Manchester United’s Liverpool imitation nearly worked

Manchester United imitated Liverpool and showed Premier League teams how to frustrate the leaders.

Imitation is said to be the sincerest form of flattery, but Liverpool won’t be thanking Manchester United for replicating their approach and nearly producing a shock result against the Premier League leaders on Sunday.

Adam Lallana’s equaliser meant Liverpool still salvaged a point from an away fixture against their fiercest rival. It also meant the Reds finished the ninth matchweek six points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table.

Don’t be fooled, though, Sunday’s 1-1 draw did more harm to Liverpool’s title chances than good. United’s tactical plan offered everyone else in the division a roadmap for how to frustrate the leaders.

The Red Devils were able to make the would-be champions look downright ordinary, despite being beset with injuries and dealing with middling form. They did it by looking remarkably like their old enemy.

United exploited spaces in wide areas, blocked runs from overlapping full-backs and gave Liverpool a taste of their own medicine with a fierce press in the middle.

Each phase of the plan was carried out by replicants deployed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in a 3-4-1-2 setup that turned Liverpool’s strengths into weaknesses and revealed the one glaring deficiency still obvious in Jurgen Klopp’s team.

First, United’s use of two nominal wide players, Marcus Rashford and Daniel James, as strikers stretched a usually disciplined Liverpool back four out of shape. Rashford and James both stayed split, neither one regularly occupying central areas.

Their angled runs from the inside left and right channels took them into spaces behind Liverpool’s raiding full-backs Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold. The Reds rely on the duo for width, but each time they ventured forward they left acres for James and Rashford to sprint into.

Those runs drew formidable center-backs Joel Matip and Virgl van Dijk out of the middle and into the channels. Both are physically imposing, but neither are completely comfortable dealing with pace on the turn in space, and Rashford and James frequently unnerved them.

Dragging Liverpool’s linchpins at the back into central areas left room in the middle for Andreas Pereira. The attack-minded midfielder was in a sort of false 9 role that granted him the freedom to either drop out of central spaces and leave room for runs from out to in, or to break through the middle from deep.

If it looked familiar to Klopp, it’s because it’s the same way his own front three operates. Roberto Firmino is the roving No. 9 who defends from the front and creates space for others, usually wide forwards Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.

Pereira handled the dual responsibilities brilliantly. The 23-year-old was a major factor in leading United’s version of the Gegenpressing Klopp has made Liverpool’s trademark.

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United’s Liverpool-lite forward line clicked into gear brilliantly for Rashford’s first goal. Putting aside Victor Lindelof’s foul on Divock Origi and the disputed value of VAR, the move was a textbook example of how a front three with wide forwards and no natural central striker is supposed to work.

A quick pass out from midfield found James on the right flank. With Robertson typically caught upfield, Van Dijk had to come over to cover and left Matip isolated in the middle of the box.

Both Matip and holding midfielder Fabinho appeared occupied with Pereira, who was breaking through the middle. Their hesitation allowed Rashford to dart in from the left, meet James’ cross on the penalty spot and tuck the ball past Alisson.

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This was far from the only instance when United looked eerily similar to peak Liverpool. The hosts also pressed and harried midfielders into mistakes the way Klopp’s men so often do.

Fabinho’s distribution had added another string to the Liverpool bow, but the Brazilian looked distinctly average in possession amid intense pressure. Scott McTominay and Fred were superb in carrying the fight for United, much in the same way Georginio Wijnaldum usually does for the men from Merseyside.

Having their own pressing tactics turned against them exposed what is missing among the Liverpool midfield. Namely, a natural creator with the speed of thought and deft footwork to trick past pressers and still pick the right passes.

Jordan Henderson is Klopp’s roving raider of choice when it comes to making the opposition rush decisions. But the Englishman doesn’t have the guile needed to unlock defenses consistently.

It was telling Liverpool’s equaliser came after Klopp had brought on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Lallana, two players defined more by technical quality than industry.

The lack of incisive passing from midfield left an undermanned attack missing the injured Salah starved of service. A compact back three led by Harry Maguire was comfortably able to keep Mane and Firmino under wraps.

United’s three-man central barrier was able to focus on Mane and Firmino because James and Rashford joined wing-backs Ashley Young and Aaron Wan-Bissaka to double up on Robertson and Alexander-Arnold.

Getting numbers in wide areas, dragging defenders out of the middle, pressing heavily through midfield and releasing pace with direct passing. It’s been the Liverpool way under Klopp, but United used it intelligently to show how the leaders can be frustrated and ultimately made to falter in this season’s title race.