Man Utd 3 - 2 Liverpool (Positives and Negatives)

Sorry for the delay in posting this. Obviously, this was a particularly hard game to look at calmly given the score line and the manner of defeat. I have had another look at the higlights (lowlights?) and have come up with some positives which i think we can focus on rather than just the negatives.

As always please feel free to leave comments on here if you agree or disagree with anything.

NEGATIVES



The first half performance: As has been the case throughout the season so far, we took too long before imposing our selves on the opposition, we sat back early on and gave Utd confidence.

Defensive Frailty: For all the possession we gave away throughout the game one major point is that two of the goals we conceded could have been avoided. For their first goal Torres did not challenge Berbatov strongly enough, but even then his effort could have been stopped had Konchesky not abandoned the post he was supposed to cover for no apparent reason. For the eventual winner John O’Shea was given far too much time to pick a cross, and Jamie Carragher made a very weak challenge in trying to rise with Berbatov.

The wide area’s: Again this has been a recurring point, but although we tried different personal the result was the same. It was Joe Cole and Maxi Rodriguez’s turn this week and neither player made much of an impact on the game, Cole’s performance was however an improvement on the invisible Argentine’s. I am genrally a fan of Maxi but this was a particularly poor performance. As for Cole, well he did have a few nice touches and he is a positive player but in his two “big” games as a Liverpool player (Arsenal & Utd) he has been on the periphery.

Lack of chances: Yet again we failed to create any real opportunities. Torres got the ball in a dangerous area twice and won us a free kick and a penalty from which our goals came. I cant help but be worried though that we are becoming very reliant on set pieces to get us goals.


POSITIVES


Merieles: Although he didn’t do anything outstanding, he did help us to up the tempo of our game. He helped us keep possession and in the second half he definitely helped move the ball up the pitch more quickly and effectively. Its still early days but the signs are promising.

Christian Poulson's performance: In the first half he struggled to get involved but having looked at the highlights again (with a clearer mind) he was heavily involved when we went on top for a period in the second half. He broke up play and gave the ball quickly to a team mate (often Stevie) to get us attacking quickly and basically did an effective defensive midfield job. He's no Mascherano (who is?... well Mascherano is) but he can do a job and this was his most promising performance in red so far.

Torres’ impact: Ok don’t be alarmed, I am not deluded. I know his form has not been at its best so far this season, and this game was no exception. I do however think more is being made of his form that is necessary, I also think its hard to expect much better when he gets very little of the ball the way we are playing right now. What I am highlighting here is the fact that even when out of form he directly impacted to help us score two goals in this game. Once winning a penalty and once winning a free kick, to show that even out of form he can still be effective.

The end of a very difficult group of fixtures: since the beginning of the season we seem to be going from one pressure game to the next, with this game out of the way we are looking at two home games against Sunderland and Blackpool coming up next, although these certainly wont be easy games, there is no reason why we cant hope for 6 points from these games.