How Liverpool made an ‘ordinary’ United look ‘extraordinary’

KARACHI: The atmosphere was extraordinary, the fans jubilant. Choruses of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ was all that could be heard before the whistle kicked off arguably the biggest game in England. It was Liverpool v Manchester United after all and we would have been more surprised if the atmosphere was not fiery.

The Reds came into the game after a relentless run of a 13-game unbeaten streak and United had just found their form against Tottenham after mostly average displays throughout the season. Everyone was talking about Brendan Rodgers and how his tactical master-class took away the three points from a Swansea side determined to wreak havoc for the Reds. Yet the five-time European champions prevailed and turned the tide in the second half with a perfect tweak in the system that allowed Gary Monk’s side to stop playing their game and be dictated the terms on the pitch.

However, what unfolded on the pitch at Anfield on Sunday was beyond anyone’s expectations as no one could have ever predicted that Liverpool, the side that was the in-form team in Europe, could so easily lower their guard and be bullied on their home turf — a stronghold where even the mightiest of opponents get weary.

The passion that the fans displayed before the game was not transferred on the pitch as Liverpool never looked like the side that had gone 13-games unbeaten in the league and were reduced to running around erratically and without purpose from the start of the game.

The ‘men’ who had dominated any opposition that came in their path suddenly looked like ‘scared boys’ devoid of any passion to give it back to their opponents. United had simply mentally and physically outclassed their opponents and reduced the central midfielders to mere nothings as Joe Allen and Jordan Henderson — who had been the most calm and composed players prior to this match — were bullied into making a succession of mistakes and lose possession rather cheaply.

United hustled and harried the young Liverpool players in the first half, who had no reply to the physical domination in the midfield and their troubles were only worsened when their captain Steven Gerrard made a cameo of only 45 seconds before being sent off for stamping on United midfielder Ander Herrera seconds after he rattled Juan Mata with a thunderous tackle.

The message which the captain wanted to give to the players was to not be afraid of the Red Devils and grab them by the scruff of the neck and not be bullied by this ‘league of ordinary gentlemen’. He, for obvious reasons, went a bit too far and jeopardized the comeback as Mata scored the second before the hour mark to take the game as far away from Liverpool as possible.

Many of the pundits talk about Gerrard’s red as the reason Liverpool crumbled, but the Liverpool side that was playing on that day was already under intense pressure way before the skipper was introduced.

Former Liverpool player Jamie Carragher termed Gerrard’s stamp as a ‘moment of madness’ but was spot-on in giving an insight into the mind of the former England captain, who had to witness his side being bullied from the sidelines and ached to get in the game and show his young lads the way to handle their fiercest rivals. His actions were not that necessary but the message was highly important and well taken as Liverpool responded well and showed the fighting spirit in the second half, but by then United had a two-goal cushion and although Liverpool did well to get a goal back through Daniel Sturridge, it was too little too late.

The players had simply run out of steam and the frustration grew to unprecedented levels, literally taking the intervention from the fans to stop the players from receiving another sending off.

It wasn’t United’s performance on the pitch that shook the Reds but was rather their inability to handle the pressure and deep down it felt that the players were afraid of taking on their rivals and that’s exactly what Gerrard wanted to change in his players.

To give credit to United, they played highly professionally and regardless of their surge in form in the last two games, they are not even near the levels that they displayed in the times of Sir Alex Ferguson but it’s a new manager and a new system now and it leaves no point in comparing the side to the times when it was being managed by arguably the greatest manager in the history of the sport.

Liverpool lost the battle mentally and had they stood tall against United and hustled and harried them the way they have hustled other clubs, rather than being bullied on their own ground, they could have been more comfortable on the pitch and could have played their own brand of free-flowing football that has made them so renowned in all of Europe.

However, there are a lot of ‘could haves’ that could have happened, but one thing is for certain that the ‘boys’ of Liverpool need to up their mental strength if they are to ever fulfill their dream of becoming the ‘Kings of England’.

 
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