today. Simple as. We were shocking (aside from an incredible 10mins) and deserved nothing.

I cant help but feel if Van Der Sar didnt do... THAT, it might have been different but our attitude after that warrented nothing from the game which is what we got.

Oh and Xavi, that Anderson comment. He is 19 years old. You will eat those words.

Xavi6

Mikeyt086 wrote: »

Oh and Xavi, that Anderson comment. He is 19 years old. You will eat those words.

Meh I'll believe it when I see it.

He may have potential but right now he's not all he's made out to be.

eagle eye

You have to credit Liverpool today, that performance was miles ahead of anything they have done this season so far.

The one thing that confuses me about this game is why Wayne Rooney was playing out of position. I don't understand it at all. I can imagine another flying boot incident today and that would have been in Ryan Gigg's direction. I have to think that Alex Ferguson had a brain fart here as regards team selection. Vidic should have got a straight red card late in the game. Van der Sar looked dodgy. I think United are going to have problems in the middle of the park this season as well, Carrick seems to have had a lot of injuries over his career and its happening again now.

On the Liverpool side of things, Javier Mascherano was superb as usual. Its becoming clear after watching England the other night and Liverpool today that playing Stever Gerard in the middle of the park is not the way to go, I always thought it was myself but look how dominant England were the other night in the middle, and Liverpool today by not playing him in the middle. I thought Robbie Keane played well today and caused a lot of problems and Liverpool have had a good start to the season and Keane will start to come into it more now, thats what he has done every season. At the back apart from the first couple of minutes Liverpool looked very solid. Even with this great start I still see Liverpool dropping too many points against weaker teams because while they have the game to beat even the very best sides in Europe, they drop too many points through a lack of potency. I can stil see too many nil nil results in this team, whereas with the likes of United and Chelsea, they will pick up 22+ wins against non top four sides and its because of the attacking approach they take in them games.

As far as today is concerned, well done Liverpool and thouroughly deserved.

UnitedIrishman

Best team won, simple as. We were outplayed big time in the second half. Even more worrying was the lack of a midfield. At times the likes of Arbeloa and Aurelio were getting into the box and they had guys at the edge of the box lining up.

Giggsy should never have been brought on. We needed a stabilising player in the middle of the park but with Anderson, Scholes, Rooney and Giggs across our midfield, we were far too attacking.

The most worrying thing about the defeat was that we had no shape. The forwardline will need time to sort itself out, and it's time we don't really have.

ibh

fcukin brilliant result. Riera was very impressive as was Masch, but how good was Alonso. I hated the idea of us selling Xabi and thats why, although he needs to keep producing.

Lucky goals or not, we were easily deserving winners as most UTd fans here conceded (few notable exceptions however...). The passing and ball retention leading to the second goal was really the sort of play i have been looking from us this year, but didn't see it till now.

Without getting ahead of ourselves, pool fans should be very happy that we were able to achieve this without our 2 best players starting, and the best striker in the league not even getting off the bench.
Hope this is the start of midfield domination from the Alonso-Masch partnership. As part of a 4-2-3-1 system they are the best combo in the league in there.

JimiTime

Not a bad game. Utd looked like they had no shape, but Liverpool closed them down superbly. Never allowed utd get a rhythm going. I think the absence of Gerrard may have been positive. There was no stand out star, the team knoew they all had to dig deep. Great result and thoroughly deserved. Somethings not right at Utd though. The Rooney scenario is worrying. Could be too much of a similar talent. There was no-one on the Utd team who could run at players. Still think the pool are short on talent, and would be very surprised to see them fighting for the leage come May. though they did surprise me today. I'm sensing an exciting season ahead.

Im_No_Superman

No complaints at all about the result at all. Absoluty dreadful performance.

Was refreshing to see Ferguson come out and say it as it is and not blame the internationals or jerseys, etc. :pac: Just said it was an awful performance and there wasnt one player bar maybe Rio who can be happy with their performance. I expect a big performance against Chelsea next week, one of Fergies biggest strengths is rising his players for the next game following a defeat imo.

herbieflowers

don't United usually drop points after the international break?

eZe^

Mikeyt086 wrote: »

Anderson comment. He is 19 years old. You will eat those words.

Still, he isn't as good as United fans make him out to be. Sure he has lots of potential and may be amazing one day, but so far he's been utterly rubbish for Brazil, been really disappointing towards the end of last season and this season. He had a good enough start to the season with two or three excellent performances, but I don't see the hype just yet to be honest.

herbieflowers

I think the hype was justified tbf, he played Fabregas and Gerrard off the park last season.

Thanx 4 The Fish

Means fnck all if you can only do it once in your career :rolleyes:

anyway, just back and I fncking loved it. rafa asked us to recreate the European night buzz and I can honestly say that I tried and whats more I know all of the guys around me did. Even when we went one down we kept the atmosphere up. Riera looked great and the team performance was as good as I have seen this season.

herbieflowers

Thanx 4 The Fish wrote: »

Means fnck all if you can only do it once in your career :rolleyes:

meh, he's 19 and not an integral part of the side, he had a bad day, like practically every other Utd player today because of the way Liverpool played.

Victor McDade

Yeah, Anderson has over achieved so far. He was only meant to be a fringe player last year. He's young, he'll get better.

We were brutal today, seemed to stop playing after 20 minutes

Sherifu

Today was a great day. Great performance in the second half.