Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool require last season’s conviction at Old Trafford
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Version 0 of 1. While derby games often have a life of their own, the result and the intensity of the contests frequently standing apart from the form patterns and underlying themes of the rest of the season, the annual north-west showdowns tend to do the opposite and act as pointers to the remainder of the campaign. This is perhaps because Manchester United versus Liverpool is less of a traditional derby – though, of course, there is geographical proximity and more than enough enmity between supporters to qualify – and more of a prizefight. In most seasons in recent memory, in fact, despite a shift in the balance of power towards London and the emergence of new contenders from the blue half of Manchester, encounters between Liverpool and United have provided the biggest grudge match English football has to offer. It is not all about history either, even though the two sides have achieved formidable levels of dominance in their time. It is about the here and now. You could tell Liverpool were having a great run of form last season because they went to Old Trafford and won with ease, with Luis Suárez and Daniel Sturridge causing the home defence no end of problems and Raheem Sterling gleefully exploiting the space behind them in a 3-0 victory. It is true that victories at Old Trafford were a devalued currency last season, but even so the inadequacy of the home side under their new manager was laid bare for all to see. This was near the time when a Merseyside-based reporter was busted via Twitter in the press box for Googling pictures of dogs rather than watching the game. His defence was that, in search of accuracy, he was trying to ascertain which pointless breed of poodle Marouane Fellaini most resembled. That was United’s season then, yet now they are flying high again with Fellaini one of their star performers. The Belgian might not make the long-term cut if United insist on splashing their money around on galáctico signings or, as seems inevitable, Kevin Strootman joins from Roma at some point, though it is very much to Louis van Gaal’s credit that Fellaini no longer looks like a convenient stick with which to belabour David Moyes but a strong player who might actually have been worth £27m. Although not convincing all the time – many observers thought they were lucky to win at St Mary’s on Monday, for example – United have climbed into third place in the table with five straight league wins, including victories at difficult venues such as Arsenal and Southampton. Since the shambolic 5-3 defeat at Leicester in mid-September, surely the nadir of United’s league form this season even if the Capital One Cup calamity against Milton Keynes Dons remains the dramatic low point, Van Gaal’s side have lost only once, and that by a single goal in the Manchester derby. United’s league form has been assisted, just as Liverpool’s was last season, by an absence of cup or European complications. Liverpool regained Champions League status this season, which is what they always wanted, yet appear to have paid a heavy price. Their campaign was short and unconvincing, and Brendan Rodgers invited and received criticism by picking his matches to the extent of fielding a weakened lineup against Real Madrid in the Bernabéu. Liverpool supporters still do not know what to make of that, but given that Rodgers’ full-strength team lost in the subsequent league game against Chelsea at Anfield, it was at best an unproductive policy. At worst it smacked of defeatism, which is not something Liverpool managers are allowed to countenance. Liverpool are unbeaten in their last three league matches but they have taken only seven points from a possible 12 since the Chelsea result. Since losing at West Ham on the same weekend United received their mauling at Leicester, their haul has been a relatively modest 15 from 30, with three defeats. It is stating the blindingly obvious to point to the loss of Suárez and Sturridge as a cause of lost confidence, though there is other background noise also contributing to the Anfield malaise. None of Rodgers’ expensive summer signings have been overwhelming successes so far and some of the manager’s team selections have been puzzling. Sterling, now stalling on signing a new contract, has not been as effective this season, partly because he has gone from being a link between the two most explosive strikers in the league to the main go-to man in a side no longer packed with pace and attacking ideas. Liverpool’s porous defence, arguably the factor that cost them the title last season, does not appear to have been significantly improved over the summer. Dejan Lovren has struggled, Rodgers still appears reluctant to cast aside the erratic Glen Johnson and José Enrique despite buying two new full-backs, and increasingly Simon Mignolet is an accident waiting to happen in goal. Rodgers has been as unconvincing presiding over all this as he was impressive in surfing the waves of popular acclaim last season. Much less than a year ago he appeared to know all the answers. At the moment he displays the defensive body language and downbeat demeanour of someone searching for the questions. At Old Trafford in March Rodgers’ bright-as-a-button act piled on the misery for Moyes. Nine months later he is beginning to look just as uncomfortable. After last season no one would go as far as to suggest he is out of his depth but he is certainly under pressure to get a good result, or at the very least a good performance, from Sunday’s game. United under Van Gaal look to be back on autopilot for a top-four finish. Their run of titles may be interrupted for a while, but the Champions League place they so generously donated to Liverpool last season seems likely to be snatched back. All of which leaves Rodgers and his players in search of Liverpool’s best result at Old Trafford since March 2009 when, largely due to Fernando Torres reducing Nemanja Vidic to a quivering wreck, Rafa Benítez’s side gained a memorable 4-1 victory. It may not have amounted to anything in the end – Liverpool managed a record runners-up total of 86 points that season but still finished four behind United – but Liverpool supporters greatly enjoyed the sight of Steven Gerrard registering his delight after scoring by running to a TV cameraman and kissing his lens. Torres, Benítez and Vidic have long gone, along with Cristiano Ronaldo, scorer of United’s goal. Rather poignantly, Gerrard is not only still at Liverpool but still their main inspiration. While United are halfway through their revolution, Liverpool’s has stalled. Perhaps the captain has another miracle in him but, to quote a Mersey poet being realistic about his own chances of nodding in the winning goal for Everton and running round Wembley with the Cup, it seems unlikely now. |