David Pleat gets his Liverpool v Manchester United analysis completely wrong

The following article refers to an older Liverpool / Manchester United game. Get the LATEST Liverpool v Manchester United news here.

About the only thing DP gets right in his article is that Manchester United were defensively tight. The rest, I’m afraid, is bollocks.

Their discipline was exceptional: the full-backs Gary Neville and Patrice Evra covered the centre-backs closely, and Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick never strayed forward to support United’s attackers, forming a shield in front of their defence.

Actually, no. Evra was upfield 50% of his time on the pitch, Carrick was always going to be sitting back and Scholes was harassed by Alonso all night in a game where he got very little space. Liverpool kept their midfield tight (mindful of their experience at Old Trafford in the reverse fixture) and it paid off because United didn’t have pace or aggression.

Liverpool continuously knocked on the door, but United never lost their shape. Craig Bellamy could not find space behind the defence to run into, and Dirk Kuyt did not have a single clear chance.

You must be talking about the tap-in Kuyt was a yard away from putting in? Or those crazy periods in the first half (end) and second half (start) where Bellamy was constantly down the right (in the space that Evra had left open), pulling Vidic off his line and troubling him enough that Ferguson brought on Silvestre to shore up the left-back spot?

I’d say more, but DP keeps his pieces remarkably short. And factually incorrect. Is there a correlation? 🙂

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