It feels so long since Liverpool managed to beat Man Utd, even in seasons when they were the better team. Today Liverpool dominated, though they were wasteful with some of their early chances. I was stressed out for the whole match but in retrospect it was a comfortable win for Liverpool and yesterday's total pessimism was unfounded.
Shaqiri continues to look like the bargain of the century, he brought that extra couple percent of skill needed to ice the match. He is rapidly becoming one of my favorite players to watch, whether in a Liverpool or Switzerland shirt. Mane's goal was brilliant - yes, Man Utd's defense were too open on the play, but it as still a lovely pass, chest-down and volley.
Reams will be written about Alisson's mistake, but just as some people went way overboard in praising his save against Napoli, in the broader context of the match he was still excellent - taking the sting out of the odd Man Utd attack, showing calmness and control, distributing the ball well. 99 times out of 100 Alisson will gobble up that ball without an issue. He has also shown an ability to bounce back mentally from mistakes in a way Karius could not. Moreover, you can't go into a match against any team in the top 10 in the league and
expect a clean sheet. I see nothing to worry about here, even if it was painful to see the opposition gifted a goal from a routine play.
Where the HECK is Pogba? There was a statue or cardboard cutout or something on the bench that looked like him. That whole saga has gotten completely out of hand. Mourinho looks completely checked out. He still has plenty of vitriol left in him, but this is not the Mourinho who won the three titles he keeps bringing up.
Also, the number of goals Man Utd have conceded this season surely has a lot to do with de Gea being merely world-class this year rather than superhuman, as he had been for a couple seasons previously. His play concealed some of Mourinho's failings early on.
Unlikely result, but entertaining game (for the neutral).
Arsenal's injuries in defense really loomed large here. I don't think there was much Emery could have done different, but you can't be leaking three goals and expect to get anywhere. I will be surprised if Arsenal don't bring in some defensive cover in January - even if they come in the form of young or journeyman players. They need bodies back there.
The Ozil affair is also a real fly in the ointment at the moment. He is not absolutely crucial to Arsenal's prospects, but as with the Pogba situation at Man Utd it is ludicrous to have a player of his quality just sitting around for other than injury reasons...he played in this match, and was neither good nor bad, but he should be starting because he is a potential match-winner. Whatever is going on there needs to get sorted out.
I think Danny Ings deserve a lot of credit here, and I'm thrilled to see him playing well. He showed a couple promising flashes at Liverpool and I think he could have been a regular off the bench, and starting in cup matches for the Reds until he picked up those terrible injuries. I did not want to see him go, but at least he is finding his stride at Southampton. Best of luck to him.
