FOWLER Keep grip on Pog, Jurgen... you must win war in midfield
For all the attacking talent on show today, for all the individual brilliance, nothing will be achieved by either team unless they get a foothold in midfield.
Let’s be straight about this, Manchester United have a dodgy defence. That’s not me being biased – six clean sheets in the league all season tells you that. It’s improved, no doubt, but there are still weaknesses.
Liverpool’s attack is their world-class strength. Again, no doubt. Yet for Jurgen Klopp to use his forwards’ penetration and movement, that can be so devastating, he needs his midfield to provide the platform.
So even though the table tells you that my former club are individually much better this season – and man-for-man you can’t argue with that – it really doesn’t matter. What matters is that war in midfield.
I’ll give you an example. I scored what I call my ‘ghost goals’ back in ’95 when Eric Cantona made his comeback. We dominated that day (and should have won), because we controlled midfield.
I spoke to Phil Neville about it recently, and we agreed they simply couldn’t get to grips with the space John Barnes, Michael Thomas and Steve Mcmanaman found in the middle, to feed me.
So the battle comes down to how Liverpool cope with Paul Pogba, and how Ander Herrera and Nemanja Matic deal with the space between their lines where Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane will operate.
Pogba is a fascinating example of the importance of faith and belief in football.
He’s had a new lease of life under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, looks top class again, and no doubt he can hurt Liverpool. The fact he didn’t play at Anfield earlier in the season now seems remarkable. He didn’t even get on in a game where United were garbage.
That tells you all about the relationship between him and Jose Mourinho, and exactly what has happened since he’s left.
Solskjaer has moved the team around Pogba, put him in a position where he can use his talents, and crucially not asked him to do stuff he simply can’t. It’s not rocket science to put faith in a star who cost £100million!
And yet against Paris Saint-germain he was isolated and increasingly desperate as PSG won the midfield battle – in part because he himself left United a man down in the crucial areas. And this is where I think the decisive moments will come today. Against PSG, Solskjaer tried to contain the French side a little bit, reining in the traditional attacking mentality he had restored to United when he arrived. It didn’t work, and now he has a dilemma. Liverpool’s strength is their pace and technique on the break. Go too gung-ho, and give them too much space, and they’ll cut you apart. But can United sit in with their defence? PSG says not. Solskjaer has to gamble a little, play to Pogba’s strengths and hope he can take the game to the right areas, and relieve the pressure on his defence. The PSG game makes a real case to stick with an attacking mentality that has worked. The real United mentality – not the cautious stuff under Mourinho that eventually choked the life out of the football. Whatever happens, they have to embrace the challenge. People are saying it’s massive pressure, it’s a pivotal game that could decide Liverpool’s season. Brilliant. That’s what being a top-class footballer is all about. There was always an amazing atmosphere and intensity at Old Trafford. As someone who aspired to play at the very top of the game, that is what it was all about... and still is.