Raheem Sterling lacks finishing touch against Manchester United
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Version 0 of 1. Manchester United and Liverpool are in very different situations, but Louis van Gaal and Brendan Rodgers made similar tactical decisions for their first meeting. Both managers selected a three-man defence and sprang a surprise in attack: James Wilson and Raheem Sterling were favoured for their sheer pace in preference to more established players such as Radamel Falcao and Mario Balotelli. Both managers wanted their side to attack quickly, which created an end-to-end, direct game – neither team had sustained spells of pressure. United’s possession was atrocious at times, particularly in the opening stages, but they realised the need to involve their attacking players regularly. Liverpool constantly looked for Sterling making runs into the channels and attempted through-balls as soon as they won possession. Such was the emphasis on breaking quickly, one of the defining features was the large number of tactical fouls to halt counter-attacks. There were seven bookings. Sterling’s selection up front was controversial but in terms of positioning and movement he played his role excellently, making intelligent runs behind the Manchester United defence and providing an outlet for Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana’s passes. His unconvincing prod at the outstanding David de Gea shortly before Wayne Rooney’s opener was a game-changing moment. Sterling’s finishing must improve but it’s difficult to imagine Mario Balotelli or Rickie Lambert would have provided such a threat. Liverpool had a clear plan of attack, which often hasn’t been the case this season. The match was settled by the quality of finishing and the quality of goalkeeping. Between the boxes this was a scrappy, uninspiring mess of a match. There were two massive contrasts – the coolness of United’s shooting compared with the timid nature of Sterling’s attempts, and Brad Jones’s strange habit of diving early, compared with De Gea’s imposing, commanding stance in one-on-one situations. Aside from the penalty boxes, the only zone where United unquestionably had an advantage was down their right, where Antonio Valencia made powerful runs from wing-back, often after his direct opponent Alberto Moreno found himself out of the game, with Joe Allen forced to drop back and cover. The Welshman’s defending for the goal, and throughout, was terrible – he was another to be cautioned, for a blatant body-check on Valencia, which summarised his struggles in those confrontations. Still, there remains plenty for United to improve. The back three – who were completely changed from the trio who started the previous league game against Southampton – were caught square and beaten too often by one simple pass, while the lack of a holding midfielder meant United were unable to shut down the game. The tactical battle does not always translate neatly into a result and Liverpool simply lacked the killer instinct they depended on so heavily last season. For all the emphasis on pressing, buildup play and transitions in modern coaching, sometimes it’s simply the quality of finishing that proves crucial. |