EPL TALK: Don't blame defensive Manchester United for Liverpool stumble, van Dijk

THIS IS Manchester United. That’s the gag, the go-to line for every half-decent impression of Roy Keane and Gary Neville. And it’s a perfect line to summarise the fallback position of former United players sitting in TV studio and wallowing in yesterday’s halcyon days. The line is a reminder of underserved hubris, like a motto of a fading elite school.

This is Manchester United. The sense of superiority is inherent, along with a laughable detachment from reality. But there was a subtle shift at Anfield this morning. The Red Devils knew their place this time. And maybe the Reds didn’t.

Virgil van Dijk certainly wasn’t having it. Visibly frustrated after the 0-0 draw, he came out swinging in his post-match interview. Only Liverpool tried to win the game, he said, essentially jabbing United for a dour, defensive display. But it sounded like a humility switch.

Liverpool’s defender was doing the impressions now, only this one was of Pep Guardiola at his pompous best, berating lesser sides for having the gall not to go toe-to-toe with a balletic gorilla. Superior teams already have inbuilt privileges. Expecting weaker opponents to lie down on the halfway line isn’t one of them.

While Erik ten Hag’s defiant defensive approach could be construed as the wrong sign in these attacking times, going against the principles of Guardiola, Ange Postecoglu and even Unai Emery, that would be an unfair appraisal of United’s position. Ten Hag’s tactics showed a fair reinterpretation of Keane and Neville’s favourite line.

This is Manchester United, a lesser side. This is Manchester United, a club with a relic for a stadium and a leaky roof. This is Manchester United, a line-up missing three central defenders – Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martínez and Victor Lindelöf – and lacking obvious replacements, an indictment of a decade’s worth of poor recruitment. This is Manchester United, relying on Diogo Dalot, Jonny Evans and Kobbie Mainoo to win a point at Anfield. This is Manchester United, scrapping for a point like a relegation-threatened club.

This is Manchester United. Humble. Subdued. Taking stock. Perhaps for the first time against elite opposition, this was ten Hag acknowledging that his bedraggled bunch no longer meet the criteria of elite opposition and had to play accordingly. The last time the Reds went toe-to-toe with the Red Devils, Singaporean prata sellers made a lot of money. There could not be a another 7-0 drubbing, not if ten Hag wanted to see in the New Year at Old Trafford.

This is Manchester United reviewing their standing within the game. Finally. Van Dijk and company might consider following suit. The Dutch defender wasn’t wrong to express his disappointment, dealing with a microphone shoved in his face, seconds after an irritating contest against cynical enemies. He wasn’t happy with the outcome and rightly so. But Jurgen Klopp had wisely rejected talk of another drubbing in the build-up, sensing United’s options were limited to digging trenches for the bleak midwinter and hoping for the best.

26 attempts on goal by Liverpool, but no goals

But Keane was also right. The lovable caricature of righteous fury didn’t disappoint in his angry dismissal of van Dijk’s petty dig at United’s conservatism. He highlighted Liverpool’s solitary title win in 30-odd years and reiterated that a point at Anfield was always a decent result for United, even in their trophy-hoarding prime, let alone now.

Yet both Keane and van Dijk perhaps missed a simpler point. Liverpool today are not Manchester United back then or even Manchester City now. The Reds, too, are in a period of transition and the two points dropped were as much to do with their attacking shortcomings as their opponents’ (perceived) defensive dogma. One side lacked composure at Anfield, but it wasn’t the visitors.

Liverpool’s rampant midfield created 26 attempts on goal, but only eight on target and no goals. Liverpool produced 12 corners. United had none. And yet, somehow, the patched-up Red Devils became the first team to stop Liverpool winning at Anfield this season and the first to prevent a Liverpool goal since Chelsea held the Reds to a 0-0 draw in April. Van Dijk might be giving United too much credit in blaming the result entirely on only one side trying to score.

Darwin Nunez was trying to score. He’s just becoming worryingly effective at looking like he isn’t trying to score. He stuck an arm into Evans’ chest. He was booked for kicking the ball away. He sarcastically applauded the decision. He deserved a yellow card for all three, rather than the one he received for kicking the ball away. He didn’t deserve much else.

He cut a forlorn figure. Again.

While his enthusiasm and endeavour remain impeccable, just highlighting those qualities – the basic prerequisites of any elite forward – sounds like a PE teacher giving out participation medals to the kids who always “try hard”. Nunez’s lack of goals are a greater concern than United’s ragtag XI throwing every available body behind the ball.

And still, Liverpool should’ve won. Trent Alexander-Arnold went close. Nunez, Mo Salah and Ibrahima Konate all saw their efforts saved. The draw doesn’t hide the chasm between the two teams.

But the humility was a little lopsided. United’s unexpected performance felt like an honest reassessment of a fallen giant. The tactics were rudimentary, but rope-a-dope is all they’ve got at the moment. There’s no shame in using it. There’s only embarrassment when ten Hag believes he’s got the tools to try anything else. He doesn’t. This is Manchester United now. Humbled and stubborn, but it’s something to build upon.

As for Liverpool, finding fault in their opponents’ negative display is rather easy. Finding a reliable goal-scorer in the coming weeks is going to be the tricky bit.

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