Apart from the first ~15 minutes and maybe the last 10 minutes, the rest of the game was generally slow and boring. I was honestly very disappointed at the quality and pace of the game - for example, the Aston Villa Leicester game today was so much more fast paced and entertaining.
I thought this was Memphis's worst game by far - he kept losing the ball, seemed slow and didn't make up for losing the ball with nice dribbles. Fellani didn't score but he was threatening all game and needed the attentions of both Liverpool center backs which allowed our other attacking players more opportunities.
1) Blind needs to dribble it forward
I'm really like the Blind - Smalling partnership so far and Blind has a great eye for a pass and he's generally a very intelligent defender. However, one thing I've noticed is that Blind is somewhat hesitant in dribbling and bringing the ball forward. Smalling, who has less technical and passing skill, tends to be the one making the forward dribbles.
Below, Blind has the ball and plenty of space ahead of him.
It's hard to tell in this picture but Carrick (ahead of him) is gesturing for him to dribble it forward more. However, at this point, he makes a pass out wide. That's absolutely fine and the pass was good but I'd like to see Blind dribble it forward another 5 yards. That would force one of the Liverpool players to come forward to mark him and thus open up space in the midfield for our midfielders to work it.
If a defender can draw the opponent's midfield players forward, that opens up space. With our style of play, we end up getting very congested in the middle so I think it's important that our defenders learn to do this.
2) Mata gets drawn out
Again, seeing a little naivety from Mata that leaves Darmian with a difficult job on the right.
Below, Mata sprints forward to close the Liverpool player down. Except the Liverpool player is obviously way closer to the ball and it just takes a decent touch for the Liverpool player to go past Mata who's sprinting forward.
This is the result below. Darmian ends up with two players on our right to deal with and Mata is nowhere close to help him out. The second Liverpool player is the fullback about to overlap and it's the job of the right midfielder to track the opponent fullback when overlapping.
You can see from the above picture that Mata is completely out of position compared to the rest of our midfield. He should be in the red circled area (we're not exactly playing a straight 4-4-2 but it's close enough and for this purpose, he's definitely out of position).
3) Mata is behind the play
I really do like Mata but his defensive position triggers something in my brain. As I watched this sequence of play, it felt really awkward to me and looking at it again, it was basically because Mata was half a second behind the play defensively and was just a few yards out of position every time.
First, below, at 20:59, Mata should be tucked in a little more centrally, at the black circle. At his current position, he's not marking anyone and he's too wide to intercept or prevent the pass forward along the red arrow. The picture doesn't show it but there's a pass for the Liverpool player along the red arrow.
Four seconds laer, he's once again a little out of position. He should be at the blue circled area because that prevents the pass that will along the Liverpool player to make an overlapping run. At his current position, he's not doing much and if the Liverpool player makes the pass to the blue circled area, he's out of position to mark the resulting overlappng run as well.
These are minor things but they made me feel very uncomfortable watching it and I imagine Darmian would feel the same as well. I think this weakness of ours is covered up because of how good Darmian is - I would not want to see Valencia have to deal with this.
4) Herrera back pass?
I love Herrera because he's such a positive and direct player but maybe LVG's style has changed his game. I thought he was okay for most of the game but wasn't particularly impressed wit him.
Below, Herrera has the ball and it's a mini counter-attack. He has at least three options 1) Short pass (blue arrow) to Schweinsteiger (or to Fellaini) 2) Long pass over the top to Memphis 3) dribble it into the empty space ahead of him along the black arrow.
Very frustrating. He had three great options in an good attacking opportunity and he picked a very safe option that ends up with him doing nothing, basically. It seems like with LVG's focus on possession first, our players would rather just pass it backwards to make the absolute safest play instead of trying to make something happen.
Sometimes that's okay, but when you have three good options, I'm sure even LVG wouldn't have wanted him to pass it backwards like that.
5) No striker
I thought Fellaini did a great job up front on his job and the Liverpool center backs were legitimately panicking every time they had to deal with a long ball towards Fellaini. However, I think Fellaini doesn't work that well as a lone striker - first, because he isn't a real striker and second, because he's a much better team player than a lone player. He needs someone to knock the ball down to - he's not going to create a goal out of nowhere by himself consistently (see Martial's goal heh).
Here, Schweinsteiger has the ball and he realizes he has no options in front of him. Fellaini is too far back...he should be in the blue circled areas up front.
This is the same problem with Rooney too, although I think Fellaini is currently doing a better job up front. It's only fair that I point it out when Fellaini is out of position.
6) Another Herrera mistake
I think there's a conflict between Herrera's natural style of play and what LVG wants of him and it's creating a little confusion and affecting his confidence.
Below, Herrera has the ball. The best option for him is to just dribble it forward along the black arrow since there's absolutely no one there.
Except he ends up making a terrible cross field pass along the blue arrow. And no, I didn't draw it wrong - he made the pass behind our player (Mata).
This is the result - a nice counter attack for Liverpool. You can't make a curling cross field pass and have it end up short or this will happen. If you're going to miss the pass, make it it goes too long or doesn't curl enough.
Keep in mind Herrera is right footed. What is easier, dribbling it forwards 10 yards with no one there, or making a diagonal cross field pass with his off foot? Didn't make sense to me at all.
7) Doubling up on Benteke
We seem to double up on defenders but in my opinion, in unnecessary situations. Last week, I mentioned (see point #2) Smalling helping Blind with Gomis but it wasn't needed.
Here, Blind is sprinting to help Smalling with Benteke. I just don't think it's needed in this case. Benteke is facing backwards from goal and Smalling is more or less as fast and strong as Benteke. What is Benteke going to do in this situation? Spin around and somehow get past Smalling?
Blind should be staying more central to mark the central Liverpool player who is somewhat unmarked.
Final thoughts
This game didn't really have the feel of a Manchester United - Liverpool game. I thought it was much too calm and slow most of the time. You know what though? I don't care, as long as we keep winning.
I think Memphis could use a rest and I expect LVG might play Young ahead of him for a few games. Nothing to worry about, he's young, he's been playing a lot and he's in a new country and a much better league.
Really looking forward to seeing Martial play more. It'll be interesting to see what we'll line up with when Rooney comes back.
Remember, I don't do write ups for Champions League games. Thanks for reading and see you next week against Southampton!
Side note: if you're not aware of this already, please watch Mahrez play for Leicester. Easily the most exciting player in the league this season so far, he's been incredible.
Side note: if you're not aware of this already, please watch Mahrez play for Leicester. Easily the most exciting player in the league this season so far, he's been incredible.
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