It was such a bad night for Manchester United that they not only conceded four goals, but seemed distant four years ago.
The day before, Anfield’s “humiliation”, to use Ralph Rangnik’s own word, said the German said it might take only two or three windows to return to the top. In the end, he was talking about “six years.”
This was definitely a defeat on a historical scale. The biggest overall difference between United and Liverpool in the two games in one season was only five goals. That was almost doubled to nine. Liverpool beat them 9-0 overall, despite the fact that Jurgen Klopp’s side seemed to be “declaring” in both games.
On the part of Ranknik, the tripling of the timeline was for slightly different results. The first prediction was just to challenge. The second was to get to the level of Liverpool, where they are a club run so superbly – with “25 Formula One racing cars” – that they are striving for an unprecedented quadruple.
How long it actually takes to get to any point depends entirely on what United do next. This moment of crisis must be a moment of opportunity, because the scale of the problems must allow freedom of action, an opportunity to finally be honest about what is required. United no longer have to be attached to Ed Woodward’s misconceptions about how close they are.
Klopp, from the convenient point of view of embarrassing superiority, managed to be generous. He refused to really criticize United’s performance, saying the game was easy, or even revealing their problems. However, Klopp’s restraint is still revealing enough.
“We did what we had to do. United is obviously a difficult situation, see the lineup without their central midfielders. Then, when you’re in a difficult situation, you get another blow. “
He was referring to Paul Pogba’s injury, but this change was already preceded by the destruction of Liverpool’s opening goal, as light as it was smooth.
Klopp did not want to enter into conversations about “humiliating opponents”, but the recognized supporters will enjoy them as long as they can.
“I know it will not last forever,” said the German. “They will fight back. They are too powerful. “
But are United shrewd enough or self-critical enough?
That’s why any discussion of Tuesday’s match inevitably turned into a discussion for the last decade.
Rangnik should not be spared criticism, and despite his insistence that the team did not check mentally, it is obvious that many people simply do not respond. At the same time, a night like this – on top of so many similar ones – does not happen as a result of decisions made just before the match.
That’s why some of the talk of United’s collapse – in a way that the bad teams of Liverpool or United in the past have never done – or the lack of a fight is somehow inappropriate. This is a sport that has been constantly transformed over the last decade. It is much more systematic. This means that any elite team that has a fine-tuned system can more easily beat one that is dysfunctional. It is more difficult for all individuals, no matter how inspiring or aggressive, to have the same unifying effect. The game is more scientific. If a team has a gap, it will be harder to overcome and easier to use. You can’t really dig the same way.
All this also means that there was really only one lesson from this game. There is only one answer that really costs something.
United’s Bruno Fernandes welcomes his team’s support in the trip
(Manchester United via Getty Images)
United need to study in depth how Liverpool has reached this level, as well as every step they have taken since the 2010 takeover, and seek to update it to 2022.
This is the harsh reality. Rangnick has already passed on his broad principles.
“If you look at the two clubs that dominate the Premier League, they brought in two managers, but they also changed everything in terms of formation, what kind of players they want to play, what kind of football they want to play … the title was’ how do you want to play ? ”
In other words, they turned on the intelligence to express a clear idea, and made every important decision from there.
That’s how Liverpool came to this, and such a compelling victory. The lack of something like Old Trafford is the way United came to this and such a devastating defeat.
This was one of the evenings in which the nature of the discussion after the match will naturally provoke questions whether it is more because of the brilliance of Liverpool or the problems of United.
As inevitable as it may seem that the media is focusing on the negatives here, it is impossible not to do so. Liverpool didn’t have to be that good. There was no need to push. They looked so good, with people talking about a modern version of 5-0 over Nottingham Forest in 1987-88, precisely because United gave them enough space to express themselves. It couldn’t be easier.
This should lead to obvious decisions about what happens next at Old Trafford. On the other hand, the reluctance to make such decisions is one of the reasons United are where they are.
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