Are Man Utd back on track? 👀 Full Super Sunday post-match analysis with Carra, Keane & Redknapp

In terms of their performance and in terms of Harry Maguire's performance in particular, Roy, I know that you weren't necessarily convinced that he was the right player to start this game, but did he prove Amiran right? Yeah, of course, but the manager brought him in, he mentioned before the game, because of his experience and the fact he's a goal threat, and not just obviously his winner today, defensively, somebody heard as you put him, was absolutely fantastic. And we know he's capable of doing that, that's the foundation of his career. But my worry always is that he's getting isolated and getting caught 1v1s in terms of his pace. But he obviously got away with that today because he used the experience, and he dug well and he dug deep. And a win will give the players that belief about winning football matches. The key now for this group of players is you've got to keep winning. And also the good thing is for some of the new players who've come to the club, the attacking players, they haven't got the negativity of last season, where it was really bad stats. They're coming to United and going, this is good, this vibe is good, they're winning a few matches now, they've got the back-to-back, they've won at Liverpool, obviously we know it's not easy for Man United players. So we've got to take that belief now, as Harry just said, into the game next week against Brighton, that's the key now. Enjoy a little bit of success tonight, no doubt the fans will have a few drinks, but make sure you've got a free week, no real distractions for United over the next few months now, obviously European football, etc. So stay focused, stay in the zone, but they do look like they've got goals in this team, that was a big problem last year. For all their problems, goalkeeper defensively, they weren't a goal threat, but today even though they've scored two, they still look as if going, there's goals in this group of players, and some of the attacking players today look like, again, there's a bit of a swagger about them, and I like that. And it wasn't a cockiness, it was like, yeah, confidence, give me the ball, I'll deal with it. I'm playing at Anfield, like Canton and all these players used to go, yeah, give me the ball, I can deal with it. And they dealt with it, and they've now got a build in it. But certainly good vibes, we see clips in the dressing room, and success is good, it's great to be successful, even if it's a big game at Liverpool, but now carry it on. I'll repeat that to the players, you've got to keep going now, and build, and have a really good season. There's been a lot of positive over the last week, there's been criticism, we spoke about the owners, about the managers here for the next two or three years, and we said, well, results will dictate that, but if we can get performance and results like that today, then he will be here for three years. I was just thinking that, and it was quite unprecedented what he came out and said, and he almost got ridiculed for it to a certain extent, but maybe it changed that whole dressing room, the players that maybe aren't quite keen on Ruben Amorim, maybe his backroom staff, maybe he's going to be surplused, let's shut everybody up, he's here, so let's get on with it now, and you can see maybe that creates a bit of togetherness. And like Roy says, they've signed a couple of gems. Sesco, the jury is still out a little bit, but in Cunha and then Bermo, they've got players that look like they deserve to be in a Man United shirt, and there's been a few that don't look like, not only do they not want to be in a Man United shirt, they don't like and handle the pressure that comes with it. Cunha handles the ball, he wants it in tight situations, he looks a class act, and Bermo's a massive goal threat. So they do look, to a certain extent, a lot better team. Now, they still need a few pieces in that jigsaw puzzle, but there were so many positive today. You talk about tactics, Roy said it just after the game, goes out the window in these games. There's been so many times when you maybe don't play that well, but you dig in and you get a result, maybe good challenges, little bit of luck along the way, and they rode their luck, but they still had the big moments, and no matter what gets said about Bruno Fernandes, and he does get a lot of stick, that ball for the winning goal is world class, and that's what he brings to this team. And Roy, you said it as well, that it was very important that the senior players were there to try and make things easier for the, not just the younger players, but the new players who've come in, and they combined for this. Like, I'd say 99 players out of 100 would have controlled that, but for Bruno to do that, and put it back into the right area, the pace that's coming at him, not many players can do this, and then Maguire, obviously, always drifting around the back post, and a cushion error back across the goalkeeper, fantastic. And again, you just feel United had another goal in them. Credit to Liverpool, obviously, the fans were going to demand they get back into the game, but Harry Greyhead, you could see it all the way, sometimes that can be a distraction for a player, but never in doubt, they get a big forehead on him, bang, back in the opposite corner, and I mean that in the nicest way. He does have a good habit of getting his head on things. He reads it well. He did it late on in Europe last season, and he almost did it here at Anfield last season against Liverpool, where he had the opportunity with pretty much the last kick of the game to earn three points for Manchester United this time. Yeah, but I don't think he got a great ball here, but still, you still get over it, and listen, but the beauty of a football, you get another chance. His emotions that day would have been, should have done better. The reason to show this is to point out that he did do it this time, that he came back the next season and put it right. But what I like about Maguire, there's certain players, a lot of, particularly centre-halves, a lot of centre-halves go up, but they go up and there's like, they're kind of going up for the sake of it, but I always think people like Maguire and going back over to John Terry and these people, even Van Dijk recently, they go up with a purpose. They go up and go, I'm going to go and do something here, and they can read the flight of the ball. They get into good positions. He looked at Bruno there, and he's thinking, I know Bruno's going to put this in the right area. So when they go up, they're going, yeah, I believe I can cause havoc here, even if I'm not going to win the header for obviously defensively and going forward, that's a big plus to him. And the ball from Bruno, because what he does, before he said it, he didn't take a touch. So what that does is, it doesn't give the Liverpool defence to set themselves. So they end up with, I think it's De Ligt, Maguire, and somebody else at the back pose with him. So, yeah, a doggo, isn't it, at the back pose, because they haven't got time to react. Virgil van Dijk hasn't got time to get to that back pose, so that leaves Kanate all on his own. And look at this, the flight of it, what a ball. But if Bruno doesn't get that right, we're sitting there, all of us going, you've got to take a touch, that's what you'd be saying. But the top players will take risks, and Bruno going forward is absolutely fantastic. You can see the bravery at the back pose, any of the men, but that's when you need Harry Maguire in fairness, he's the best at heading the ball. And it was a world-class ball, it really was. Jamie, we saw the match stats earlier and said we tried to explain why they looked so positive in Liverpool's favour, and yet they came away on the wrong end of that, that scoreline, and it felt watching the game as though, you know, they didn't deserve to win necessarily the match. One of the things that's happened is that they've conceded 17 goals in their first 12 games in all competitions this season, compared to five in their opening 12 games in all competitions last season. Why do you think that's happening? Why are they defensively more frail? Well, 11, if you go to even talk about the Premier League, 11 this season in the Premier League, only conceded three after eight games last season. So it feels that there's a lot going on. It's almost too easy to say there's maybe one thing. Yes, you can point to Canarte's form earlier in the season. I thought he was excellent today. You're bringing in a new left-back, is that maybe making a bit of a disruption to Virgil van Dijk? And is he trying to, at times, cover Kerkes, who's finding it quite difficult at the moment? Right back, you've obviously lost... We all talk about how good Trent was going forward, but defensively, we always felt he didn't really make that much difference, and at times he could be a liability, but maybe he actually wasn't that bad in defence. So there's lots of different factors that you could look into this Liverpool performance, and certainly from defensively. Now, Virgil's analysis of that goal is an interesting one, because I feel that, you know, he talks about when he hears, when it goes up, yes, the referee could stop the game. Absolutely, he could, and I don't think anybody would have complained, but does he see it? We don't know. So I prefer not to even say, to even over-elaborate on that one. But what I feel that you have to look at is a source of the problem. So Virgil goes for that one, wins it, obviously. Then he goes for the next ball, and then he knocks on Bermode to the floor, and obviously his player, McAllister, goes down. Now Virgil van Dijk has got maybe a two-yard start on Umbermo, but he doesn't sprint back. If he sprints back, he stops that. He points at his mate, Canate, to come and help him out. Just watch Virgil van Dijk here as he goes in for this second challenge. I feel if Virgil goes and sprints back as quickly as he can, there's absolutely no doubt, no doubt in a flat race he wins that. Brilliant by Diallo. Absolutely, and really good by Umbermo. Great finish, but Virgil can do much better from a defensive point of view. From an attacking point of view, Roy obviously will show it again. You can see from Matty Knight's point of view. Brilliant, yeah. Good start, good run, great ball. And again, yeah, just sloppy from Liverpool. I think the keeper's got to do better as well, and a dream start for United, of course. But Liverpool did look edgy, and they do look like they're forcing things. They do look like it's balance, whatever, the chemistry's not quite there. Van Dijk said rushed was the word. Yeah, possibly. So, but when you're a centre-half and you're a big player, and last year was on about who's going to stay, and he signs the big contract, and then you're giving up loads of goals, then I'd be looking at him. I'd be looking, what are you doing? Particularly, he's a big leader of the team, and we're looking at moments, and I think a couple of years ago, he spoke about Man United coming here and parking the bus, and being critical of United. But they've scored two today. They scored two last year, and you're the centre-half of this team. You know, always that with the man in the mirror. Always that, because he's a big leader. We talk about United and Maguire turning up today, and always just today, and Bruno and stuff. But Van Dijk, if you're a centre-half and your team are all of a sudden giving up loads of goals, and you've got new people coming to your club, you've got to have a good look at yourself and go, am I really helping these lads? Am I getting a grip of people? And little incidents we saw with the goal there, yeah, we give United applauded. But I do look at them going, are you really sprinting back? And what happens when you become champions? The biggest challenge is the next year, because people are looking at you going, you're the champions, we're going after you. Even United were coming today, there's a United attacking player, certainly had a bit of a swagger about him. Whereas Liverpool, they struggle to deal with that. And the stats, we're talking about stats. I think a really important stat in football is the scoreline. And that's it. And Liverpool, the manager said last year, Liverpool won loads of games by the odd goal, they're now on the wrong side of it. And again, they're losing lots of late goals. So whatever happened with the substitutions, the mentality, shall we say, even when Liverpool got it back to 1-1, today you're looking, you still think United had a goal. It's not as if you're going, well, listen, the second goal's coming. And Liverpool, just before the goal, almost kind of gifted them, giving the ball away cheaply. And there are little moments that you've got to have a say to, where Van Dijk's got to say to the players, lads, just calm down. And I think sometimes it's good to be forcing things and panicking, but not all the time. I felt it was like that from even the first half. It's not as if we'd done it, you know, it'd be a mad last 10 or 15 minutes. But not a mad last hour. Well, you talked about the substitutions and when Arne Slott made that triple substitution, that's when it started to feel particularly chaotic, frantic, any of the words that you want to use. And in fairness, it earned Liverpool a goal. Yeah, a bit of genius madness. Virgil does brilliantly well to win the challenge there on N'Burmo. And then they keep the ball alive. And the pressure was certainly mounting. And you could feel that something was going to happen. They get that little bit of luck there. They stay calm. Burts keeps it alive. Smashes it across the face of goal. And then there was always one player, I felt today, that could get that goal. I didn't feel like Salah, it was going to be Salah. I felt it was going to be Gakpo. He had so many chances. He enjoys this fixture. He hit the post three times in the game. Three times, Kelly. And he was always looking to score. And obviously a little bit wasteful with a header that was a great opportunity for him. And then I could honestly say, I could only see one winner. Although Liverpool's formation was crazy, you know, you end up with, you know, Virts and Jones as your two defensive midfield players. I still felt they would be the team in the ascendancy and win it. And that's what Virgil spoke about. That little bit of calmness. And I go back to the throwing. When they go and give the ball, when Sobieszlaw throws it back to his keeper, he just needs to stay calm. You've got so much time still. Little mistakes like that, we're just transmitting to the fans, to the players. It doesn't need it. And that's what they did so well last year. We spoke about how good Liverpool were. We also spoke about how calm they were. They never really got under pressure. But you felt today they were too rough. But it goes to show, there was a nervousness in Liverpool. And that's on the back of three defeats. For all the brilliant Liverpool have been over the last year, they're human beings. And when you lose three games, can I tell you what? Self-doubt will kick in. It's like, really, are we going to lose again? And they've lost that little bit of belief. And you felt it in the stadium. Even when you got here today before the game, you're still thinking Liverpool would get the job done. But when you're a goal down after a minute or two, and you think you're nervous before the game, after a minute or two, you're going, oh my goodness, it's a long way back. And they didn't quite do enough. For all their efforts and their chances, you felt United had a chance of getting a big result today. But even in terms of Manchester United's winner, in the build-up to it, there was evidence of what Van Dijk was talking about. Yeah, just stay calm. He's sobbing slightly. Here, look, he's throwing it back to his keeper. It's just not on. And Burmo goes and presses him. And then you can see there's a little bit of panic. The keeper's obviously, look, look at he's throwing his arms up in the air. Then they don't win the second ball. Harry Maguire wins that. Right, now you're on the back foot. They work it really well. Cesco's good feet. Kunyu, who's been excellent, certainly in the second half, keeps the ball alive. They get a corner. That's where the goal comes from. It's just a case of staying calm. And that's where you use your experience, Kenny. That's where you've got to use your experience. Yeah, and it's just, it's madness with the throwing. Just go down the line. Yeah, but then a bit of brilliance from Bruno there. I mean, this won't go down as a goal necessarily straight from the corner, because obviously it gets played out and ends up back with Bruno Fernandes. Are you concerned about Liverpool's defensive record from set pieces, Jamie? Given how big set pieces are, particularly this season, we've seen a big increase in how effective sides can be. From Arsenal benefiting hugely. Well, yeah, you looked at the substitution. When you take off Graeme Burch and then you bring on Jones and Burch, you lose a big head of the ball. Roy and I were saying during the game, look at the size of United all of a sudden. They look a really big side from every single set piece that comes in. They've got big players. They bring on Cesco, six foot five, six foot six, whatever he is. So there was a few mismatches there. So, yeah, set pieces are a big... But, you know, there's sometimes you've just got to take leadership. You know, Canate, can he deal with it? Virgil van Dijk. And the chaos I felt towards the end of the game. Jamie Carragher mentioned it a few weeks ago, and I think it was before the Chelsea game, there's a bit of basketball all the time with Liverpool. It just never feels like there's that control. But even when the ball goes out to Bruno, if you look at the Liverpool players' body language, if we can go back to it, a lot of the Liverpool players, five or six of them, are running to what... As a player, you must know your players. You look up... I see the ball. If you run here and it goes back out to Bruno, just like running here. You learn about body language. So this ball's coming back out to Bruno. Look what Liverpool players are running. There's two or three running out. You're going, it's going out to Bruno. Know your players. You know, there's a good chance he's going to push it back into a good area. So your priority at this one time is protect your goals. Protect your goals. I know they're playing off the cuff stuff, and it's a bit mad, but it's four of the five on body language. Watch, when it goes out here, they're running out. What are you running out to? Well, Gakpo ends up... He's at the back post. He ends up as the furthest player there. There's a saying. There's a saying, a lot of these players are on the outside looking back in. If you're defending, and you're defending for your lives, and you've got that hunger, you've got to be inside and facing onto the game. You can't be stood here looking at the goal, somebody scoring against you. You've got to be goal side. There might be one or two of you, maybe someone on the edge of the box, but too many of them out. When it's going back into Bruno, going, what can we do? I go, no, no, don't worry about getting there. Bruno's going to put it back into a good area. That's what Bruno Fernandes does. He's a brilliant player. The rest of the mate is brilliant, yeah. This sloppiness, decision making, which is cost in Liverpool. The goal at Chelsea, Robertson, people not being aware, as if they're not aware of people around them in the box. Where do you think these players are going to be? Where do you think Harry Maguire is going to be hanging around? He nearly scored the winner last year. Don't worry, he's going to try and sniff out a chance. So it's almost like naive, really naive defending from the Liverpool as a team, from one or two players as a team. And that's where your senior players have to say, that's when the ball's here. Let's just sit in. Let's defend our box. Then we can counter-attack. But they're always trying to counter-attack when they haven't got the ball. So that's how Arna Slott saw the game. Jamie Carragher obviously was commentating for us. Jamie, I know you missed the beginning of that, but just to sum up, Arna Slott saying that he would have been happy if he knew how many chances Liverpool would create in the match. And actually, Cody Gakpo had a higher XG than Manchester United as a team in that game. Hit the post three times. But that they have to finish them better. But also, that defensively, of the chances they did give up, they conceded a couple of goals, including one from a set-piece, or from a corner that led to the goal. And then he said, we just can't afford to be doing that. Yeah, I think it was a really good interview, that. Because when you lose a game of this magnitude, people get emotional. You know, even pundits say, you know, supporters. And it probably is a good time for them to manage to be measured four defeats in a row. He's explained the game really well. If Liverpool put the majority of their chances in, they'd probably win the game. But the way the Premier League is style-wise this season, for everybody, set-pieces is a big part of the game. Everybody's taken long throws this season. You know, set-pieces galore. We look at Arsenal, the success they've had as well. And Liverpool just can't seem to cope at the moment. So we keep talking about new signs and integrating them in terms of, actually, the football Liverpool are playing. But the new signs that Liverpool have brought in has affected them set-piece-wise as well. You know, the full-backs are quite small. You know, there's no sort of great, you know, physical presence in there. Even if you play Evaita in midfield, and McAllister as well, you've got to think set-piece-wise as well. Is the team big enough? And maybe this is hurting Liverpool now, not just in terms of actually, you know, playing the football and getting players on the ball, but it looks like they're not coping at all well with set-pieces. They can see last minute at Crystal Palace, from a long throw as well. Another corner at Crystal Palace as well. So, yeah, the struggling, I think, with the style of the whole Premier League right now. You mentioned the fact that it's a time for an honour slot to be measured after four defeats in a row. But if you look at performances across the whole season, you were saying in the first game of the season against Bournemouth that there were worrying signs defensively for Liverpool from open play. Have they gone any way to fixing those? Do they still look as vulnerable in open play as you thought they were on that first day? Oh, yeah. Yeah, it hasn't changed. And I think a few weeks ago, I looked about Liverpool maybe going back to having Sir Bozlai in the midfield and maybe Vert coming off the team because he's more of an offensive number 10 than Sir Bozlai. But Sir Bozlai's played in that position in the last two games, you know, away at Chelsea, here against Manchester United today. And Liverpool are still conceding goals and conceding big chances. You know, you think of the chance Fernandes had in that first half as well. Manchester United should be 2-0 up in that situation. So, as we said before the game, I don't think it's one glaring problem. There's lots of things. New signings, not up to speed. But some of Liverpool's great players last season are nowhere, playing nowhere near the level that they are and, you know, just making sorts of errors. And you talk about Canarte, he was brilliant today. Well, Canarte had a really great game. But then Van Dijk's nowhere near himself. I mean, he has a really poor game as well. So, it's just, it's not quite happening for Liverpool right now. And I think, I've just mentioned on the podcast, actually, I think of... Where's that available to download? All your usual podcast places. Yes, exactly. But I think when the champions or a team, if you think of last season, on such a long run undefeated from the Nottingham Forest game, I think maybe to the Fulham game later in the season, almost feel invincible. And then this season, as soon as someone beats them, this run goes on a four game. I remember Manchester City last season had that run where you couldn't believe this was Manchester City. You feel a little bit like that with Liverpool. And I go back to a game I played in here 25 years ago or something. With the invincible team at Arsenal, the following season, once they'd lost one game, everyone thought, oh, maybe you can beat them. And they actually went on and won a sort of losing four or five games. So, it's just one of those things that they've looked at it in right now. And we just, as the manager said, you know, they've got to get out of it quick. But it's probably, we're not going to see the best of Liverpool, I would say, till the second half of the season. That's why I think a draw today, I know we praise them for gambling and winning, getting late goals. But on the back of three defeats, you're home to United and it's 1-1. Don't shy away from taking a point as well. I think just to stop the wrath, not three games for Liverpool was a lot. But there's a bit of arrogance about it, which is nothing wrong with that. When you're a champion, you think there's a bit of a swagger. But also, smell the game and go, there's danger here. That's why there's not no taking a point either. It's not the end of the world. Jamie, just picking up on what Roy was saying about Liverpool coming back this season, saying earlier about, you know, coming back as champions and finding it harder. They've always been title challengers. They've always had teams coming in here, maybe sitting back against them. But to Jamie's point, do you think that they consent blood a bit more this season? They feel that it's possible to get something. Yeah, and I think a lot of clubs, a lot of teams will look at what Manchester United did today. They never once played out from the back from a goal kick. You see much lesser teams that aren't comfortable on the ball trying to do that, inviting pressure, losing a goal. I think they had a really good game plan. I think they showed that against Liverpool today. In terms of, you know, trying to maybe, you know, a point isn't the worst result in the world. It wouldn't have been. If you look at what Arsenal did, when they got that point against Manchester City, we're all talking about it after that, how they were celebrating, how happy they were. But then they go on a great run after that. They got a Newcastle win. And we all go, yeah, actually, at the time, it didn't feel like a good point. But how good does it feel now? So Liverpool have just got to find some rhythm again. And everyone's going to be asking questions about his decisions, the players that have come in. That's inevitable. The next week or so, people are talking about, you know, how's he going to fit Virts in the team? How's he going to fit Isak Ekotike into the team? What does he do about the right back situation? How's the left back looking? There's going to be lots of question marks, but you've just got to be a little bit patient. He's very measured, the manager. He doesn't get too involved, doesn't get too high when they do well, doesn't get too low when they don't. And I think it might need a bit of that for now, because it's going to be a little bit of a struggle. It's going to be a difficult time because they've got some tough games. We're writing it down earlier on. They've got Brentford away, Villa at home, and then Manchester City away. So they're not, they're games that you're looking at thinking, they're not going to be easy. They're going to be challenged next week. Champions League games, Carabao Cup game against Crystal Palace. Absolutely. When we talk about set pieces, Jamie's mentioned how difficult they are now, and how big they'll be to get the ultimate test next week at Brentford away. So they're the challenges that they've got to have. So they've got to make sure they deal with it. And with all the players they've brought in, I'm just trying to imagine how the manager and the staff at the training ground, they're looking at, you can, you've got a lot of options really, and sometimes that can be a problem. Also, when you've got brilliant options on the bench, you see them chopping and changing, and he's offensive. And I give him the thumbs up for gambling, but again, there's certain games, and you have it, the old saying in football, if you can't win it, don't lose it. They've got to get back to that mindset of not giving up that goal, like they have done. That's the point he made at the end. When you sort of won the title, and you were obviously lucky, you won it loads of times, did you then, the second year, when you have to do it again, is it like you've got to, is it hard to get yourself going? Yeah, there's obviously a different challenge, and obviously people look at you, but then you've obviously got a bit of a confidence about you that we've done it, and we can hopefully do it again. And you've got that kind of, that winning culture, and that vibe going on. And again, people would have the, people always thought about the team I was involved in, and you always felt you'd go to the very end. And you always felt if anyone was going to win, it was United, and they'd be gambling. But there was plenty of games where we'd be trying to win again, but also we'd be looking going, everyone thinks we're going to go for it here, but we'll take a draw. There's certain games, I think you always have to smell it in the air. I think Liverpool should have smelled that today. And I know it's hard when you're at home, and the fans are pushing you, it's on the television, everyone's building the game up. But when it's 1-1, and you've lost three in a row, there's nothing wrong with just bringing it back to base, because going, listen, well, lads, we'd love to win, we've got enough attacking players on the pitch, but defensively, you've got to experience two centre-halves going, yeah, listen, we've got one or two players who are going to try and win it, but make sure we don't lose it. Take a point at the end of the month. Do you think that's a hangover, though, from those seasons where City were pushing for 100 points, where Liverpool ran them close on 90-odd points in more than one season? Yeah, they obviously had good rhythm last year, particularly. But when it felt that a draw was dropped points, when it was, you almost had to have a perfect season. Yeah, obviously to win titles, it is about winning football matches, but I'm just on about, if there's five or 10 minutes to go, and you're up against teams like United today, especially if they're attacking players, you just, Kelly, you smell it, you just feel it in the air going, I know everyone wants to, I was a midfielder, we'd have lads going forward, but I'd still be going, yeah, lads, Giggs, Beck, you go for it, but don't worry, I'm sitting back here, and I'm going to sit in front of my two centre-halves, and we're still going to make sure we defend crosses or whatever, because unless you do that, unless you do them basics right, you're not going to win football matches. So I just felt today at Liverpool, it was a time for them to go, with five or 10 minutes to go, we talk about that throwing, and even that was a symbol of like, what are you doing? Just throw it down the line, and we get up the pitch. Maybe a bit of arrogance, and a bit of, you can be too confident, and United are looking going, I tell you, what happens when you're thinking that, United will be sniffing it and going, I think there's a chance here that we can win this game, and United haven't won here for 10 years, so you're giving them belief, you have to take that belief away from them, and again, go in that dressing room afterwards, and be annoyed with a draw, go in and go, lads, we need to do better, but it's a draw, it's something, instead of going and going, hey, we can't be giving up goals like that, we said about their body language when it comes back in from Bruno, players, four or five more kind of looking to run up the pitch, as if they're playing a home tour, a championship team, Southampton came here two or three weeks ago, and they got a few chances, they had a little bit of joy, I know they won the game, but it's still Man United here, and there's still a very good attacking players, and all of a sudden you go, it's going out to Bruno, and you're running up, but Bruno puts it in, Maguire's on the back post, just like some of the Palace players, were on the back post, just like Chelsea were on the back post, when they're breaking going, we'll sniff a chance here. That's, you know, what you just said there, you've probably looked at it a few times, you know, the goal and the, you know, the team defending the corner, but I go back to my worry about Liverpool at the start of the season, it's not so much all the attacking players, but if the mindset of everyone is always, we're going to be attacking, we've got this attacking player, we're going to be on the ball, people are always thinking about what happens when they're on the ball, and almost the defending bit becomes a bit like, do I have to, do I have to do that, do I have to track him back, do I have to go and win a big header, I want to get on the ball, I want to play, I want to get, we've got midfield players who all want to get on the ball, so I actually think sometimes Liverpool, now there's almost a mindset of not actually doing the dirty work, and you're talking about today, you know, getting that point, that was definitely more the case in the two away games at Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Crystal Palace batted Liverpool, they got a goal late on Liverpool, that's like, get out of there with your point, it's a tough place to go, could have been three nil down at half time, great, point's a great point, shot away at Chelsea, got beat there last season, you got back to 1-1, you don't get beat, that's the thing that frustrates me in terms of the experience on the pitch and the players they have on the pitch, you've won, not just last season, but won numerous trophies over these last few years. Have they lost that pride in defending, we talk about teams that win titles, it's going, the foundations obviously need a top goalkeeper, it'd be rock solid at the back, we look what Arsenal do now, but Liverpool looking as they've gone, do we need to do that bit, because we've got so many options, we've got brilliant attack players, they're always a goal threat again, they could have scored four or five today, but they're getting cut out a little bit, almost become a bit more humble, and don't forget what, you got that bit of success, that was being maybe rock solid at the back, you're going to give up one or two chances, but I think teams, now we're playing Liverpool, and now it's four games, they're going, that's not right, I think we've got a chance here. The problem is though Kelly, when you actually look at the team they ended up with, they end up with three defensive minded players, Kerkes, Canarte and Virgil van Dijk, everyone else on that pitch is always thinking, a little bit like what Gakpo's thinking, when that corner comes in, if we get the ball, we might score. When Roy mentions about like, when he was there, and he'd be an offensive midfield player, okay you go, I'll sit here, that's not in Jones, he's not inclined to do that, Verts is not inclined to do that, you end up with everybody else, all the four players, Ekotike, obviously Isak was off the pitch at the time, Frimpong's not that player, everyone's trying to win the game, there was not one player that's really going, okay if we lose it in that midfield, what happens next, and that's where they got cut out. Great example, if you look at Arsene last night, Arsene for all, how brilliant they are, and when you get to the top of the league, and you're thinking, your confidence is going, you look at Arsene, when they lose the ball, forget about what they're doing in possession, they've got really good players, and they're brilliant at set pieces, it's what they're doing without the ball, they're hunting in packs, and they're like, tactics are out, we're not just going to close people down, they're not getting bogged down by anything else, you look at Arsene's success at the moment, still a lot to do for him, he knows a long way to go, the bit of joy he's coming from, actually hunting the ball down, chasing it, pride, hunger, have Liverpool lost that a little bit? I think they have. They nearly had the chance to equalise, it fell to Cody Gatpoe, we'll take a look at some of his other chances in a moment, but you want chances to come in the late stages of the game, at 2-1 down, and you want them to fall to somebody maybe who's already scored in the game, who's shown that they're sharp in the game, and yet this happens. Yeah, and listen, we're talking about games, but as we know, the small margins make a big difference, but he was Liverpool's best attacking player by a long way, looked really dangerous, Liverpool did, especially in that first half, down that left side, and listen, Gatpoe's been questioned quite a lot, you know, this season, you know, because he's one of those players who, he's never going to be a superstar, but you know what you're going to get from him, he's going to get you a goal. Is it because people are missing Luis Diaz, is that maybe why? Yeah, but I think him and Luis Diaz sort of almost flipped between who was playing wide left last season, this is Isaac, he has to score that, he has to, and listen, we can talk about the system, how Liverpool are mentally, tactics, but players miss chances like that, it's going to come back at home, you're in Liverpool, as I said, more often than not, in a game in this situation, as the manager said, they end up in the back of the net, you win the game, and we're talking totally different, and that's the nature. That's the madness of football, isn't it? That's why even if he makes the substitutions, we would say, God, that was genius, he threw all those players forward, that's what Alex Ferguson used to do, he's gambled and he's won the game, the flip side is when it goes wrong, you lose, that's when you get question marks against maybe being too offensive. And as I said, it's great gambling, of course, but you still got to make sure you don't give up and out the back. And that's kind of the question over this performance, and we looked at their match stats earlier, Jamie, Liverpool way ahead in xG, I think I said earlier, Cody Gatpoe's xG was higher than that of Manchester United, but they're quite blunt instruments, in terms of looking at those moments, where you're maybe an inch or two away from getting a goal, those small margins, it's more looking at the big picture for Liverpool, we're trying to kind of widen it out, and see where they can improve, because those moments will change over the course of a season. Yeah, a few games time, they'll start going in, but when you're sort of saying Liverpool's stats were a lot better than Manchester United, they always were going to be before the game, Liverpool are a much better team than Manchester United, so it shouldn't be a case of, oh, we were unlucky, you know, we look how many chances we had, or our xG was more, we had more touches in the back, you'd expect that, Liverpool are a much better team, as I said, than Manchester United, so if Manchester United were going to come to Anfield and win, it was going to be a little bit like that, maybe getting a late goal, you know, getting a little bit of luck here and there, but Manchester United had chances in the first half, you know, to go ahead, Liverpool are just not at the races at all, defensively, and until they fix that, they can't win the league. Look, he's preaching calm and sense at the moment, Ruben Amirim, and in the wake of what was a really big win for Manchester United, we saw the reaction from players, and we certainly saw the reaction from the fans as well, it's a fourth Premier League away win under Amirim, this one, the one against Manchester City, Fulham and Leicester are the other two teams, so what can we read into it, not just the result, but the performance of Manchester United? Well, obviously, they had a little bit of luck today, they've scored two goals, could have scored one or two more, they gave up a lot of chances, as lots of teams do when they play Liverpool, they mentioned, again, the word belief, we look at Liverpool maybe losing it a little bit, their belief that when they've lost four, so if United get a back-to-back win, the result here today, again, if you go into the training ground this week, United will be a better place, and that's it, there'll be different energy, there'll be different vibes, they've got new players who've come to the club, particularly attacking players, and they haven't got all that baggage, I suppose, from last year, when it was really negative with the results, and lack of goals, so now they can bring some positivity, but get bright next week, another tricky game for United, but what we're finding out about certain players at United, and we've seen today with the attacking players, what you want at United as well, or whatever about their technical skills, is lads with big characters and big personalities, and we're seeing, certainly, signs of players who are playing for Man United going, yeah, these expectations, and obviously, expect to win every week, I think they're embracing it, they don't let their shine away from it, there's still loads to fix, let's not kid ourselves either, at United, all of a sudden, some top team far from it, but they've got signs like they're a goal threat, and obviously, last year particularly, when you're not scoring many goals, they were constantly under pressure at the back, but now it just eases the pressure a little bit, when you come to players like Liverpool, you go, listen, we've got two or three goals in our make-up, even Sunday at home, two goals, if you get two goals a game, then you've got a chance of winning some football matches. Manchester United's recruitment has taken a bashing over the years, with Cunha, and Bermo, Lomond potentially as well, Senna, Lomond's in goal, he made some big saves, yeah, have they turned that around, should they get praise, given that we've criticised them in the past? You have to do, because obviously, we know the importance of recruitment in football, and we've been slagging United off the last two, three, four, five years, and who's buying these players, but all of a sudden, you look at the attacking players, and what they helped, the big plus for the attacking players, they're brought in the summer, they pay big money for players who know the Premier League, so they're used, whereas over the last year or two, they couldn't seem to deal with the speed, and the physicality of the Premier League, but all of a sudden, you've got two players who are going to get you up the pitch, they're a goal threat, they'll deal with the demands, their bodies are robust enough, today was a physical challenge, and they dealt with it, they weren't rolling around, so that's a big plus, and when you're in a team, you've got two, a couple of star players at the top of your pitch, you think they can get us out of jail, it gives everyone a big lift, so it's a relief to the defenders, the midfielders, so we've got some attacking players, we've got players with attacking players, hopefully they'll get us out of jail, they kind of did that with United today, because United gave up a lot of chances, but if you feel every time the ball goes forward, someone's going to hold it up, somebody's going to go past somebody, or somebody's going to put the ball in the back of the net, that gives everyone a lift and a belief, and we saw clips of the United players in the dressing room there, and they're smiling, they're happy, what a great place to be, success is good, enjoy it, embrace it, but back it up next Saturday against Brighton, which would be not a tricky game for United, what have you made of Mbamo and Cunha since they've come in? Yeah, they look like top players, but they also look like they're good characters as well, we all know Mbamo from obviously his time at Brentford, there's that you sign players, not just on the back of how talented they are, but what they bring to the dressing room, how they train every day, how they live their life, Cunha obviously has had their reputation, he's been sent off a couple of times, but I like a bit of devil in the player, you know, he played very Cantona, that's what he was like, you knew that you could get that genius, but sometimes you get a bit of madness that goes with it, he looks like he just looks right, and he looks complete in a Manchester United shirt, so good recruitment, as you say the goalkeeper, you've got to celebrate that one as well, and whatever way you look at it, some of the players that they've decided to leave the club, like Saganacho, Sancho, Rashford, for whatever reason, the club didn't feel that they were the right kind of characters, so they've not had them and they've moved them on, so instead they're changing that, and then you change the environment, and you change the culture at the club, then you start to see that the young players, rather than looking at people that maybe don't conduct themselves in the right way at training, maybe turn up late, maybe don't give 100% in training, then things start to change, and that's what you're trying to achieve, that's what Manchester City are about, that's what probably Liverpool have had over the last few years, where they've had brilliant senior players, even if you take it back to Jordan Henderson, and James Milner, and Virgil van Dijk, good players, good people leading the way, setting the right examples, goes a long way in football, and I think that's why their recruitment is not just about signing good players, but also good characters. We talk about the players, but the manager will get a big lift from this, he's been under huge pressure, heavily criticised, attacked as a system, not just the manager, his staff, they will go back, they'll get a bit of confidence from that, we can compete against Liverpool, and obviously we're going to do it week in week out, but the lift for the staff, who've obviously been heavily criticised as well. But what do you make of the system, and the tactical now of Ruben Amorim, that has come in for a lot of criticism, does today's show that it can work? Well, no, listen, it's still a long way back for United, they've given up lots of chances, I'm not sure, it's still about the balance at the back or whatever, but we talk about these big clubs, Man United are about top players, big characters, big personality, and they showed that today, and as I said, the couple of attackers they brought in, and the goalkeeper made some big saves today, that will make a huge difference to them, absolutely, and they'll start looking at the table, and all of a sudden, you're looking, you know, top four, top five, have that belief and confidence that you can compete, and start getting back to being a really decent team. So we talked about Manchester United's new signing, and their recruitment, let's talk about Liverpool, now if we talk about Isak and Wirtz, it's only eight starts between the two of them, so we're not dealing with this on the basis of a lot of evidence, but is the evidence there that they are going to click, that they are going to start producing? I think the evidence is definitely there with Isak, because he's been in the Premier League before, you know, and he was fantastic for Newcastle, he's got to score that chance. And Slott says now his pre-season's over, he's now ready to be judged. I said a few weeks ago, maybe for Florey and Wirtz, he's found it tough to get up to the speed of the Premier, it's not just about the goals and assists, obviously we know he hasn't got one yet, but it can be in general play as well, and we know there's a different physicality in the Premier League to the Bundesliga, and yes, and I heard Jamie say before, the game, and plenty of people doing the right to say, oh it's too early to judge, of course as you've just said, seven or eight games, but I mean, is there a certain game where it's okay, what do we have to get to, 15, 20, what I'm saying is it's like, you've got to, I'm not expecting to see the Bayer Leverkusen, Florey and Wirtz in the first seven games, but I'm expecting to see them, just little glimpses where you think, okay, he can get there, we just, we haven't seen much at all really, and with Izaki, as I said, he's got to score that chance, if that's not about being a renewed club, that's just a poor finish, you know, he's not thinking of that when he's going through, he's got to score that, but no, listen, I think it's interesting when, and we've all said this in, as a pundit, where we talk about how long do you give foreign players when they come to the league, some people say, you don't write the first year off, but you know, the second year they improve and get better, but if I'm being totally honest, in my experience of players who come to the club, when I was a player, if I think of the great foreign signings, and the first one that comes to me, I think Sammy Hippier, Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Luis Suarez, Didi Hamann coming in, they all hit the ground running, I can't think of many who had a really average poor, I'm not talking seven games, by the way, if we're talking getting to Christmas, January, February, you haven't seen much, you're a little bit like, because for me, history doesn't tell me that foreign signings coming into England take a year, people always say Thierry Henry, it's nonsense, Thierry Henry's got 25 goals in his first season, but that's not. If he didn't score for his first eight though. Exactly, but what I'm saying is, it wasn't a year. You do need to be patient then, if he didn't score for his first eight, I know what I'm just saying, seven or eight games is too early, but what I'm saying is, once we start getting to January, February, March, it's a bit like how, when is the time when we can start saying, hang on, maybe this was a mistake? Yes, you can talk about getting used to up to speed, and we're at that stage now, seven or eight games, but in my experience with players, especially at Liverpool, players who are great, you know, foreign signings for the club, more often than not, they hit the ground running, I would say 99%. I think there are others that don't, Gravenberch took a while, there are others that maybe do take a little bit more time, and the thing is as well, this pre-season, I think for Liverpool was probably the most difficult they've ever had to go through, obviously what happened with the tragedy and everything like that, so everything's been disrupted and been so tough for the players, so what's that, what that has done to a lot of the players, and that disruption must have been so tough for everybody, they've lost one of their, not just a teammate, also a brother to a lot of them, so it's been really difficult. Now players coming in, like Florian Wurz, there's been a few moments, if he has the assist against Chelsea, and Salah scores for him, we all talk about, well what an assist, he's off, he's running. Now I'm not sure, excuse me, if he's going to be that person that's going to be always sliding balls through, he might be at times a little bit like I would say, Luka Modric, now Luka Modric, you judged him purely on his goals and assists, you maybe think he wouldn't be the player that we all talk about, but he would be the player that would make the pass and makes the pass, now that might be Florian Wurz, today when he came on, he showed me a lot of qualities, and I thought, yep, he was willing to get on the ball, it wasn't easy for him, I think we've got a real player there, but it's going to take time, the intensity of this league, especially for someone like him, it's so robust, and he might just be finding that bit more difficult than what we all expected, he might have to go on a little bit of a strength and conditioning situation for a few months, and get him even stronger, but I've got no doubt, because I've seen players like that in the Premier League, and I've seen him in Germany, he will be a success here, but again, we have to be a little bit patient, Isak I'm not worried about, as Jamie says, he's played in this league for the last few years, he's going to be comfortable, but there is an added pressure when you play for Liverpool. It brings me back to something you said before the game, Jamie, which is that when Mo Salah isn't playing well, Liverpool are maybe having to have someone else as their star player, however, is that an Isak, is that a Florian Wurz, is it someone else? They're now looking for a different, I don't know, pivotal player in that starting line-up, who do you think the future player that Liverpool build their team around is? Well, it has to be Isak and Wurz, because they've spent the money on them, and their age profile compared to Mo Salah, and I do think watching Mo Salah this season, I absolutely love him, but we know there's a tactical set-up with Mo Salah, and that he doesn't help Liverpool's right back, but I'm not criticising him for being lazy, not getting back, we lauded Arne Slot for allowing Salah that role last season, and he probably hasn't got the legs to get up and down like a conventional wide player, but if you're not getting nothing going the other way, you're obviously losing something that way, but you're not gaining it going the other way, and watching Mo Salah today, he never got found out sort of defensively, because he doesn't track back today, but he was off with the ball, he lost the ball a lot through the game, and that can happen with him, even in his prime, but what I would say with Mo Salah right now, is I think we're at the stage where, I don't think Mo Salah should be like a Virgil van Dijk, but it's like first name on the team sheet, so Liverpool have got two away games, one of the Champions League in Frankfurt, and then they go to Grenfell, I don't think Mo Salah should start both of those games, he should always be starting around field, because Liverpool are going to be on top, be around the edge of the box, and more often than not, he scores in those situations today, but I do think with away games, and helping your right full-back as well, I don't think Mo Salah should be starting every game right now, certainly away from home, you know, with the form that he's in. Was he on the bench for the Galatasaray game in Europe? Yeah, and I think we'll see that a little bit more going forward, just because he's not playing that well. Will he be okay with that, or is he tied to, spitting his dummy out? Probably not, I wouldn't imagine we're not all great with being on the bench, but I think when you get to a certain age as well, I think we all have to understand that as well, especially when you're not playing well, where's your arguments? You know, it's different if you're banging in the goals, and the manager makes a tactical decision, and you're frustrated, I don't think Mo Salah's in any position, you know, to complain if he was left out of one of the next two away games, but I do think, always play him at home, but I think right now, playing him away from home in every game, I think, no, I think, you know, the manager should look at maybe something slightly different in terms of Frimpong. What do you think? Is it time to stop managing his career? Yeah, a little bit, I mean, Jurgen Klopp did it a couple of times, he didn't like it when he took him off, and at West Ham one day, and there was a few words crossed between the two of them, so it has happened even in a few years ago, so it's not anything new. I mean, do I look at him and think that he's a different player right now? I think last year he was so good early in the season, but there seemed to be a drop-off, his form, his confidence is low, he's not looking the same player right now, but when you talk about like world-class players, and I know he's obviously playing a totally different league, but you still have to bring him up, he's Ronaldo and the age he's still at, now these are great players and he's so fit, I still think he's got a lot more to offer, he's just having a bit of a bad time, and it's like everybody else in this team, so it's very easy to look at all the different players, there's not one player that I would say yet, they're at the level they were last year at the moment, and that's what's making it really difficult, not just for the manager, but also for the team. There's lots of dynamics going on with the attacking players and who aren't in great form and new players settling, but that's where you go back to basics, it's that going, at least be harder to beat, let's attack and defend as a team, it just looks a bit disjointed.