[lfc-news] Liverpool v Manchester United report

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United held tight but Gerrard's revival fails to move Reds

Kevin McCarra at Anfield
Monday September 19, 2005
The Guardian

Make that seven wins in a row for Chelsea at the start of a Premiership
season. This was the weekend bonus victory for the reigning champions,
leaving them two points further ahead of both Liverpool and Manchester
United. The two sides at Anfield denied themselves and one another. The
undeniable talent never came to fruition and so these clubs provided more
evidence of their joint inferiority to Chelsea.
For the time being it is only Jose Mourinho's team that knows exactly what
it is doing on the pitch. The Stamford Bridge manager has tailored its
approach to perfection but when Liverpool and Manchester United don a
similar style they are an eyesore. Though each of them knew how to pack the
midfield, neither could make the flowing transition into attack that
distinguishes Chelsea.

Each side was held fast in the other's grip. The obvious technique of these
players saved the deadlock from being completely ugly but it is obvious
that Rafael Benítez and Sir Alex Ferguson do not possess a battleplan to
win the Premiership. For the time being their prospects are better in the
Champions League, where there is a greater prize for mere patience.
LIverpool and United were the precise equals of one another in the dullness
of their attacking. If the visitors were on top before the interval, Steven
Gerrard, suddenly leaping into his best form in the second half, balanced
the books fastidiously thereafter. The outcome was just and regrettably
inevitable.

While Edwin van der Sar was particularly good, the two goalkeepers did not
have to hurl themselves around all that much. There is something amiss when
spectators are reduced to admiring the fitness of Ruud van Nistelrooy in
his constant search for a chance or even, as the day wore on, waiting for
the sort of blunder that Liverpool never made. Even if United have taken
full points from Anfield in each of the last three seasons, this did not
feel like progress for Benítez. Peter Crouch might remonstrate with his
boss if he were not so new to the club and thankful to be there at all. He
was, like Van Nistelrooy, isolated in attack and the lightweight Luis
García could never relieve that loneliness.

The best chance of the match came in an instant of unorthodoxy. Rio
Ferdinand glided into the midfield a minute before the interval and put Van
Nistelrooy through in the inside right channel, only for the Dutchman to
misjudge a chip and land the ball on the roof of the net.

The game did manage to stir itself intermittently, with Gerrard heading
over in the second half from a John Arne Riise cross and also extending Van
der Sar to a fine diving save from a 30-yarder. The Liverpool captain would
also pick out the head of García in the 83rd minute, but there was a
predictability about his miscued finish.

Benítez has a number of attackers available even while Fernando Morientes
is injured, but the total amount of finesse is insufficient. That factor
was illustrated here, as it had been against Real Betis last Tuesday, when
Djibril Cissé came on to betray his erratic decision-making. The Frenchman
must have been especially annoyed by the reports of Benítez's readiness to
trade him in the summer because of their credibility.

United deserve sympathy for some of their limitations since the injury list
is a lengthy tale all by itself, especially now that Roy Keane's broken
metatarsal makes the use of Alan Smith in the holding role a necessity
rather than an experiment. None the less, some players are distinguishing
themselves during this turbulent time.

John O'Shea, deputising for Gary Neville, was no weak link and the
accomplished Kieran Richardson should make the most of the opportunity
presented by Gabriel Heinze's long-term absence, even if he does not have
the Argentinian's glint of menace.

United were actually most handicapped in the area where damage to
ligaments, joints and muscles has not chopped them down. Wayne Rooney and
Ronaldo still look as if the 4-3-3 system shackles them and the side could
again be blighted, as it was last season, by a shortage of goals.

Rooney will not have been affected by the bellows of the crowd: after all,
it is the voice in his own head that most upsets him. Frustration led him
into the dissent that brought a booking, although his self-control was
greater than it had been prior to the red card in Villarreal last week.

His psychodramas were not adequate entertainment for spectators who decided
to turn their minds to other issues. Liverpool supporters mocked the
takeover of their rivals with a chant of "Not For Sale, you're having a
laugh" and met with sneers over Merseyside's forthcoming City of Culture
status. In view of the deadlock it was as well the fans knew how to amuse
themselves.

Sunday September 18, 2005
FT Liverpool 0-0 Man Utd
16' Scholes
61' Carragher
69' Keane
90' Traore
Liverpool
Jose Manuel Reina, Jamie Carragher, Steve Finnan, Sami Hyypia, Xabi Alonso,
Steven Gerrard, Javier Sanz Luis Garcia, John Arne Riise, Stephen Warnock
(Djimi Traore), Peter Crouch (Djibril Cisse), Florent Sinama Pongolle
(Mohamed Sissoko)

Man Utd
Edwin Van der Sar, Rio Ferdinand, John O'Shea, Mikael Silvestre, Roy Keane
(Ryan Giggs), Kieran Richardson, Cristiano Ronaldo (Ji-Sung Park), Paul
Scholes, Wayne Rooney (Darren Fletcher), Alan Smith, Ruud van Nistelrooy

Referee: Styles, R

Venue: Anfield

Attendance: 44,917

Corners:
Liverpool 4
Man Utd 2

Goal Attempts:
Liverpool 9
Man Utd 4

On Target:
Liverpool 3
Man Utd 1

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