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Mourinho's Anfield approach suggests he's weary of Reds

Jose Mourinho (Supplied)
Roar Guru
17th October, 2016
2

When Manchester United and Liverpool square up against one another, the fanfare and excitement exceeds that of nearly any other Premier League fixture.

However, it was yet another case of Jose Mourinho’s tactics taking the sting out of another big game at Anfield on Tuesday morning.

With Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side having scored as many goals as any other Premier League club heading into Week 8, many found it difficult not to back the rampant Reds against a United side who were coming off a 1-1 draw with 18th placed Stoke City.

All credit to Mourinho, as he stamped out the Merseysiders attack with his usual bore-fest tactics, dropping all bar Zlatan Ibrahimovic behind the ball as he looked to relieve Philippe Coutinho and the Liverpool midfield of any space in and around the box.

However, in a fixture as storied as this one, surely it stands to reason that Mourinho’s United would look to stamp their authority on the match?

Certainly not, because after all, this is Jose Mourinho we’re talking about.

The ‘Special One’ doesn’t care for the excitement of the big game, but rather plays the percentages, happy to eke away from Anfield with a point.

The point can then be argued, if United don’t bother attacking and putting pressure on Liverpool, do they believe they can win the match?

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Absolutely not.

They are simply going out to stifle the Liverpool attack with a glimmer of hope a counter attack will come off at some point in the game.

It was reflected in the commentary of Gary Neville on Sky Sports as well. At one point, he lauded the performance of Ashley Young who was plying his trade out on the left flank, for his defensive work, and even cited the fact he hadn’t done much going forward.

Zlatan IbrahimovicZlatan Ibrahimovic had one of very few chances in a defensive effort from Manchested United against Liverpool

At the completion of the match, Neville handed out the man of the match gong to Ander Herrera. His main contribution was committing four fouls which stifled the Reds’ momentum.

Liverpool garnered 61% possession in a match which bored the neutral and frustrated the diehard. United didn’t want to attack and when Liverpool did, they found themselves met with a wall of blue.

Having said that, Ibrahimović had the chance to put United ahead with a close-range header, but David De Gea was the Red Devils’ saviour once again following a pair of superb saves from Emre Can and Philippe Coutinho respectively.

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If Mourinho expects to get anywhere with his current lot of players he has to set them up with the intent to dominate and score goals. Something he simply didn’t even attempt to do in this fixture.

Paul Pogba is languishing in the centre because he’s not being given the freedom to go forward. While Ibrahimović was isolated up top and would clearly benefit from a strike partner or a number 10 in behind him.

Young gun Marcus Rashford wasn’t allowed an impact out wide as Milner marshalled him fairly easily and United’s attacking threat fell by the wayside.

Following the match, Ander Herrera stated that Manchester United could be “proud” of their efforts after grinding out a point. Does this sound like the mentality of the biggest club in England?

Didn’t think so.

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