Trent Alexander-Arnold was atrocious for Liverpool and Bruno Fernandes frustrated yet again for Manchester United. Ruben Amorim is right to be ‘mad’.
1) Manchester United desperately hope that the comparisons end there, but it is worth noting how the respective rebuilds supervised by Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim have used games against Liverpool to help lay the early foundations.
It says enough that both scorers in a 2-1 win over Jurgen Klopp’s side at Old Trafford in September 2022 have since been ostracised, Jadon Sancho by Ten Hag and Marcus Rashford by Amorim. So too that the two players who assisted those goals, Anthonys Elanga and Martial, have left, while the statement decision was to omit Harry Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo from the starting line-up.
A great deal has changed in the two and a half years since but Manchester United’s overwhelming sense of irreparable drift remains as strong as ever.
Ten Hag’s comments after that stellar victory read like one of his successor’s press conferences. “We can talk about tactical but it is all about attitude,” the Dutchman said then, stressing the need for “more leaders” while praising the “reaction”, “energy”, “mindset” and “fighting spirit”.
All were present in a stirring draw underpinned by the best display of Amorim’s nascent reign, but therein lies the clearest warning: the positive feeling generated is fleeting and this creates a rod for the back of those unable to replicate those basics each week.
The post-match admission from Bruno Fernandes that “I wasn’t worried about people putting in effort today because it’s Liverpool, everyone’s going to try to do their best. I’m more worried about Southampton,” was a remarkably damning confirmation of what we already knew: this is Manchester United‘s cup final. But it must become the floor for both individual and collective performances, not the ceiling.
2) It is extraordinary that elite-level professionals who have had to sacrifice a ludicrous amount to even reach this stage need that message reiterating. Quite why the mental fortitude, dedication and consistent application required to have a semblance of a chance to make it as a footballer has immediately left almost any player whose signature has touched a Manchester United contract over the past decade is an infuriating mystery.
But that is the challenge facing Amorim and the reason his first remit has been to establish and encourage “standards”. He knows this sort of performance and result can be useful and dangerous in equal measure to a team in this situation and from the very next training session the Portuguese will be watching like a hawk to see how players react.
Anyone rocking up to Carrington next week with an extra spring in their step and weight off their shoulders will have their course instantly and uncomfortably corrected. This point lifted Manchester United above West Ham on goal difference, they remain an ungodly mess and now the head coach is “mad” about the disparity between this display and the vast majority which came before it with complete justification.
3) Arne Slot has the inverse problem. Liverpool allowed themselves to be dragged into the type of scrap which has been beneath them for some time. Their standards were, the Dutchman will hope, lowered only temporarily with the sort of breathing space a six-point gap and game in hand affords.
The concern might be that this was arguably his worst game as head coach yet. There is a case to be made that neither full-back nor the ineffective Luis Diaz should have started, and Slot’s previously brilliant in-game management became a weakness when four forwards were left on the pitch at 2-1 while the possible midfield control of Wataru Endo went ignored.
Slot leaned into the chaos; Manchester United took advantage to equalise. The league leaders have conceded 11 goals in their last six Premier League games after allowing just eight in the previous 13. That is a problem.
Liverpool are able to absorb these two dropped points in part because of how phenomenal Slot has been in quickly identifying and implementing the best solutions. This was his first real misstep.
4) It would be interesting to hear the thoughts of Jarell Quansah. Not because he too was an unused substitute, overlooked for Ibrahima Konate to make his return after more than a month out, but because his performance in the opening victory over Ipswich was not nearly as cataclysmic as that of Trent Alexander-Arnold here.
Manchester United’s aggressive start saw both he and Curtis Jones dispossessed in the opening five minutes, which it has to be said is sub-optimal for local players against a bitter rival. It was a sign of things to come for both but as lost as Jones was in the midfield shuffle, Alexander-Arnold was exposed by a harsh spotlight.
Almost every meaningful Manchester United attack came down his side, including massive first-half chances for Amad and Rasmus Hojlund after teammates had sprung an offside trap in which Alexander-Arnold was the furthest back both times.
Even his passes were abysmal, including a simple but overhit ball for Mo Salah as he advanced into the box, and another which triggered a Manchester United counter with some mild fury and head-shaking from Virgil van Dijk.
The laptop-brandishing nerds say he lost possession 25 times and did not win a single duel, which replacement Conor Bradley managed within a minute of his introduction.
Slot leaving Alexander-Arnold on for 86 minutes genuinely almost cost Liverpool the game and his substitution when it did eventually come about a half too late was incriminating.
5) Fair play to Slot for dismissing the Real Madrid links as a factor and instead focusing on the “quality” Manchester United tasked Alexander-Arnold with shackling down the right.
It’s an argument which collapses in on itself with the attempt to define Diogo Dalot as anything other than predominantly a right-back who struggled to make any sort of impact in his previous forays at wing-back in this system, and whose awkwardly high cross for Amad after exploiting the space behind Alexander-Arnold wasted one of Manchester United’s best opportunities.
Whether it was Carlo Ancelotti’s raised eyebrow, Florentino Perez’s fluttering eyelashes or a simple taking of his eye off the ball, Alexander-Arnold was poor and should have been removed far sooner. Leaving him on so long – and very possibly only acting after he was booked for tripping Fernandes – felt like weak management.
6) How unfortunate for Liverpool that their phenomenal full-backs have retained an uncanny ability to mirror one another’s performances. At their peak, Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson were as crucial a combination in any team across Europe. The early signs in 2025 are that those days are consigned to a painfully distant past.
Robertson has been the most prominent chink in Liverpool’s armour this season. The paragon of consistency seems to make a mistake every game and is, in the words of Jamie Carragher, “hanging on” by the end each time.
That certainly seemed the case for Manchester United’s equaliser, when he shoved Amad into position and then reacted far too late to prevent the shot. Kostas Tsimikas clearly isn’t trusted to take the reins so the time has come to find an answer on the market.
7) After a quarter of an hour of tentative passing and crunching challenges, Liverpool clicked into gear. Some neat interplay provided a chance which Gakpo dinked wide, before Salah’s delightful ball was met on the volley by Alexis Mac Allister.
Those unchecked runs into the box became the one true theme Manchester United struggled to get to grips with but the hosts could not capitalise upon. It was also the only real sign of Liverpool putting into action a move they had clearly worked on in training.
Mac Allister being their most effective attacker was the plan but not in the way it came about, with a sublime slide-rule assist and fortuitously won penalty. None of Liverpool’s many actual forwards did nearly enough.
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8) Onana could do nothing about either goal – and even then got a hand to the penalty – while producing a couple of smart saves.
The keeper being one of Manchester United’s more reliable players encapsulates much of the problem but at least he didn’t concede from a corner. And have no doubt that Mac Allister tried to change that. It being a perfectly viable tactic against this specific club is hilarious and phenomenal.
9) It might well have taken a touch off either Hojlund or Konate but Onana could have claimed an assist too had Dalot been blessed with even the vaguest attacking instincts. A long goal kick bounced through to the Portuguese and he raced towards goal, only to be met by a sliding Van Dijk just as he shaped to shoot.
Van Dijk was colossal. His form and contract status have both been overshadowed by the excellence and candour of Salah but it should not be downplayed just how critical it is that Liverpool keep him.
The death stare delivered to Alexander-Arnold after that atrocious pass left him basically three-versus-one on the counter at 2-2 in the 82nd minute was also delightfully withering. “The way we conceded both goals was unacceptable and lazy” is right.
10) Matthijs de Ligt provided a wonderful juxtaposition. While one Dutch central defender exuded calm, the other did as much as anyone to contribute to the building carnage.
It culminated in ten catastrophic minutes, when he fell for one of the more choreographed dummies in the sport’s history for Gakpo’s goal, was booked for stopping a counter and unluckily conceded a penalty for handball.
That Gakpo slide was risible. He and De Ligt have played 13 games together for Netherlands and trained countless times more. It shouldn’t have been difficult to notice he is right-footed and was never going to cross that ball when the option to cut inside was made so readily available.
11) Fernandes was excellent. The whole Manchester United midfield was really. Manuel Ugarte capitalised on avoiding a deserved early booking by haring around to put out fires, while Kobbie Mainoo was quiet but efficient in providing a solid base from which the visitors could work.
At the heart of everything creative and inventive was Fernandes, assisting the opener, playing a part in the equaliser and help set up what should have been the winner.
But again, the “I’m pretty upset because if we showed this today against Liverpool, why can’t we do this every week?” post-match question only works when you ignore that this was his return from an idiotic red card in the miserable defeat to Wolves. The Portuguese did at least use the royal “we”, but he is as culpable as anyone for the volatility in Manchester United’s performances.
12) It is regrettable and frankly weird that Peter Drury has turned Mo Salah’s actual name into a catchphrase.
“Manchester United led at Anfield for six, almost seven minutes, but…” he opined in a perfectly-paced build-up to Liverpool’s penalty being dispatched, upon which came the nonsensical climax:
“MO SALAH.”
That doesn’t make any sense. It was at least more melodically satisfying than “LISANDRO MARTINEZ” and “AMAD” but not nearly as surprisingly sensual as “GAKPOH” in the latest instalment of shouting the name of goalscorers as their shots go in.
13) There was a teaser as to the sheer amount of irreligious stank he would have put on the Manchester United captain’s name had he scored in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage-time, although the likelihood is it would have been overshadowed by whatever noises emanated from Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher.
It felt, weirdly, like the absolute right decision to pass but also something close to a bottling from Joshua Zirkzee, who would surely have taken that chance on as a £36.5m forward instead of squaring to “MAGUIRE” had his late introduction not been so laced with sheer narrative weight after the Newcastle fiasco.
If only either man had been blessed with the confident and technically pure finishing of “LISANDRO MARTINEZ”.
14) The bobble did Maguire and hindsight suggests he could even have left it to run for Alejandro Garnacho behind him to beat Bradley on the line.
It was a much-improved cameo from Garnacho, who tried the Brennan Johnson method of deleting his socials before putting into practise everything he had been meticulously coached over the past few weeks. That was precisely the sort of reaction Amorim is seeking from his players.
15) Slot will not say the same for Darwin Nunez, who entered the battlefield on the hour and set about showing precisely why he cannot and should not be trusted.
Those wanting a more thorough appraisal of Michael Oliver’s refereeing performance can look elsewhere – he wasn’t great – but the decision not to send Nunez off was deeply questionable. The Liverpool forward took a laughably long and unbroken look over his shoulder before barging into De Ligt when ‘competing’ for a high ball he had absolutely no intention of playing.
Nunez seemed more interested in putting himself about than making a positive impact, as zero shots, zero chances created and zero passes in over half an hour indicates. He was at least booked for that stupid and unnecessary foul, meaning he has more yellow cards than goals and assists this season and is suspended for the easiest of fixtures: Nottingham Forest (a).
If Slot puts his faith in him again it would be a surprise; he’s barely done anything to deserve it recently.
16) That Leny Yoro slide tackle on Nunez in the Manchester United box to halt a counter from their own corner was stunning. There was no room for error in the 90th minute at 2-2 in front of the Kop after a full end-to-end sprint but the teenager executed it perfectly. His place in that defence is just being kept warm.
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