Conquering Liverpool... Again
What a brilliant day and what a brilliant weekend that was. To kick it off my own team made it to the cup final for a second season running and then Sunday produced yet another great result, this time against Liverpool. I'm not really sure where to start to be completely honest. Do I start with the pure brilliance of Mata, or maybe the hilarity of Captain fantastic, Steven Gerrard. I think it's probably best to start with just the game itself. Normally when we go to Anfield it is a very cagey affair and Liverpool will dominate the game by pressing high and battling hard (we all know they raise their game for this one). But for the first time, I watched Manchester United go there and completely play the Scousers off the park for the first 45 minutes. Every time they pressed us we moved the ball and and kept them chasing. Our passing was brilliant and when we occasionally lost the ball, our players won it back quickly, it was brilliant to watch. The three in midfield really did a good job of recycling the ball but also giving Liverpool no time at all to think about what they were doing. Fellaini played brilliantly by using his height and strength to receive and keep the ball, Herrera was energetic and played some excellent passes and as always Carrick positioned himself just ahead of the defence to break up play and provide another option for a pass. The first half was amazing to watch and it was topped off by a beautiful bit of play ending with that little wizard Mata scoring a superb goal. The second half was not the same. Despite there being some talking points which I will address separately, the team did not continue playing in the same way that caused Liverpool so many troubles. As Louis van Gaal said after the match, 'we stopped playing as a team and started running with the ball.' The reason Liverpool couldn't touch us in the first half is because they couldn't get near us but I'm happy that the manager has seen that and will hopefully be addressing it over the next few days. The moment we decided that our lead was good enough our tempo dropped and it allowed them back into the game. Thankfully for us our defence and midfield had a good game and kept them out enough to get the result (yes, even Phil Jones played well and made some brilliant tackles, the Henderson one was a bit risky though). Something I particularly enjoyed about the game was that we ended their run of being undefeated, a run which started after we beat them in the last game. Each end of the streak is the letter L, lost against Manchester United. So Gerrard or Mata? I think I'll start with Gerrard. Hahahaha, that's pretty much all I think and say when people mention it, I can't stop laughing. The man that has saved Liverpool so many times and was sent on to do the same yesterday went and done exactly the opposite. 38 seconds. He is now the quickest sending off for a substitute since 06/07 and the funny thing I noticed is that the second quickest of 48 seconds was also against Manchester United. How beautiful is that? I know there are so many people out there that think Gerrard is an unbelievable player and all that but I'm more on the Ferguson line of thinking that he's good but I don't think he's as good as everyone else does. I personally think Frank Lampard is the better of the two but that's just my opinion. But seriously, I don't know what he was thinking yesterday or even if he was, but he severely let Liverpool down in one, if not the biggest match of their season, especially when the Champions League spots are still available and a win would have put them above us. Yesterday, was awful for him but from a United point of view it was hilarious. There is something about Mata for me that just makes me feel that you can't not like him. His ability is incredible but sometimes overlooked. Yesterday showed us so many different things that he can do with the ball at his feet. He can pass, we know that, he does that a lot. He can score, we saw him so that a lot at Chelsea and he has scored a good amount of goals for us since joining the club, his finishing is quality and he knows how to beat the keeper. But yesterday we saw him shielding the ball and retaining possession even when it looked likely that he would lose the ball and that is something I was very impressed with. The link up play between Valencia, Herrera and Mata was key and it was a main component that led to the first goal. But even in the second half when we weren't playing as good, Mata still kept the ball and played a very big part in us winning the game and I don't mean just by scoring our goals. Finally on Mata, that second goal. I would put that with Rooney's overhead kick against City because of the ability and vision it took to score. The finish was sublime and even the captain said it himself, Mata should have taken the penalty yesterday. I was a bit confused why he didn't. Juan Mata was no doubt the Man of the Match yesterday and I hope he keeps his first team spot as he has earned it. We have made it two from two in our tough run of games and it has put us in a strong position. We now have two home games up next with Aston Villa being our first guests. If we can play as we have done in the last two matches we will have no problem securing the three points. Let's go boys!! Forever United.