It’s a familiar post-game scene. The manager sits on a small stage, the press in front of him, and tries to explain everything away, to apologize. And there we were at Anfield on Tuesday night, after Manchester United’s 4-0 first leg win over Liverpool, a result that raised many questions, including whether it had been more or less humiliating for the visitors than the previous episode. That was last October when Liverpool won 5-0 at Old Trafford.
How did it happen again? The club are “obviously in a difficult situation,” was the reply, a line that touched on United’s myriad problems, fan anger towards owners and even some players, lack of networked thinking, dismal form, a selection crisis.
“Look at the line-up tonight,” he continued, before pointing out that central midfielders Scott McTominay and Fred were absent through injury. Well, McTominay was on the bench but couldn’t come. “McTominay was just here to show up. I don’t think he was ready.”
When it rains, it pours and Paul Pogba would be substituted off in the 10th minute with a calf strain. At 5-0, the midfielder was sent off 15 minutes after coming on as a half-time substitute. “If you’re already in a difficult situation, very often in life it knocks again and that’s it [happened] … In the game, Paul has to come off.”
At least you can look to the future with optimism. “I know it won’t last forever,” he said. United, he added, “will fight back… be back. The club is too powerful.”
The words there, ladies and gentlemen, not from United interim manager Ralf Rangnick, but from his Liverpool counterpart Jurgen Klopp. Rangnick went harshly in the opposite direction, criticizing his players for the terrible save on the opening goal scored by Luis Díaz in the fifth minute and various other mistakes, such as playing loose passes into the jaws of Liverpool’s pressing, which happened on the third goal , ended Sadio Mané in the 68th minute. Rangnick said he was “extremely embarrassed”.
If we’re looking for an indictment on where United are, which is at their lowest in decades, then surely the most damning thing is to receive sympathy from the Liverpool manager – shame even.
It’s possible Klopp acted cautiously because he respects Rangnick, his fellow German and the so-called godfather of the counter-press, who influenced his own actions. Klopp, who appeared non-inflammatory when asked about United’s situation before the game, was glowing about Rangnick’s tactical switch at half-time from a back five to a system that was either 4-3-3 or 4-2-3 -1 depending on where you had attacking midfielder Jesse Lingard, who had come on for Pogba.
Jurgen Klopp celebrates his Liverpool team’s victory. Photo: Mike Egerton/PA“We had to adapt to the other high-press system, the formation, the organization of the opponent,” said Klopp. “It’s really difficult. You take off [Phil] Jones and bring [Jadon] Sancho. The pressing is different. You just got used to certain spaces from the first half and then, ok, that’s no longer possible. We didn’t start moving again immediately. We didn’t really fall in [moments] and all of a sudden we can’t let the balls go any more.”
The strange thing was that United looked kind of comfortable for about 20 minutes and the home crowd started to betray a little fear. Finally, after the first-half save, there was some tension over the English football classic. So cheers to Rangnick, the tactical genius? Hardly. After doing everything wrong at the beginning.
Mohamed Salah completes Liverpool’s victory over Manchester United. Photo: Peter Powell/EPAIt passed quickly as Liverpool adjusted, finding a way back through the lines and when Mané made it 3-0 it was the call for a strong last quarter from them – and for United to wither. Once again. So that Klopp is well placed to show his magnanimous side. And that United will be reduced to a trawl through the thinnest of pulp to find anything that might have gone well. These kind of morsels are all they seem to have right now.
Where Klopp solves problems and has a clear vision, Rangnick cannot escape them or align his players with how he wants to play. Which isn’t a big surprise. Rangnick is a manager who likes intensity and running non-stop off the ball; to recapture high up, to use the counter-pressing as an attack and defense tool. He also favors a longer-term reconstruction project. What could be nicer than giving him that squad and a six-month contract? Still, it’ll soon be time for that sweet, sweet consulting gig. No one seems clear on what this will mean, but it will certainly be mobile if needed.
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Rangnick said Bruno Fernandes, who was already involved in a car accident this week, has been candid with his views in the dressing room at Anfield on whether United can somehow get up at Arsenal on Saturday.
The club were horrified to learn that their game at Old Trafford against Chelsea has been rescheduled for next Thursday, meaning a third big game in nine days and potentially undermining their battle for a top-four finish. It doesn’t matter that they could have rid themselves of such worries by, say, beating Watford at home or not collapsing at Everton. It doesn’t matter when they play Thomas Tuchel’s side if they lose again on Saturday.