Festive frustrations

This season’s busy festive fixture schedule couldn’t have gone much better had we written the script ourselves. Our rivals have dropped points while we’ve been in scintillating form, comfortably dispatching Spurs, Leicester and West Ham and what better cherry on top of our Christmas cake than bringing the festive period to a close with a good spanking of United at Anfield? If only…

There’s been some notable exceptions in recent seasons – the memorable 7-0 & 5-0 victories over our arch rivals being the obvious ones that immediately spring to mind but how often have we seen displays like that against United, where we just don’t turn up?

Let’s get it straight, that mob are Manchester United in name only at the moment. We’re talking about a team that have lost 5 out their last 6 games, whose own manager has twice in recents weeks said that relegation isn’t impossible for them and in his prematch presser described his team as anxious and afraid. They MUST have arrived at Anfield yesterday full of dread and trepidation, fearing a repeat of 7-0 drubbing from a couple of years back.

To that end, surely to god you come flying out the traps at them! Whip up the hostile and expectant crowd, force them into some early mistakes and their already shattered confidence will make way to extreme nerves and a first half capitulation wouldn’t have just been possible, it would have been downright likely!!

Instead, we got a first half display I can only describe as flaccid!! I couldn’t believe what I was watching in the opening 20 minutes. Our pressing was nonexistent, as for some reason our defence was sitting deeper, instead of pushing up like we always do. That meant that with United’s back 5 and Ugarte and/or Mainoo dropping deep, we were constantly outnumbered around their final third and they were passing their way out with ease. A team at Anfield, passing their way out from the back with ease just doesn’t happen but we witnessed it yesterday.

Even without our defence pushing up to even the numbers, our forwards were half arsed in the press, going in ones and twos with no real intent and absolutely zero aggression. It more resembled a preseason game where everyone’s trying to avoid injury, rather than a game at home to our arch rivals and given the fact both Chelsea and Arsenal had already dropped points over the weekend, there should have been added motivation for the boys (not that it should be needed for this game), knowing that a victory would give us a real stranglehold at the top of the league and put one hand on the title.

The aforementioned flaccid, limp-wristed display we saw, actually beggared belief. We allowed them lots of early possession and easy possession at that. Not the kind of frustrating, surgical possession football of a Guardiola team, where your opponents are so good you just can’t get near them. No, this was easy possession that any PL team would exploit. They had loads of time on the ball, always someone in space as our shape seemed to fall apart again and again and it was no surprise when they scored. The manner in which they scored however… Where do I start?

Actually it’s obvious where to start – Trent!! The most limp-dicked of them all, in a game that was already a flaccid display of stage-fright induced impotence. His defending was shocking throughout but what he did in the build up to their goal, I’ve honestly never seen anything like it. Given the fact it was his dodgy clearance that led to their attack in the first place, you’d have thought he’d have tried to make amends in the following sequence. On the contrary, he allowed their CB to collect the ball and literally just watched him run in a straight line past him. Even if he’d lackadaisically stuck out a leg, it would have at least forced Martinez to slightly alter the direction of his run, away from our goal but he couldn’t even be bothered doing that. He literally just allowed Martinez to run past him unchallenged, while he strolled along and as if that wasn’t bad enough, he doesn’t see the run of Fernandes, who gets in behind him and blasts the ball into the roof of the net. I honestly couldn’t believe what I was seeing and had I been Slot, I’d have hooked him there and then. There was a case for taking him off even without that though, as United attacked down our right flank time and again with ease.

We badly needed a spark from somewhere and it was fitting it came from the only two members of the starting lineup who managed at least a semi for the game – Mac Allister (McMOTM) and Gakpo. The former with a clever through ball and the latter once again showing what he can do cutting in from the left as he left the defender on the floor and lashed home with a fine finish to level the scores. We then had around a 20 minute spell where we actually looked like us. We moved the ball quickly and started causing United all kinds of problems and our press started to click. We get the penalty, Salah gets his obligatory goal against United and I thought we’d then take control of the game and possibly win by a higher margin.

Nope!! Back down we drooped once more and we once again allowed United back into the game and it was they who were pushing more for a winner by the end and they almost got one, only to see Maguire spurn a glorious chance in the final minutes and in truth, we couldn’t have had any complaints if we’d lost that game. I just find it baffling where that performance came from.

Anyway, on the plus side of things the dropped points haven’t harmed our league position given results elsewhere went our way but few draws have felt more like defeat than that yesterday and I suspect few draws have felt more like a win for United and their fans.

Thankfully we don’t have too long to stew on the result as we face Spurs next in the first leg of our league cup semi (fitting, given the them of the article) and I suspect Slot will ring the changes. Chiesa, Tsimikas, Elliot, Endo and Bradley can all expect to start I would think and personally, I would give Danns a runout ahead of Darwin, who I’ve given up on at this point. I think he has the lowest footballing IQ I’ve ever seen at this level and he doesn’t seem to have the capacity to learn.

I leave you all with the obvious question after that game. Given Trent’s performance yesterday, which was far from an anomaly if we’re being honest, does anyone really care if he goes? Is he really worth 300 grand a week? He’s given us some great moments but he’s also cost us multiple times in big games, including the biggest of them all. A few seasons back, when Klopp’s system was built around the creativity of our fullbacks, Trent’s skillset was irreplaceable for us, he was invaluable to the team and pivotal to our style of play. Now though? His assist numbers are a fraction of what they once were and while his excellent passing range can be a real weapon for us at times, at other times his defending is an absolute liability and on top of that, I’ve thought his attitude stinks for at least the last couple of years. He may well miss the support he’s received here however, as if he puts in a performance like that at the Bernebeu, the white handkerchiefs will be out and they’ll be throwing bananas at him. Be careful what you wish for Trent.

Anyway, that’s enough from me for one week. Let’s hope Slot gets into them like a double dose of viagra in training these next couple of days and have us standing tall once more by the time the Spurs game kicks off! Wank on!! Erm… I mean wallk…