let's not exaggerate.. yes I was hoping we'd win.. but we didn't play bad..
guys it's Liverpool!! it's not like a championship team or something! it's a team who's currently sitting second in the league.. you don't expect to "dominate" a game fro 90 minutes against such a team....
we played well..
during the whole first half, even though we finished it trailing, we were the best team.. we had 3 clear cut chances in that half alone..
Liverpool didn't even have one shoot at target during the first half!!! except of course for the penalty..
also that Liverpool team (who has the record number of passing in the EPL this year) has actually lost possession for the first team this term.. that must mean at least we had the upper hand.
Liverpool has been using that annoying "high-press" technique under Klopp.. every time an opponent has the ball , 2 players from Liverpool are closing him down..no matter the place on the pitch.. today 3.. even 4 players were trying to close down our players.. think couple of moment when Martial were surrounded by 4 Liverpool players! (and he still manages to fend them off and play the ball by the way which is amazing!) ..
even with their high intensity pressure, we actually coped very well.. we managed to keep the ball and play on the ground under this pressure.. except for maybe Rojo who was always clearing the ball (but that's understandable.. if you know you don't have enough composure then you'd better not try to be a smart-arse!)
we even were the ones who were pressing! .. but we were using a one-on-one technique.. which actually worked couple of times greatly like Ibra's chance for example..
on the second half we had no choice but to attack and attack... I admire Mourinho a lot for the risk he took with his changes.. it could have backfired.. taking out DM and RB and putting on 2 attacking players would and could truly be costly.. especially with how early you make those changes.. but then again we are United and we are trailing so the answer is attack attack attack... and it paid well in the end.
we created more chances in the second half.. yes Liverpool had couple of chances but still it's expected when a team commits itself to attack then the opposition will have chances on the counter.. but then again we coped well.. and De Gea didn't have to make his WC saves to bail us out this time which tells you how decent we were in defense..
yes there were couple of lapses from Jones and Rojo .. then again they managed to correct their mistakes most of the times.. other times De Gea was there.
on the other side, it as a game to forget for Pogba... and not only because of the penalty... he was wasteful in front of goal.. he lost possession constantly.. he couldn't do his usual through passes and long balls.. I think he should have been drawn in the half time.. but then again I believe Mourinho thought it'd have a bad effect on him so he chose to keep faith in him and let him continue the match.. the decision my have made Pogba a little bit calmer after he was very irritated after the goal.. but in the same time that decision wasn't fruitful enough on the pitch. Pogba continued his bad form into the second half..
Good Points:
- Created plenty of clear-cut chances against one of the top teams this term.
- Kept Liverpool attack (the strongest attack in the EPL) at bay.
- Mourinho dealt very well with the game with his substitutions in my opinion.. apart from the decision to keep Pogba.
- Herrera and Valencia and to some extent Martial and Mkhitaryan played well
- Ibra continues to "conquer England".
- Fellaini again proves his dimension is needed at times and is important in suitable times.
- 16 unbeaten game.. and going.. hopefully forever
- 2 points from city.. 5 from second... a gap can be covered in couple or maybe 3 or 4 weeks.
Bad Points:
- one of the worst games for Pogba.. if not the worst.. the way he got nervous after the penalty was a bad indication.. he should be mentally stronger than this.
- rooney again back to his usual invisible form.
So let's not be sad and pessimistic and start to say we're bad and "shite" like some other posters said...
we played well.. against a good team..
we had been unlucky.. strange Penalty.. Good form for their keeper.. even our goal was if the ball doesn't want to enter the net!
on to the next game!