MAN UNITED
AS Manchester United scrapped and fought and departed with what they came for, it would have dawned on Jurgen Klopp that sometimes no pleasure can be derived from being right.
He had railed against the notion Jose Mourinho was the managerial equivalent of a busted flush and, if anyone thought he was merely serving up some frothy platitudes, here was the accompanying proof.
Liverpool failed to trouble the scorers for the first time since August and that they were kept at arm’s length owed much to the visitors’ discipline, strength and resilience as well as the David De Gea.
It was the United goalkeeper who denied Philippe Coutinho one of his trademark howitzers with a brilliant save in the 71st minute when their rivals were seeking to turn the screw.
In the end, the stalemate does neither side any real harm. Liverpool will take positives from how they emerged from their shell to dominate and Mourinho will consider this a step in the right direction after recent disappointments.
Instead of slowing the contest down and trying to fracture Liverpool’s rhythm that way, United were compliant in ensuring everything was played out at breakneck speed.
Marouane Felliani and Ander Herrera covered the ground in midfield like wide-jawed Alsatians, if one missed a tackle the other would eagerly compensate and ahead of them Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba set the tone from the front.
The duo frustrated Liverpool in their attempts to play out from the back, forcing the hosts to regularly go long from which Eric Bailly or Chris Smalling usually prevailed ahead of Daniel Sturridge. Klopp, his arms folded across his chest as he stood in his technical area, agility of looked composed. Under the facade, his mind must have been in a whirl.
He could hardly have recognised his side as the anxiety emanating from the Anfield crowd meant attempts to recreate the slick, va-va-voom attacks which had previously been their forte too often petered out into nothing.
Sadio Mane found himself peripheral, when usually he is central, with Ashley Young a second left-back more often than not alongside Daley Blind. Philippe Coutinho, playing deeper because Adam Lallana was not risked from the outset, did his best work closing down space rather than creating it.
Liverpool took 29 minutes to fashion a move of note and, even then, De Gea made a comfortable save.
All round there was too much spit and not enough polish, although it would have been less of a worry for Mourinho that United were limited to half-chances. Pogba’s first-half contribution should still have left