I think there's a lot being made about my preference for Bailly and Maguire. My bigger gripe is having the defensive combination of McFred, which I think Ole does to cover the slowness at the back (Spurs example aside, where he did McFred even though Bailly played). That's why I felt if he played Bailly he might have been able to afford a pivot of Fred + Pogba instead of 2 holding players. But just to provide a counter thought to your points (and remember these are all opinions so it's not a case of right or wrong):
1. He rarely is beaten for pace against the top sides, because when a slow combination is played we tend to have a more conservative approach with two holding midfielders to provide additional cover on top. That said he was caught out yesterday itself with a great ball down the channel (think it was Mane who played it, or Mane who was on the receiving end). Gary Neville touched on it on commentary as well, saying that's where United miss Eric Bailly, as Maguire looked in trouble. We were fortunate Liverpool were really blunt in that move actually.
2. Bailly is faster than Lindelof is. I'm not suggesting we press like Liverpool, but in my honest opinion, Bailly on paper would be better suited to quicker players than Lindelof would. My main annoyance is when that Lindelof+Maguire is played with McFred. I hate seeing McFred play in big games more though, it just shouldn't happen in games we are looking to control more and win.
3. After Chelsea/City/Arsenal/Spurs this season (2 points in all those games), I'm well rehearsed with this tactic, and again do not think it was well executed yesterday. I don't think the first 45 minutes served us well at all, because we played too many players out of position to accommodate for a blunt defensive midfield duo. You play a CM on the right for the first time (ever?), a left forward as a number 9, and a player who prefers the 9 on the left - that was a lot of tinkering offensively. In fact, Ole conceded at full time that he didn't like how the game played out for the first half at all. Our best football was when Cavani was brought on, and Rashford moved back left, so there was a focal point where we can focus on our strengths more.
4. Dier isn't a speedster but he's quick enough in recoveries to make up for Vertonghen's shortcomings. And all my other examples still hold too.
5. Pressing a bit higher against Liverpool can yield better returns than containing for too long. I don't think it was in the script to play "hanging on football" for the first 30 minutes of the game, where they dominate most of the ball and try to whip balls in, have Firminho take a few good opportunities only to scuff them, etc. Ole even said he wasn't pleased with it. We actually started pressing more and a bit higher (w/Cavani) . Aston Villa showed how you can press adequately and find gaps, Southampton did a good job on their press too.
6 . Honestly he's a beast, you can use the physical argument on anything, i.e. to put him on Trent on the left, or Thiago on the middle, or Robertson on the left. But my issue with the approach was we spent too much focusing on the team rather than focusing on ourselves. McFred to break up their play, Pogba to jump on Robertson, and then on top you have Rashford in a less comfortable position. It felt like we gave them too much respect, and only when we decided to look at ourselves did we start playing.
7. I agree with them being better long passers, but you've massively overcooked the latter part of your point. I'm not saying press the shit out of them and go ultra attack, but make one thing clear - this is not the same Liverpool side that won the league and looked formidable. Everyone and their dog knows that, and I feel we could have played the team rather than played the reputation (as Neville had put).
All in all, Ole had every right to play the team he did because 1) he got us top in the first place so his goodwill is massive even with people who doubted him, like myself and 2) he didn't lose so he's vindicated on hindsight. But I am speaking solely from a performance perspective - I felt the starting lineup was reactive, was lending too much in trying to contain what is a very beatable team, and was inbalanced with too many offensive players out of position. And it showed in the game yesterday UNTIL Cavani came on, and Rashford reverted left.
