VAR once again took centre stage as Liverpool’s forgotten man Adam Lallana rescued a point at Old Trafford in what was a frustrating afternoon for Jurgen Klopp.
Source: liverpoolfc.com
Manchester United took the lead in the 36th minute through Marcus Rashford in a move that highlighted the glaring issues with VAR in the Premier League.
A foul committed in United’s half on Divock Origi was ignored by the oblivious Martin Atkinson during the build-up to the opening goal.
VAR checked the goal and ultimately stuck with the referee, a decision that Klopp was irked by after the game despite Lallana’s late back-post equaliser.
He told Sky Sports:
“They scored a goal which shows all the difficulties and problems with VAR.
“Mr Atkinson I’m sure let the game run to allow for VAR and then the VAR says yeah there was contact and it was a foul but if you saw it differently then fine.”
He added: “100% it is like this because for me it is a clear foul, we take that, we cannot change it anymore but it’s just a general problem.”
The introduction of VAR was meant to make situations like these easy. Was it a mistake? Yes. Then change the decision.
However, in a situation like this it has left many even more frustrated as there is a way to put an end to these errors but as per the rest of the season it has been poorly implemented.
This does not however take away from the fact that there was still 70 yards between the foul and the goal and much more should have been done to prevent it. A fact that Klopp did concede post-match.
He said:
“It was still our fault, they were 60, 70 yards from our goal and of course that is not cool, then we scored a goal that was of course disallowed.
“Pretty much everything went against us today and we still didn’t lose so that’s okay and we deserved a point 100%.”
Manchester United’s defensive counter-attacking tactics were clear throughout the match, they sat back with a low block and hit Liverpool on the break effectively.
They neutralised the full-backs and forced Liverpool to play through the midfield, highlighting the lack of creativity in the middle of the pitch from Fabinho, Henderson and Wijnaldum.
Team selection was possibly at fault for the stunted attack with Henderson boasting just 0.13 expected goals and assists in 72 minutes of action.
Meanwhile Naby Keita, who only came on with only seven minutes remaining, hit 0.63xGBuildup, the third most of any Liverpool player.
Midfield creativity has been a problem for Liverpool since the departure of Coutinho and a game like today’s needed a player like Naby Keita from the start and it is a decision that Klopp admitted he got wrong.
Klopp said:
“Naby Keita maybe came on a bit too late but his influence was there.”
Keita would have added something different to the midfield and helped breakdown a deep United defence as he did with the pass to Roberston before the equaliser.
It may have been the perfect game to kick-start Keita’s Liverpool career but there’s no doubt he will be a major player over the course of the season.
He will be instrumental in overcoming deep, counter attacking tactics such as the ones on display at Old Trafford. A style of play that Klopp has growing frustrations over.
Jurgen said:
“To be honest since I’ve been in England Manchester United plays against us like this.
“They defend with all they have and we have to do better and we will be better in the future but everyone builds this game up like a mountain and one team has to defend and the one team has to make the game.”
He added: “When we came here this year, last year and the year before they just defended, it’s not a criticism, it is just a fact.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s tactics should have come as no surprise to Klopp as they were predictable even before kick-off.
We knew he was not going to play open expansive football because ultimately they do not have the quality to do that and thus resort to prehistoric tactics.
Despite the knowledge of what was to come United were once again successful and Liverpool as they have done so many times before failed to break them down.
But VAR and United’s game plan a side, Liverpool were not good enough today, a slow tempo, poor decision making and an overall lack of quality were evident from the first whistle.
The drop-off from our best XI is gargantuan to the point where with one injury, Jordan Henderson is playing right-midfield for half-an-hour away at Old Trafford.
However, even without Mohammed Salah the lack of creativity for 75 minutes was frightening but the introduction of Naby Keita was instrumental and to give Klopp praise where it’s due all three substitutions made a positive impact on the game.
Although, Liverpool were below average away at United yet again and seemed to have a mental block for most of the game.
Forget about poor refereeing and United’s “Low block”, Liverpool were lucky to get away with a point today and it could have been much worse.
But it wasn’t, after the poorest performance we’ve had since Salzburg away last season we are still six points clear and unbeaten in the league.
With Genk away mid-week and then the visit of Spurs on Sunday it’s a massive week in the context of the season where performance’s need to be at a much better level than they were today at Old Trafford.
Brandon Russell
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