25th October vs Liverpool (a). 0-2.

On the 65^th minute, a defence splitting pass from Benayoun found the wanting Torres, who had been quiet all game. With just one touch, he took it beyond Ferdinand – overly nervous and cautious in his approach play; probably too scared to concede a penalty or risk being sent off – and with his second touch, he blasted the ball powerfully over the helpless Van der saar.

At 1-0 down, a clearly ignorant yet fair Scouser turned to his kid and said, '25 minutes left. Just watch how United give everything now'. He was almost wishing United would be ignited by the thought of staring another Anfield defeat in the face and go on to produce the sort of wilful, magical display he, and no doubt all United fans, had grown to expect of the eternal champions; and so he would look at his young ‘un and say 'See? Told ya they would do it. Because that’s what champions do'. How wrong he was to even assume such a thing.

To anyone familiar with United post-magician era (i.e. Manchester United 2009/10) will be well aware of one central truth and devastating flaw in our game: we do not posses an extra gear. In no way do I think I’m being over dramatic or too conclusive in my statement; the main point to consider is that gone are the days of boasting a glittering, attacking bench that gave us the ability to bring on a world-class striker to boost the forward line; and as for ‘Attack! Attack! Attack!’? This now seems nothing more than a futile attempt inspired by the glory and persistent attitude of yester-year; performed by those same, loyal fans, however the familiarity has disappeared from the team; instead being replaced by docility and complaisance.

At 1-0 down and 15 minutes left on the clock, Ferguson’s supposedly inspiring turn of the dice was, considering what I’ve just said, disappointing and rather sad: Nani on for Scholes and Owen for Berbatov (striker for striker??). As expected, neither were productive – with Nani playing a dominantly cross-field role (strange, considering as he’s always ridiculously gung-ho) and Owen being easily out-muscled (unfairly at times…Carragher’s a lucky twat) and unable to make an impact. If these substitutions are representative of the squad we have to rely on when that extra push is needed, then today’s result will surely be a consistent story against the other big teams.

In the first-half we were largely on the defensive, with maybe a 5 minute spell around the half an hour mark indicating a promising spell; yet as it fizzled, it clearly signalled only a minor blip of superiority. Our defensive performance in fact was the only positive of the opening half; as Liverpool attacked persistently (interesting how they haven’t played like that against other teams in the past month…) and we successfully held off attack after attack. No papers, pundits or reviewing journalists will mention this though, as, ironically, we lost hold of the game – a game we were undeservedly level in until the 65^th minute – with a defensive error that effectively canceled out our hard work at the back.

After the goal, there was nothing. The resurgent performance the Liverpool fan spoke of, dominant in possession and creativity, was shockingly absent. The defining moment probably came when Owen, dormant throughout the majority of his appearance, was clean through on goal…only for Carragher to bring him down and surely earn himself a red-card – last man back, no questions. In a game where I quietly deliberated the fate of my team and questioned our ability to perform at the top in maintained manner; I now completely lost it.

I knew a sending off at this stage of the game (about 85 minutes) would probably have had zero impact on the outcome, but my frustrated and genuinely angered state at viewing this tame performance and third Liverpool defeat in a row repressed any element of ration. When Vidic was shown on screen having a cheeky word with Carragher straight after he'd been shown his pathetic yellow card, I just started yelling 'head butt him! F**kin do 'im the muggy little c**t!' (well I am a cockney red after all), to which I could only apologise to the startled old fella sitting next to me. Of course he should have been off – to add to Vidic and Mascherano’s fair dismissals later on – but my reaction was purely pent up and accumulated from watching 85 minutes of average, non-championesque football. To be dealt a cruel, unjust blow like that only rubbed salt into the wound; a much deeper, exposed wound than most United fans would care to acknowledge. However it needs to be acknowledged and sorted if change is to happen. We can learn, but we must also improve.

So that’s that; another Liverpool game, another defeat. I haven't mentioned Valencia’s shot against the cross-bar, or the quality double-save VDS made in the first half, because frankly it just doesn't matter. I have also not stated that Liverpool battered us, because they really didn’t. As is becoming all too common in games of this magnitude (CL final vs Barca being the bench-mark); we are contributors to our own downfall and by playing badly, our flaws are uncovered. We have ridden our luck so far this season, and thankfully are still ok. But it WILL occur again if we fail to find, or discover, that extra, vital gear.

Good. Defended alright, but to be honest, a 2-0 defeat at Anfield is nothing other than horrendous. Evra, Valencia and Berb’s were once again our most consistent performers, but, like I said, it doesn’t matter really, does it?

Bad. Hmmm…

Also: Vidic’s 3^rd red card against them in a row…can he genuinely not defend against Liverpool? Or does he just love kicking the crap out of them?

Saw. An array of beach balls and balloons appearing on the field throughout the game. I genuinely wished one sat right in front of Reina’s goal, as we clearly needed some divine source (i.e. in the form of an inflatable seaside toy) to score today.

Player Ratings:

Van der saar 7; Evra 7, Ferdinand 6, Vidic 6, O’Shea 5; Giggs 7, Scholes 5 (Nani 5, 74), Carrick 6, Valencia 7; Rooney 5 , Berbatov 6 (Owen 5, 74).
No man of the match.