English Premier League Feature: How Liverpool can beat Manchester United at Old Trafford
Liverpool fired blanks at St. Andrews last weekend when they played a drab draw against Birmingham, but a victory this Sunday could be the ideal tonic for Roy Hodgson’s men. Like last season, it could kick start their season and
the replace any despondency with substantial amounts of optimism.
However, that’s easier said than done. Barring a few players, this is still the same Liverpool team that beat United last season in their own den and there is no reason why they can’t do it again - and that too without making drastic
changes to their approach.
In order to beat the tiger at the tiger’s den however, Liverpool will not only have to reach higher levels of performance than they’ve done so this season, but they’ll also have to do the following:
1) Unleash Torres at the shaky Man Utd defence with balls over the top
The outstanding feature of Liverpool’s 4-1 win over United at Old Trafford two seasons ago was the route 1 football played by Liverpool. The plot was clear; play high balls over the head of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic and let
Torres’ burning pace do the rest. It seemed to work for the team from Merseyside in a wonderful manner.
The lack of pace in Liverpool’s defence makes them sit and defend deep in their own half while United like to hold a high defensive line to increase the pressure on their opponents. In their 4-1 win, Liverpool managed to make United
defend deep in fear of Torres’s electric pace and with their policy of playing high balls over the top they unhinged the link between United’s midfield and their defence, giving the likes of Gerrard and Kuyt acres of space in the middle of the park. Torres
got the better of Vidic on more occasions than one and with support from Kuyt and Gerrard, United’s defence looked out of sorts. Deploying the same tactics again will surely reap similar dividends for Liverpool but to expect United to not take note of this
will be foolish on Hodgson’s part.
2) Shut out the space on the wings
Liverpool’s 2-0 victory over United was credited to Rafa Benitez, who limited the attacking adventures of his wingbacks and forced them to sit in their own half to deal with the menace of United’s flying wingers. Liverpool’s wide
midfielders worked beautifully in tandem with their wingbacks to deny United’s wingers space out wide, therefore throttling their attacking impetus. It will be vital for Hodgson to employ the same tactics and it could work wonders in blunting this critical
facet of Man Utd’s attack.
3) Play Gerrard instead of Joe Cole in the hole behind the striker
The best things in life are often the simplest ones. Although Joe cole will be back from suspension and will be all set to feature in this high octane clash, Hodgson should resist the temptation of playing Joe Cole in the hole
and play Gerrard there instead. Gerrard has made that role his own under Benitez, and there is no reason for Hodgson to temper with that.
4) Starve Paul Scholes of space in the middle of the park
One performer who has stood out for United this season is Paul Scholes; give him space and he will pass you to death. Scholes at the age of 35 does not have the legs to run untiringly on the pitch anymore, but at the same time
he has the ability to play that killer, defence splitting pass that can unlock even the best defence in the world. Clamp down on the space in midfield for Scholes and you have barricaded United’s best source of attacking play.
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