Man United have finally managed to beat Liverpool in God knows how many years and this was not a scrappy win but rather a proper and well-orchestrated 2-1 victory.
Everyone was waiting to see United’s response to that 4-0 loss to Brentford and on Monday, the home side came flying out of the blocks and that immediately pushed Liverpool onto the backfoot.
Not only were Manchester United 2-0 up by the 53rd minute but they were outrunning and outwitting their arch-rivals in every area of the pitch. Liverpool did manage to pull one back but that was not enough for them to avoid their third consecutive setback this season.
We take a look at the major talking points which came out of this scintillating game at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag’s ready to adapt:
Ten Hag’s original philosophy is to build from the back via his central defenders but he very readily ditched these tactics against Liverpool.
Brentford tore them to shreds when the Man United defenders were trying to play out from the back and since Liverpool are one of the best pressers in European football, Ten Hag asked his keeper to go long without any hesitation.
Lisandro Martínez has been voted as the Manchester United Player of the Match vs. Liverpool. pic.twitter.com/MoBFU01V4X
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) August 23, 2022
Very early on he’s shown that he’s willing to reshape and mould his tactics as per demands and this is something which will come in really handy when Man United face the bigger sides this season.
Klopp needs reinforcements – asap:
Liverpool were into this game with a series of injury absentees and this was one of the major reasons why the away side could not pick up the tempo.
Fabinho was sitting on the bench, Thiago and Keita were missing which meant players like Henderson and James Milner had to play in central midfield.
Most of these injured players will be out for some time which is why the manager needs to bring in reinforcements. The management needs to back the manager and bring in some new signings before the window shuts down or else Liverpool are likely to drop even more points.
Manchester United players ran 19km more against Liverpool than they did against Brentford – and made 155 sprints last night compared to just 65 in the 4-0 humiliation. pic.twitter.com/mJInKvInRo
— SPORTbible (@sportbible) August 23, 2022
Man United’s real test comes next week:
Man United might have picked up a superb win on Monday but they will need to match this performance by winning against Southampton next weekend.
Unlike Liverpool, the Saints will be happy to sit back and defend which means Man United will see a lot more of the ball. In that game, Ten Hag’s boys will be able to play proper possession-based football so it will be interesting to see how they break down their opponents.
On the counter, they are easily one of the best sides in England but if they want to go face-to-face with teams like Liverpool and Manchester City then they will have to start dominating games.
