‘THERE were a lot of positives that can be taken’. Normally words that sound quite hollow in the midst of a gut-wrenching defeat. But in analysing Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to bitter rivals Manchester United, this often utilised footballing cliché sums things up perfectly.
This was Liverpool’s first home game since the Hillsborough Independent Panel’s report, therefore, a significant amount of pre-match column inches were focused on how the two clubs and their fans would conduct themselves during the resulting tribute prior to kick-off.
Manchester United fans sang vociferously throughout the rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone and the accompanying mosaic display, but none of the chants were unsavoury by any means. Overall, the tribute was very fitting and thankfully it passed off peacefully.
In terms of the game, the opening exchanges were understandably quite edgy but Liverpool quickly began to dominate possession and fashioned two early chances. The first came when Anders Lindegaard parried dangerously in the box, only for United’s defenders to scramble it clear, and the second was through Steven Gerrard, who hit the side netting after a short Jonjo Shelvey corner. With Liverpool looking the most likely team to open the scoring, the game completely changed on 39 minutes. A 50/50 challenge between Shelvey and Jonny Evans resulted in a sending off for the Reds’ midfielder.
It’s fair to say that the sending off caused some controversy and a couple of questions can be asked in the aftermath: did Shelvey’s challenge merit a sending off if considered in the context of today’s rules? Yes. Should the rules afford some element of subjective discretion to the referee with regards to the maliciousness of a tackle? Probably.
One thing that appears to have been corroborated by most football fans and the media (even Gary Neville) is that Jonny Evans tackled with two feet himself, therefore, he should have been sent off also.
Liverpool’s response was admirable, far from shutting up shop and playing for a draw, it was still their intention to pass the ball and attack at every opportunity. This was rewarded just after half-time, when Suso – who played remarkably well given his age and experience – beat Paul Scholes on the left hand side and clipped in a dangerous cross. After Glen Johnson picked up the clearance and drifted into the box, it fell to Steven Gerrard, who displayed great skill by controlling the ball on his chest and volleying home left footed.
Unfortunately for Liverpool though, they didn’t hold onto their lead for long. On 51 minutes, Shinji Kagawa chested the ball to Rafael, who curled it beautifully into the top left hand corner from just inside the area.
United began to look more threatening, but Liverpool were still creating chances themselves. First Luis Suarez – who could have won a penalty on 57 minutes after an Evans tackle – forced a great low save by Lindegaard on the hour mark. Suso then fired in a curled shot from the edge of the box on 66 minutes, forcing another fingertip save from United’s Danish stopper.
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However, being completely fair to United, they always finish strongly and started to make the extra man pay. On 76 minutes, they won a penalty after Liverpool failed to retrieve the ball in a dangerous area just inside their half. Antonio Valencia broke quickly into the box and was adjudged to have been fouled by Johnson.
The contact was negligible (possibly even non-existent), but the winger made the most of it and took the opportunity to go down. There seems to be a strange consensus in the modern game: contact equals a penalty. Surely, in a sport of this nature, it should be contact that is meaningful enough to upend the player. The decision was again harsh on Liverpool.
From the subsequent spot-kick, Robin Van Persie picked the right hand corner, Pepe Reina got a strong hand on it, but not strong enough. United were in the lead and did what was necessary to hold on for victory.
Liverpool’s performance was not only marked by enterprising football, it was also underpinned by a significant amount of hard work, and most significantly, courage. Prior to Shelvey’s sending off, Liverpool completely dominated a Manchester United team that is arguably the weakest seen at Anfield for many years (they still have that knack of grinding out important wins however).
Even after the sending off, Liverpool continued to adopt the same game plan, and even took a deserved lead. Of course, teams are always at their most vulnerable when they’ve just scored a goal, and if Liverpool had held onto their lead for a few minutes longer then things may have been different.
That said, performances and refereeing decisions will be completely forgotten with the passage of time – a loss is a loss. Although it is foolish looking at the table at this stage, it is still of ever growing significance that Liverpool have still not managed to record a league victory.
The longer this run continues, the more confidence will dissipate and the more pressure will grow, so a win in their next league fixture is almost a necessity in order to put a halt to that most vicious of circles.
The relentless pattern of playing well and not winning games, which has blighted the club for over a year, continues unabated. It can’t all be put down to bad luck, but it can’t be solely explained by a lack of finishing ability either.
Fans can only hope for two things: firstly, that performances continue to be good (no mean feat), and secondly, that good performances eventually turn into wins.
Only the most pessimistic of Liverpool fans would deny that the latter is on the not-so-distant horizon.
L4L Man of the Match: Joe Allen. There were several midfielders with big reputations on show, so the best compliment you could pay Allen is that he stood out amongst them yesterday. His use of the ball was effective as always, but his energy and tackling were also exemplary. He just pips Steven Gerrard, who was back to somewhere near his very best.
Follow me on Twitter at: @antonyjlfc
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Nice to see Stevie and Johnson’s interview and opinions about Valencia’s dive hitting the wires and spreading the word. Johnson said the Ref told him “I have to give it”. Question is under whose orders?
im pretty bored with the ” liverpool can take a lot of positives from that game ” routine .