{"id":1641,"date":"2019-10-18T10:30:57","date_gmt":"2019-10-18T10:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/?p=1641"},"modified":"2019-10-18T10:30:57","modified_gmt":"2019-10-18T10:30:57","slug":"liverpool-versus-manchester-united-the-match-we-all-hate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/liverpool-versus-manchester-united-the-match-we-all-hate\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool Versus Manchester United: The Match We All Hate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It would be really easy to pretend that I\u2019m not nervous about Sunday. After all, J\u00fcrgen Klopp\u2019s Liverpool team is absolutely on fire and Ole Gunnar Solksjaer probably isn\u2019t even the most popular person in his house, let alone Old Trafford. The Red Devils are displaying relegation form and arguably have been since their former forward was given the job full-time last season. Not that anyone who knows anything about football is overly surprised that the man who took Cardiff City down and has been in charge of Molde seems to be struggling to turn around the fortunes of a side that hasn\u2019t had an identity worthy of the name since Alex Ferguson retired. The club is in dire straits and it\u2019s hard to see how they turn that around quickly. They need an entirely new squad, with plenty of sensible commentators struggling to think which of their players would make a combined XI.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-partner=\"tweetdeck\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Danny Mills has selected his combined XI ahead of Liverpool&#8217;s visit to Old Trafford as the Premier League returns this weekend, live on Sky Sports.<\/p>\n<p>A total of 0&#x20e3; Manchester United players made the cut, with Mills saying some would struggle to make the bench! &#x1f633;<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SkySportsNews\/status\/1183713703574851584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 14, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Yet it\u2019s still Manchester United and it\u2019s still Old Trafford. Liverpool have had a pretty poor record there during the Premier League era and I struggle to feel brimming with confidence that we\u2019ll be able to turn that around this weekend. That\u2019s not based on logic, of course. The United team of the 2008-2009 campaign was significantly better than this one &#8211; indeed it would go on to win the title &#8211; but Rafa Benitez\u2019s went there and smashed four past them. Yet Klopp hasn\u2019t got a great record against the Red Devils and decided to be cautious during our trip to Old Trafford last season when they were absolutely there for the taking. Logically we should batter them, but logic doesn\u2019t always come to the fore in derbies. Unless they\u2019re against Everton.<\/p>\n<h2>We Sometimes Look Rusty Post-International Break<\/h2>\n<p>I have been working on a theory about why Liverpool sometimes look a bit rusty after international breaks. Obviously one key factor is that they haven\u2019t been able to work with J\u00fcrgen Klopp on the training ground for a fortnight, meaning that they have to be reminded of how the Reds tend to play football. The reality is that absolutely none of our players are heading off to work with managers who are anywhere near the level of the German, with Gareth Southgate proving his ineptitude by his team selections. Unable to work with their club manager and out of the rhythm of playing, it\u2019s little wonder that Liverpool players don\u2019t look immediately convincing after they\u2019ve been away from each other for a little while.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-partner=\"tweetdeck\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Manchester United have been Klopp&#8217;s least favourite opponent in the Premier League, and are the only team with a better record than Liverpool in the head-to-head.<\/p>\n<p>Will that change on Sunday? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7C2ftlPwEf\">pic.twitter.com\/7C2ftlPwEf<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The Tomkins Times (@thetomkinstimes) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thetomkinstimes\/status\/1184749628446695424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 17, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>More than that, though, I think they over-estimate how good their teammates are after having played with poorer players when on international duty. People seem to come back and overhit passes, be too adventurous with their expectations of others in the team and generally seem like they\u2019re wearing someone else\u2019s boots. It\u2019s almost as if they\u2019ve played with no-marks for a fortnight, built up in their heads just how good the rest of the Liverpool team are and then expect far too much of them when they take to the field. We\u2019ve played Manchester United a couple of times after international breaks lately and never quite seem to be able to hit our rhythm in the way we would have done before. There\u2019s an argument we haven\u2019t been playing all that well lately, though, so perhaps the break will have done us good this time around.<\/p>\n<h2>I Want Us To Show No Fear<\/h2>\n<p>When we played at Old Trafford last season we showed Manchester United far too much respect. Yes, they were in a good run of form at the time but they still weren\u2019t anywhere near our level and J\u00fcrgen Klopp is a million times better as a manager than Solksjaer. They were afforded too much respect and the Reds should have put their foot on the Red Devils\u2019 throat and squeezed the life out of them. If we had then it\u2019s likely that we\u2019d have won the title. Klopp\u2019s cautious decision making was somewhat understandable, but those of us that remember how draws cost us the Premier League in 2008-2009 will always want a manager to be far more brave and risk losing in order to chase a win.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-partner=\"tweetdeck\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">De Gea or no De Gea, we\u2019ve showed United far too much respect at Old Trafford the past few years. They\u2019re shite, get into them. Roll on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Craig Hannan (@C_Hannan7) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/C_Hannan7\/status\/1184215426680721408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 15, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re rocking up to Old Trafford as the champions of Europe and should be swaggering around the place like we own it. Their supporters will be well up for it, but it won\u2019t take much for them to turn on their own players if we can get a decent foothold in the match. We\u2019re better than them in every department and should be absolutely desperate to press hold our advantage. Like heavyweight boxers up against featherweights, we can\u2019t treat this as a sparring session and politely aim a couple of jabs at them. Instead we should be looking upon it as a chance to knock them out and get an easy win under our belts. Be brave, should be the message.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-partner=\"tweetdeck\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">If you think I&#8217;m getting needlessly worked up over the irony of Liverpool dropping points in Alisson&#8217;s first game back on Sunday, you&#8217;d be absolutely right.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Henry Jackson (@HenryJackson87) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HenryJackson87\/status\/1184094219012583424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 15, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\u201cutf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve seen plenty of people crying it in regarding the possible absence of David de Gea and Paul Pogba. Perhaps they\u2019ll both be fit to play, perhaps they\u2019ll both be ruled out with injuries. I don\u2019t know, but one thing I can say with absolutely certainty is that it doesn\u2019t matter either way. de Gea isn\u2019t the goalkeeper he once was and Pogba would be able to break into our midfield with a crowbar. Of course second-choice goalkeepers have played well against us in the past, but that\u2019s not the sort of thing that we should be worrying about. There are no curses, no hoodoos or jinxes. Just a brilliant Liverpool team going up against a United one that is staggering against the ropes, so I want us to show no mercy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It would be really easy to pretend that I\u2019m not nervous about Sunday. After all, J\u00fcrgen Klopp\u2019s Liverpool team is absolutely on fire and Ole Gunnar Solksjaer probably isn\u2019t even the most popular person in his house, let alone Old Trafford. The Red Devils are displaying relegation form and arguably have been since their former forward was given the job full-time last season. Not that anyone who knows anything about football is overly surprised that the man who took Cardiff City down and has been in charge of Molde seems to be struggling to turn around the fortunes of a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1640,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1641"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1641"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1642,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1641\/revisions\/1642"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}