Premier League 2016/17

[Sam]

It's the type of tactics I used to hate Mourinho for using against us but one that I'm liking thus far, hopefully we snatch a 1-0 from this. 

 

How did he miss that!!!

[Hobo]

Well, Liverpool kept a clean sheet for the first time since February!

[Baddar]

Meh, not a great performance going forward by any means, and we rode our luck defensively in the second half, relying on De Gea to get us a point. Happy with it though. Don't expect us to set up much differently against Chelsea on Sunday. 

[DavidMarrio]

2 minutes ago, Freelance Hobo said:

Well, Liverpool kept a clean sheet for the first time since February!

Mourinho and his 6-3-1 formation done us a favour with that. 

 

[MDK]

1 minute ago, Davidmarrio said:

Mourinho and his 6-3-1 formation done us a favour with that. 

You should take it as a compliment

[Hobo]

I think it's a huge compliment. Liverpool will be frustrated. United will be glad to have gone home with a point by the looks of it.

[MDK]

The only losers tonight were the fans that saw it live

[DavidMarrio]

17 minutes ago, MDK said:

The only losers tonight were the fans that saw it live

I got more than my 9 pounds worth in moaning. Better than paying 40/50 odd quid. 

[Nerf]

I am still buzzed! What a thriller!

[The Lusophone]

Jose's really brought the exciting football back to Manchester United!

[Baddar]

1 hour ago, Mad Jack said:

Jose's really brought the exciting football back to Manchester United!

It's the first time we've played negatively, and we got a point at Anfield. Could be crucial come the end of the season. We were positive against City at OT and lost, yet it could have been a spanking.

[DavidMarrio]

4 hours ago, Baddar said:

It's the first time we've played negatively, and we got a point at Anfield. Could be crucial come the end of the season. We were positive against City at OT and lost, yet it could have been a spanking.

That's a bit of an understatement

[Nerf]

I'm mostly annoyed that my last two games were Hull and Crystal Palace, a bore draw and a 2-1 loss respectively, so I thought "eh, at least United will be exciting, win or lose." Thanks for my money's worth, Jose!

[Baddar]

Blame Jose all you like. You could have, y'know, been less shit before Lallana came on?

[The Lusophone]

4 hours ago, Baddar said:

It's the first time we've played negatively, and we got a point at Anfield. Could be crucial come the end of the season. We were positive against City at OT and lost, yet it could have been a spanking.

And every time LVG played 'negatively' he was slew by a string of pundits and fan groups. Waiting for that to happen with Jose will probably be a sisyphean endeavour.

[DavidMarrio]

20 minutes ago, Baddar said:

Blame Jose all you like. You could have, y'know, been less shit before Lallana came on?

I know we were shite, never made out that we weren't and tbh a points a point we stay close to the top of the table. The fact that United had zero ambition is just laughable. I've seen shitter teams have a go at us and get something.  Burnley beat us, Swansea were all over us for a large period of the game and had chances even when we were starting to dominate hell even fucking Hull scored against us and we battered them. The fact that our first clean sheet in forever is against a Mourinho team with Zlatan and Pogba in it makes it even funnier. For me as a football there's being happy with a point and there's being happy with a performance.  I would not be happy with that as a performance especially against a rival. If we played like that away at Old Trafford I'd be disappointed. 

 

Just now, Mad Jack said:

And every time LVG played 'negatively' he was slew by a string of pundits and fan groups. Waiting for that to happen with Jose will probably be a sisyphean endeavour.

This was going to be my next point. If Van  Gaal or Moyes set the team up the exact same way they would get slaughtered by everyone.  Except with it being that nobhead Mourinho it's being lauded as a stroke of genius. 

[Baddar]

It wasn't a great performance, I said that last night. But coming away with a point isn't bad. How often have you guys slated United for their shit defence? Why would we go toe to toe with a side in form and scoring for fun against the bigger teams already this season. We went up against City, partly because it was a home game and could have lost by 4 or 5.

I watched us play very well against Stoke and we only got a point, which was quite gutting. Whereas last night, a point at Anfield was a good one.

[Gazz]

'Fans outraged as Mourinho sets up to not allow Liverpool to win'.

[DavidMarrio]

15 minutes ago, Gazz said:

'Fans outraged as Mourinho sets up to not allow either team to win'.

Fixed. 

[Hobo]

8 hours ago, Baddar said:

We were positive against City at OT and lost, yet it could have been a spanking.

It's glaringly obvious that this is why United were set up with no interest in even trying to score.

If they had been a tad more adventurous and Liverpool did what Liverpool can do then Jose would be in a pretty bad place having lost to both City and Liverpool after 8 games.

United had, I think, one corner and maybe put one or two crosses into the Liverpool penalty area and I would have expected more, given Liverpool's weakness from crosses.

United turned up and played like Burnley. But Burnley actually had interest in scoring. I half expected a Ferguson like smash and grab with Rooney coming on. If there is one player in that team that would really be up for a a game against Liverpool its him.

Instead he went out wide and United continued leaving a 36 year old Zlatan up front on his own and isolated. Nothing happens.

It's a massive complement to Liverpool that Mourinho was so afraid to let a game of fooball break out. It seems like if he didn't Mourinho the bejeesus out of the game that he knows Liverpool could get one over one him in a major way.

And fair play, his plan worked. It might not have worked as well before the international break (Liverpool clearly missed the Wijnaldum, for example). It says a lot about where the two sides are right now.

United were a Valencia tackle away from a defeat last night. You can't really say that Liverpool did any great heroic defending.  (Even some of Liverpools silly defending went unpunished) Burton Albion tested Karius more than Zlatan and Pogba did. While I don't think Liverpool were at their best. It feels more like two points dropped for Liverpool but a point gained by United.

Liverpool come out of that match looking the better side. So far, none of the expected top teams in the division have gotten more than a point from Liverpool - and they have battered the league champions. If I were a United fan I wouldn't be too overjoyed because there is clearly a lot of work to be done.