[Fridge chutney]

Destroyed all of those sides bar Plymouth this season.
4-1 vs Stoke
4-1 vs Leicester
6-1 vs Watford

Yet you lost ground to Chelsea yet again, and 2017 has been dismal for Liverpool so far. This was not a great result for a title contender.

Both clubs should look at this as dropped points. We'd be better off had we swapped victories instead of 2 draws.

 

[ClosetDevil]

That was awful from us. Credit due for getting the draw when we were way below the level required, but still an absolutely maddening display from us. I've never watched such a piss poor display from a CM than Pogba. It's like he totally forgot how to play football. Literally every single thing he did today failed to come off. Still, we had the best chances to win it, but what was Jose thinking bringing Rooney on? Surely has to be the end of him ahead of Rashford as an impact sub?

I blame the haircut. He always plays shit after getting a haircut. Perhaps he should grow it out like Fellani. Or maybe just focus a bit more on his football and less on peacocking.

 

[Fridge chutney]

Sorry, but for all the money you've spent, your big players don't tend to turn up against the better sides from what I can see.

Our biggest signing last year made you guys look like clowns with his first shot on goal in England.

Ibra, our second highest profile signing (or highest, depending on POV) scored today so your statement is self-defeating.

Mhiki played well, set up Pogba for a chance and had another chance excellently saved by Mig. Again, a signing that is working out quite nicely and playing well when it counts, although I concede he was not at his elite best today, but still had moments of magic.

I can only assume you refer to Pogba. His performance has been criticised ad nauseum. Today was a blot on an otherwise excellent past few months. He will continue his fine trajectory at United, rest assured.

 

[stevieg4ever]

No, i am talking about your results against the other top 6 sides and from what I can tell you've only beaten Spurs from the top six, in the league (I saw that game and you were much the better side).

 

[Verbalkint]

Hard to digest the result. Pogba & Mkhitaryan just didn't take their chances; something we can ill afford especially vs Liverpool.

I think there's no point bashing Pogba for one bad game, but it's clear he needs to calm down a bit and stop with the off field antics. Just might do him some good. Zlatan didn't look 100% fit in my opinion, but still good enough to get a goal for us.

Might surprise a few here, but i think the best player on the pitch was Marcus Rojo. We would have been screwed without him. I feel for Rooney, he just doesn't seem capable of contributing at this level anymore. It's sad cos i think he'll just end up being hounded by the press and berated by the fans after having such a successful career here at United. Maybe it is time to bag that record and move on.

 

[Grunge]

Bollocks .

Nicely worded retort. You're what, a Liverpool supporter? Got it!

Regardless, I agree the law itself is indeed, to use your quaint venacular, "bollocks".

Far too subjective imho. How can anyone really know whether the ball was directed to the hand or vice versa except the most obvious of examples.
I'm in favour of penalizing any hand-ball where the ball comes into contact with any part of the hand or arm (to just below the shoulder) regardless of intent. As it is, we see some given and some not depending entirely on the ref's perception which, as often as not is anything but reality.

The only point of contention would then be, when an attacking player intentionally flicks the ball at or onto a defenders hand/arm, which we've all seen from time to time. The punishment for that obvious ungentlemanly conduct un-befitting of the game, (aka cheating) would be the attacker/offender gets yellow-carded. This too would be subjective so when in doubt call it hand ball.

Then this foolish "was or wasn't it hand-ball" nonsense would be a non-issue. Instead it becomes a bone of contention almost every week in one game or another.

BTW the bonus of this rule change would be more consistency in referee decisions (always a good thing), a few more penalties leading to a few more goals. Yippee.

Had I been the ref, would have almost certainly given the penalty today but if you watch the incident carefully, Pogba uses his arm to leverage himself up in the air and CLEARLY attempts to head where he thinks the ball is going to be. In the course of that attempt, the ball makes contact with the arm. There was absolutely no deliberate attempt by the player to knock the ball away with his hand or arm for that matter and according to the law as it is written today, that is not hand ball and therefore no penalty.

And while I'm ranting about the laws of the game and this is related to the penalty decision; in the lead up to the corner, when Jones got caught on the ball & was cleverly dispossessed by Firmino who prods the ball forward to LaLa-Land who is clearly in an offside position when the ball is played forward and who would have got to the pass were it not for Rojo's desperate defending, why did the linesman's flag not go up for offside leading to a free kick for the good guys and not a corner to the cnuts & therefore no penalty decsion? (I'm sure there's a good reason )

 

[B20]

Strictly speaking, I don't think there was intent.

We're seeing that referees in the past few years are extending intent to mean 'should you have avoided this?'. Meaning carelessness in handling the ball I
is considered intent.

Going for a header with arms in front of your face is just stupid. Under that interpretation it is a penalty.

Personally, I think the rule should be redefined to include some measure of reckless position of the arm and clear advantage gained. Saves the headache of interpreting intent.

 

[B20]

Overall I thought it was a good game. Bit disjointed as both sides did a good job of disrupting each other. But it was played with pace and plenty of intent.

Pogba was shocking. Rarely seen a player so clearly rattled throughout a whole game.

Wijnaldum finishes like a bloody kitten though. What on earth was he doing there at the end.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Because we could have gone aggressively wide and used Fellaini in that way. We just started playing like Wimbledon c. 1989 because he was on the pitch and it was unnecessary.

But to go aggressively wise would mean we'd have to pass the ball from the back/midfield to get it out wide... which we struggled to do all day. When we by passed the transition from defense to midfield, we could then look threatening.

It would be different if we were playing football and creating chances, and then he brought Fellaini on to change it, but we weren't doing that.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Overall I thought it was a good game. Bit disjointed as both sides did a good job of disrupting each other. But it was played with pace and plenty of intent.

Pogba was shocking. Rarely seen a player so clearly rattled throughout a whole game.

Wijnaldum finishes like a bloody kitten though. What on earth was he doing there at the end.

Finishing aside, he was MOTM for me.

 

[B20]

Finishing aside, he was MOTM for me.

He's terrific when he doesn't have to finish. Does all the basic stuff so well.

The opposite of Pogba in many ways.

Also not at all the player I thought we'd be getting.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

He's terrific when he doesn't have to finish. Does all the basic stuff so well.

I guess that's not his job though, so can't be overly harsh.

I thought you lot were OK all things considered, though a bit disjointed as we were like you said. Still, you were well organised and combative, without being overly inspiring in attack... though I guess that's going to happen when you are missing your two best attackers, and Lallana has a better game in a defensive capacity then an attacking one.

 

[chicha14]

People need to stop bashing Pogba, when no one else stood out either. Yes, he was probably the worse of an average ( on the day) bunch but he is entitled to a bad game from time to time and unfortunately his was this one. His confidence was clearly shot after conceding the penalty. Had he converted his chance and not given that penalty away , he would have been in a different mood and probably would have been MOTM. Give him a break and let the opposition be the haters and make the daft remarks. As we all know how good he has been in the last couple of weeks and has shown glimpses of what he is capable of.

Give the lad a break FFS!

 

[Stretch]

First time on caf since the match and must say I'm a bit flabbergasted at the reaction on here. I thought we were the better team and should have won that match but for a freak incident with Pogba. I thought we coped well with their attack to the point where they only really had one solid chance at goal for the whole match whilst we looked dangerous every time we ventured into their box. Pogba had a mare of a game and needs to stop show boating. I actually loved our intensity in the last 30mins where we had them camped in their box for a sustained period. Classic United style. The only problem I have is that we started way too slow and allowed them to settle. We showed them too much respect initially.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

People need to stop bashing Pogba, when no one else stood out either. Yes, he was probably the worse of an average ( on the day) bunch but he is entitled to a bad game from time to time and unfortunately his was this one. His confidence was clearly shot after conceding the penalty. Had he converted his chance and not given that penalty away , he would have been in a different mood and probably would have been MOTM. Give him a break and let the opposition be the haters and make the daft remarks. As we all know how good he has been in the last couple of weeks and has shown glimpses of what he is capable of.

Give the lad a break FFS!

He is entitled a bad game, but the fact he puts him in the spotlight so much makes people focus on his game more. If he was a different character then the flak would not have been as bad. He is promoting himself as being great so unfortunately he has to produce.

 

[gorky_utd]

Overall a good match but could have gone either way.Dont know what is klopp complaining about hoof the ball.Probably reminded him of sevilla match where they also used long ball tactics.

 

[B20]

People need to stop bashing Pogba, when no one else stood out either. Yes, he was probably the worse of an average ( on the day) bunch but he is entitled to a bad game from time to time and unfortunately his was this one. His confidence was clearly shot after conceding the penalty. Had he converted his chance and not given that penalty away , he would have been in a different mood and probably would have been MOTM. Give him a break and let the opposition be the haters and make the daft remarks. As we all know how good he has been in the last couple of weeks and has shown glimpses of what he is capable of.

Give the lad a break FFS!

Been good before that and all, but he sets the stage for it himself. Releases a fecking emoji just before the game and has his face plastered all over the billboards during the game. He's basically shouted 'now everyone look at ME', then goes on to have a horror show of a game. It wasn't just the handball. It was losing the ball in dangerous positions, his full WWE takedown, fluffing his chances. It was like he was enacting some sort of teenage drama on the pitch. He was basically hysterical.

 

[RedDevil@84]

Been good before that and all, but he sets the stage for it himself. Releases a fecking emoji just before the game and has his face plastered all over the billboards during the game. He's basically shouted 'now everyone look at ME', then goes on to have a horror show of a game. It wasn't just the handball. It was losing the ball in dangerous positions, his full WWE takedown, fluffing his chances. It was like he was enacting some sort of teenage drama on the pitch. He was basically hysterical.

Spot on. He asked for it. If you want the spotlights to be on you all the time, you need to take the heat that comes with it as well.

 

[christinaa]

Bollocks .

What an intelligent answer !

 

[Catt]

It was a penalty . End off.

Did I say otherwise? You seem very worked up.

 

[RedDevil@84]

Has anyone got a video of the build up to the Liverpool goal. Some people here seem to claim there were some offside calls in that build up too.

 

[Player Red]

Has anyone got a video of the build up to the Liverpool goal. Some people here seem to claim there were some offside calls in that build up too.

Read that too so I had a look. Wasn't offside. Lallana is beyond the play but a United player knocks it back out for the corner and in any case I don't think Lallana would have been classed as being involved in play.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Read that too so I had a look. Wasn't offside. Lallana is beyond the play but a United player knocks it back out for the corner and in any case I don't think Lallana would have been classed as being involved in play.

I guess the argument could possibly be that Rojo is worried about Lallana's presence so has to clear it... but thats tenuous at best

 

[Revan]

Overall I thought it was a good game. Bit disjointed as both sides did a good job of disrupting each other. But it was played with pace and plenty of intent.

Pogba was shocking. Rarely seen a player so clearly rattled throughout a whole game.

Wijnaldum finishes like a bloody kitten though. What on earth was he doing there at the end.

I thought that it was an atrocious match to be fair. United - Liverpool is always a bad match, but this might be the worst I've seen. Outside of their own half, neither team was able to make consistently more than 3-4 passes, and the teams were more interested on disrupting the flow of the match rather than playing good football.

It reminded me of the Lazio-Roma matches, which might be the worst matches in the history of football.

 

[Revan]

I really cannot believe that there are people who are blaming Oliver for the penalty. It was as a clear pen as you're ever going to see.

 

[NK86]

Performance levels (and rightly therefore, expectations) are definitely up from last season. I think we've probably just about found our level now though. Can dispatch Palace, West Brom, Sunderland, Middlesborough, Hull etc with relative ease (which is a genuine, tangible improvement on much of the last three years) but Liverpool, even at home, is a hurdle we can't quite clear. Mourinho's had the squad for more than 6 months now, there not much reason to expect a massive upturn in performance from this group of players and we're the same number of points adrift of 4th position as we were a month ago.

so basically you think this team cannot improve any further and that defeating Pool with this squad is a step too far? Have you forgotten the times they gave us a running around at OT under Fergie with Torres tormenting Vidic during the years when we were the best team in the world? Liverpool is always a tricky game but that does not mean we cannot improve or beating them is a step too far. It's preposterous to even think like that.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

I thought that it was an atrocious match to be fair. United - Liverpool is always a bad match, but this might be the worst I've seen. Outside of their own half, neither team was able to make consistently more than 3-4 passes, and the teams were more interested on disrupting the flow of the match rather than playing good football.

It reminded me of the Lazio-Roma matches, which might be the worst matches in the history of football.

I think @B20 meant good as in entertaining, as opposed to good as in quality of football.

The quality on show was poor, but there was plenty of intensity, and it wasn't anywhere near as boring as the 0-0 earlier this year.

 

[Revan]

I think @B20 meant good as in entertaining, as opposed to good as in quality of football.

The quality on sure was poor, but there was plenty of intensity, and it wasn't anywhere near as boring as the 0-0 earlier this year.

Each to their own, I guess. I didn't entertained yesterday, I was frustrated. Not only because we didn't win, but because it was such a low quality match. Really, it was one of the worst matches I have ever seen.

 

[B20]

I think @B20 meant good as in entertaining, as opposed to good as in quality of football.

The quality on sure was poor, but there was plenty of intensity, and it wasn't anywhere near as boring as the 0-0 earlier this year.

This.

 

[B20]

Really, it was one of the worst matches I have ever seen.

Nowhere near that by any stretch. For either side.

 

[RedPed]

It's taken me this long to process the result and reflect on the performance. I'm gutted that our winning streak has gone considering the games we have coming up next. People are being a bit harsh on Pogba. It's not like he did it deliberately and you could equally blame the incident leading up to the corner.

We had enough chances to win the game and again we didn't take them. Rojo looked really good again and we should have brought on Rashford instead of Rooney.

It was an enjoyable game of football and at least we didn't lose. We never seem to win when City lose but at least that's the only consolation this weekend. 2 points further away from the top three now is very frustrating. But we go again.

 

[Siorac]

Nowhere near that by any stretch. For either side.

You don't even have to go that far back to find a worse United v Liverpool: the very last one before this, at Anfield. There was little quality or intensity and excitement in that game.

 

[Player Red]

I guess the argument could possibly be that Rojo is worried about Lallana's presence so has to clear it... but thats tenuous at best

Yeah, wouldn't think so. Sure Lallana is onside when a Liverpool player last touches the ball so I would reckon it is not technically possible at all.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

First time on caf since the match and must say I'm a bit flabbergasted at the reaction on here. I thought we were the better team and should have won that match but for a freak incident with Pogba. I thought we coped well with their attack to the point where they only really had one solid chance at goal for the whole match whilst we looked dangerous every time we ventured into their box. Pogba had a mare of a game and needs to stop show boating. I actually loved our intensity in the last 30mins where we had them camped in their box for a sustained period. Classic United style. The only problem I have is that we started way too slow and allowed them to settle. We showed them too much respect initially.

Generally agree with your summary but I think Liverpool deserve some credit for starting on the front foot. We weathered the storm, though, and were starting to hurt them when Pogba's moment of madness turned the game. In the 10 minutes leading up to the pen we were really dominant and creating good chanc s.

 

[Fortitude]

But to go aggressively wise would mean we'd have to pass the ball from the back/midfield to get it out wide... which we struggled to do all day. When we by passed the transition from defense to midfield, we could then look threatening.

It would be different if we were playing football and creating chances, and then he brought Fellaini on to change it, but we weren't doing that.

The moment Fellaini steps on a pitch, the dynamic changes. Players start to crowd the middle of the pitch in order to disrupt him or to try and collect the knockdowns and the wings tend to naturally thin out as either a FB or a DM/CM is drawn to the double-team and thus cannot help out wide. There's no way Liverpool would have remained as controlled and comfortable in their own game plan if we mixed up our own by keeping them honest with some long ball as well as an aggressive approach to wing-play. Their players cannot be in two places at once and both mental fatigue and fitness would also make them sloppy in this regard, too.

It felt like a missed opportunity and an unnecessary disregard of constructive planning when we continued to hoof with so much time left on the clock. It also led to them having numerous chances on the break because our focus became so myopic and tunnel-visioned.

 

[AN17]

Disappointed with the result. Even more so about the lack of application and level headedness by the players. Tactics weren't anything special either. Really concerned about Jose and his big game results with us.

 

[R300k]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Poor Klopp: "We played the better football. United were doing only long balls, it was difficult"

 

[Parma Dewol]

Felt absolutely gutted at full time yesterday. Haven't seen the highlights but still feel gutted this morning. Thought Liverpool were average but they showed more desire than us, and it was so frustrating to see so many key players fail to turn up. We played the occasion, not the opponent.

 

[rpg]

I thought we edged the game, if only by a whisker. Dippers were peeing in their pants especially in the final 10 minutes. This is one of many games this season count as unlucky.

 

[RexHamilton]

Played shite. Got a draw. Could be worse. 2 points behind city and only 5 separating us and the four teams directly above us. While we were very poor yesterday, we've been playing well in general. We'll get top four.

 

[ShoePolish]

Hope Mourinho will lay into the team for wasting the last minutes with rushed attacks. Instead of setting up proper attacks, we just conceded possession in the middle and gifted them counterattack opportunities, that thankfully didn't cost us this time.