United stand earns praise
his manager wanting more, for £89million he should be leaving more of an imprint on proceedings, but United’s initial endeavour was for once about the collective and not the vaunted individual.
United were almost gifted a chance to open the deadlock immediately after the restart.
Loris Karius, who kept his place ahead of Simon Mignolet, inexplicably passed straight to Pogba and was relieved when the ball was transferred to Ibrahimovic who was standing offside.
Soon after, Pogba delivered a cross which Ibrahimovic headed across the goal. The flurry of activity prompted Liverpool to threaten themselves as the ball broke to Emre Can and he dug out a shot which De Gea saved. The introduction of Lallana, for the anonymous Sturridge, pushed Coutinho into a more advanced role and suddenly everything was quicker.
Liverpool, scorers of 16 goals in their previous five games, started to click through the gears. Coutinho cut inside to unleash a shot from 25 yards only for De Gea’s right hand to tip the effort behind. Mourinho’s plan remained intact.
LIVERPOOL (4-3-3):
THE OMENS did not look great for Manchester United.
They stayed in the Titanic Hotel in Liverpool city centre overnight and a black cat ran across the goal mouth when they were warming up.
But Jose Mourinho was happy enough as he continued his habit of making life awkward for Liverpool at Anfield.
Paul Scholes had accused his old club of lacking identity but Mourinho may have finally given Manchester United the look he wants.
Mourinho has spent two months working out just what his best team and formation are but there were clear signs of the organisation, resilience and aggression that were the hallmark of his Chelsea teams.
Back in August, who would have thought that United would take to the field without Wayne Rooney, Anthony Martial and Juan Mata?
But the ever-pragmatic Mourinho’s decision to pick Marouane Fellaini to do the midfield dirty work alongside Ander Herrera – and play the less defensively disciplined Paul Pogba further forward – worked well as United put the brake on Jurgen Klopp’s running men.
Herrera has taken his time to settle at United – this is his third season – but he is suddenly looking the part in the midfield engine room and has no doubt gained confidence from his first call-up by Spain.
Fellaini is not everyone’s cup of tea but what he does is cover ground and break up play – and every team needs a player like that.
And Pogba looked far happier in a free role linking up with Zlatan Ibrahimovic as United played Liverpool at their own game – high pressing and high tempo. Klopp’s side took a while to work REPORTS up any of their usual head of steam. United were sharper in the tackle, won most of the 50-50 balls and forced Liverpool to hit it long and not too accurately, especially in the first half.
It was not particularly pretty and United did not create too much in the way of chances.
But the way they coped with a team who had been scoring goals for fun and considered a title bet will have encouraged Mourinho that he is shaping United the way he wants them to be.
Certainly, it could not have been a starker contrast to the last time United were here in February when Louis van Gaal’s side were simply blown away in the Europa League and were lucky to lose only 2-0.
It was nearly an hour before David De Gea had a shot to save – from Emre Can – but then he kept United in the match with two superb saves.
Few outfield players stood out but referee Anthony Taylor – who was under so much scrutiny – deserves credit for a controlled performance.
He let a fiercely competitive encounter flow as best as he could he could and resisted any bookings until just before half-time.
Mourinho’s last visit to Anfield saw his understrength Chelsea side wreck Liverpool’s title hopes in April 2014.
Last night’s game was never going to carry that sort of significance.
But despite Liverpool clearly having the better of the second half, it was a statement from Mourinho and United that you write them off at your peril.