With Kenny Dalglish reappointed as Liverpool manager on Saturday morning, just over 24 hours later he was lining up against an old foe in Alex Ferguson. Liverpool players, fans and everyone around the club seemed to be buoyed by his appointment and despite the recent malaise that surrounded the club under the charge of Roy Hodgson, confidence was high going into the game.
As Dalglish emerged from the Old Trafford tunnel Liverpool supporters could have been forgiven for breaking into a smile at the sight of the man so affectionately known as ‘King Kenny’. He too was all smiles as he took his seat in the opposition dug-out after applauding the Travelling Kop who were in great voice.
This mood did not last long though, as after 34 seconds Old Trafford favourite, Howard Webb, awarded a penalty kick to United. Daniel Agger, recalled into the side for Soto, appeared to make the most minimal of contact with Berbatov close to Liverpool’s left side byline and Berbatov subsequently went down but not before being able to take another step after the challenge. Giggs converted the spot kick and Reina was unlucky not to keep out the conversion managing to get a hand to it.
Agger looks stunned at the ease at which Berbatov tumbled
Liverpool were shocked at having gone down so early, but in contrast to previous matches away from home, they did not wilt. In fact for the next 30 minutes Liverpool played some decent football, passing the ball well and creating chances of their own. What else was good to see from Liverpool that has been missing in away games, was a willingness to press the opposition players in advanced areas of the pitch. This was exhibited as Miereles closed down Rafael deep in the Utd half. Rafael appeared to jump in two footed in order to retain possession with Miereles pulling out of the challenge. The lunge by Rafael was, of course, ignored by Old Trafford’s officials and by the majority of Utd supporters, who in fact claim the challenge was a side-footed one. Moments later, Gerrard made a similar tackle to Rafael’s, this time catching Michael Carrick. In typical fashion, the United players surrounded the referee asking for Gerrard’s dismissal and the man in red black duly delivered.
Ferdinand did his bit to get Gerrard sent off
Liverpool FC were truly up against it now – but still they did not surrender. The second half display, as expected, was more defensive as Manchester Utd tried their best to break us down. instead they found Pepe Reina to be having a fantastic game making vital saves, throwing himself at everything and at one point making three saves in quick succession to deny the hosts. Observers have said Manchester united barely got out of second gear, but Liverpool’s 10 men did not allow them to do so.
Another stand out performance was that of stand in right back Martin Kelly, with Glen Johnson absent as his partner was due to give birth to their first child. Kelly was very solid in his defensive duties as well as going forward at the right times and to some good effect. He was singled out by Dalglish after full-time as being as good as anyone else on the pitch, a sentiment most supporters would agree with.
Something that was refreshing to see from a supporter’s stand point was the timing and potential effect of Dalglish’s substitutions. The double substitution of Babel and Shelvey on 60 minutes for Maxi and Miereles was to good effect. Miereles overall had a poor game and maxi after having a promising start to the match had faded out of it in the second half. Shelvey added dynamism to the midfield that Miereles’s performance was lacking and Babel made immediate impact and looked like a man keen to impress his new manager.
Ryan Babel looked like he wanted to prove something to the new manager
Fernando Torres was also brought off on 77 minutes to be replaced David N’Gog. Dalglish only had good to say of Torres after the match as well as admitting perhaps he’s a little low on confidence, but if there’s someone that could restore Torres to the striker of old, it must be Dalglish – himself having played at the highest level will know what goes through the mind of a striker and how they can start to doubt themselves.
No moans from the player or the crowd as Torres goes off
The result was disappointing but in the context of what we were up against and how an hour of the game was played with 10 men, many positives can be taken out of the game, and the squad must look to upcoming fixtures with confidence. They’ll be without Steven Gerrard, as he’ll have to serve a three match ban for his red card, but something returned to the side with the return of Kenny. It is going to be a tough task for Dalglish to salvage something from the rest of the season and it’s unlikely to be a quick fix, but not impossible one.
With news this morning of Liverpool adding Steve Clarke to their backroom staff as first-team coach, supporters remain confident and things could finally be on the right track for Liverpool FC. Yesterday’s battle at Old Trafford may have been lost, but the war is now only just beginning.
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