Thread by @EBL2017

Manchester United 0-5 Liverpool.

In-depth analysis.

THREAD.

The game started off in a toe-to-toe manner when energy was high so it was all about winning 2nd balls, technical quality & pressing. Each team did well in this sense & United did really well at one point to play out of Liverpool’s press before leaving Fernandes in this position.

United’s press was well structured in certain phases of play after this too with standard pressing triggers matching up - winger on fullback, midfield on Liverpool’s interiors, Fernandes dropping onto Henderson before pressurising the CB’s, CB's stepping high when required...

Then, there was a little bit of chaos pressing (not sticking to triggers) from Utd which was successful in retrieving possession, & to say that teams like Liverpool & City for example don’t do this relatively regularly would be incorrect. Even still, the below structure is good.

However, just after this, within a chaotic press (which wasn’t poorly structured as Liverpool’s midfield were covered + AWB backed up Greenwood on Robertson), Liverpool broke through United’s press and scored the opener with Keita. The issue was with the intensity from AWB.

Robertson had time to turn and take two touches out of his feet by the time AWB got to him. This led to him playing an incisive pass between the lines to Jota who flicked the ball around the corner to Firmino and a combination of these actions left Shaw 2v1 with Keita and Salah.

After the goal, Liverpool nearly scored again as McTominay gave the ball away under Liverpool’s press. Shortly after, United had two top transitional opportunities but Ronaldo was dispossessed after taking too long to pass & Rashford shot wide of the post. The game was still even

Liverpool played out of United’s high press thanks to their good technical level and then forced United back into a low block after Ronaldo and Rashford stood by and allowed Henderson to turn and progress play with little to no pressure applied.

So, United went from a position of relative control to a weaker and more defensive position. Subsequently, United’s low block (Maguire and Shaw) made individual errors, and Liverpool made it 2-0. This all stems from the forwards' laziness when (not) pressurising the play.

United sustained pressure and created *many* chances at this point, but failed to convert any of them.

Rashford 1v1 with VVD in the box, McTominay chance from corner, Ronaldo chance in space in the box, Shaw shot which *just* went wide, Greenwood shot, etc.

So, United had more opportunities than LFC to score at this stage (30 mins in). LFC scored from superb quality themselves but also from lacklustre intensity from AWB, & in similar fashion for the 2nd with laziness from Ronaldo/Rashford before individual errors from Maguire/Shaw.

On a side note, Liverpool pressed in a near identical manner to United on a multitude of occasions. Pundits said Greenwood and AWB were incorrect to press high VVD and Robertson respectively, but Salah and TAA pressed Maguire and Shaw respectively. Difference = intensity.

I do not buy the narrative that Solskjaer is out of his depth. He has has displayed top tactics at United from day one. However, just because the structure is good doesn’t mean the players are capable of replicating it, and that’s *his* fault because he built this squad. Anyway..

Then, at min 31, Liverpool got back into the game after United relieved the sustained pressure they applied by giving the ball away in midfield before giving it away again when Rashford misplaced a pass which left Salah in on goal - United’s sustained pressure/control was gone.

However, LFC made errors themselves & United nearly created three top chances with Robertson flicking a cross to CR7 out for a corner, Henderson intercepting a decisive Fred pass, & a misplaced Fernandes pass behind Ronaldo to leave him in on goal. United were profligate again.

LFC then sustained pressure after Utd’s attacks broke down thanks to a superb pick out from Allison & quality from Keita which forced Utd back into a deep block before sustaining pressure where the ball ultimately broke to Keita in fortunate circumstances who squared it to Salah.

At 3-0, Rashford was in the 6 yard box and tried to square it but picked nobody out and Ronaldo missed a 1v1. Then Ronaldo gave away a free kick in frustration, Liverpool went long and won a free kick within a midfield duel, and subsequently scored by breaking down United’s block

One team was ruthless, the other was not. Yes, LFC had more shots, big chances, higher xG, etc, but I’d argue that’s because everything about their attack was much better than Utd’s - the technical level under a press, the decision making, combinations, final action, etc...

Liverpool also didn’t make any daft individual errors like Maguire’s error, Rashford putting Salah through on goal, Pogba gifting Liverpool a goal.. This, along with the fact that they reliably defended with intensity within each defensive phase. United didn’t on key occasions.

The intensity in which Liverpool *reliably* defended compared to United was clear. Ronaldo and Rashford in particular reacted far too late to situations, and that’s because it’s not in their nature to press - they only sprinted at the last minute for perception reasons.

There’s no consistent intensity within Rashford’s defensive actions - he goes from 0mph to 100mph. His nature is not to defend, but the perception of United’s current lack of work rate from the media, fans, etc made him go all out to press last minute, but it was too late then.

So, overall, did 5-0 flatter Liverpool? Yes, I think it did (despite LFC’s brilliance). Utd gifted them a number of goals via: individual errors (Maguire/Pogba), pressing issues (AWB), & luck was on LFC’s side too with the 2nd Salah goal. Utd also missed a lot of opportunities.

Again, on paper, my interpretation of the game is that is was close, but Liverpool were simply incredibly ruthless whereas United were not. Liverpool deserved to win because their attack was better and they made no silly errors, unlike United's attack and defence. That’s obvious.

So, from Solskjaer’s perspective, it’s not his fault his attackers were not as ruthless as Liverpool’s and his defenders made daft errors whereas LFC's did not. The lack of intensity within the block for the first and second goal, however, is OGS’s fault. He assembled this squad.

If there’s a lack of intensity within the mid-block/when pressing which led to Liverpool going 2-0 up, that’s his fault. However, it’s not a structural issue - it’s a player issue, a squad building issue. So to call Solskjaer tactically inept is grossly misinformed, & illogical.

Does Solskjaer deserve to be sacked? Maybe, but that’s only because of a poorly prioritised transfer window - it was well reported Solskjaer wanted a central midfielder, but he signed Varane & Ronaldo ahead of that, and this created problems defensively & unrealistic expectations

Does this mean he's bad tactically? No, it's really obvious he's not if you analyse the games. Does this mean he's a bad manager? Of course not - Moyes/LVG/Mourinho all failed. OGS rebuilt this team to a stage where they're one step away from challenging the best PL teams ever.

If that's a bad job done, then people have ridiculous standards set. Realistically, the only reason Solskjaer is losing his job is because of an emotional decision to sign Ronaldo which created intense pressure & balance issues, as I said at the time & anticipated transpiring.