Possession is not enough
Possession counts for nothing if chances aren’t created and Manchester United found that out in this game. They had more of the ball compared to Liverpool but they did precious little with it. Juan Mata was forced to drop deep to get on the ball and that meant that United missed his creativity further up the pitch. Moyes has to realise that playing Mata on the wings and asking him to track back, will never do any good for the team. The only reason Mata was on the pitch yesterday was because of the hefty £37.1m United payed for the former Chelsea midfielder.
You could clearly see how effective and creative Mata was when he was playing in the no.10 role in the first two seasons at Chelsea. Moyes can’t play RVP, Rooney and Mata all in the starting line-up. If he wants that he needs to change the formation. If he is playing Mata, he should play behind the striker otherwise there is no point in playing him at all. Even world class player, needs to be played at right positions to get the maximum out of them.
On other hand, Liverpool were compact without the ball and even though they had less possession, they worked the ball much better than United. There was more purpose to their play and that purpose resulted in them creating more chances. With the kind of attack that Liverpool possess, the result was never really in doubt.
United lack cohesion
Football is a team game and unless the players act together as a cohesive unit, the results will not be great. United are currently suffering from this very ailment. They have some very talented attacking players in Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Juan Mata, but they are playing more as a group of individuals rather than as an attacking unit.
There is a clear lack of communication between the trio as they frequently fail to understand each others movement. As a result, United look disjointed when attacking and most of their attacks petered out without really threatening Liverpool.
Title race is just heating up
Based on the results from this weekend, the Premier League race just seems to be picking up pace just when Chelsea looked to have built up a sizeable advantage at the top. Their loss coupled with Liverpool’s win means that the Blues are no longer the favorites.
Liverpool have a game in hand over them and with Chelsea yet to visit Anfield, Liverpool should be the favorites to overtake them. Add to the mix the fact that even Manchester City have to visit Anfield and Liverpool suddenly look like a pretty good bet to win the title.