They won one point ... and proved three
Amid the noise of Anfield, Varane, McTominay and Ten Hag all showed some heavy mettle
SIX ASIDES Premier League: Liverpool 0, United 0
For the first five minutes, this was a siege. And for several other spells too – but United withstood it. A draw in the din of Anfield is as good as a win, even at the best of times, for the best of teams, and all the more so for United in their present state. If you can only draw one game in 24, this is the one to choose. Liverpool made 34 attempts on goal, almost twice as many as they managed when winning 7-0 in March (18), but this time they were firing blanks. Seldom has a nil-nil been more satisfying.
United went away with one point secured and three points proved. Erik ten Hag showed that he had finally worked out how to wage guerrilla warfare, which is not something you get much exposure to at Ajax. Rapha Varane showed that he still has it as a defensive boss, winning all four of his aerial duels, making umpteen interceptions, forming an instant rapport with Jonny Evans, bringing serenity to the chaos in United’s box, leaving Darwin Nunez looking like a beginner, and making it all the more bewildering that Ten Hag had ostracised him for most of this season. Scott McTominay showed that he could captain United and get them performing in his own image, scrapping away like Scotland against Spain. Bruno Fernandes was only missed for one moment, when McTominay took a long shot that never looked like finding the target. Even on form he remains a quirky box-to-box midfielder, a big presence in both boxes but not great in between.
Kobbie Mainoo completed a highly unusual hat-trick. He has now made three Premier League starts, all away from home, all tough places to go – two on Merseyside, one on Tyneside – and he has oozed quality every time. For an 18-year-old, he brings an ice-cool temperament and a precocious precision. In each of the three games he’s been the neatest passer of all United’s starters. He completed 38 of his 46 passes at Goodison, 35 out of 38 at St James’, and 16 out of 18 at Anfield. And if that 16 doesn’t sound like many, his partner in the pivot, Sofyan Amrabat, managed 16 out of 28. He’s usually tidy too, but Mainoo is exceptional – the kind of teenager who, if he came for a meal at your place, would insist on doing the washing-up.
Mainoo keeps it simple most of the time, but here he produced the pass of the day. In the 55th minute he received a smart diagonal ball from McTominay, took it on the half-turn and played an even smarter diagonal ball, a defence-splitter that sent Alejandro Garnacho through as if they were still in the FA Youth Cup. Had Garnacho matched the urgency of his marker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, or had Marcus Rashford already come on with his extra pace, Mainoo might well have had a match-winning assist.
Not everything went right. The few times that United made it into the Liverpool box, the forwards couldn’t find their composure. Rasmus Hojlund went missing in action in the first half, when he had only four touches. He finally got a big chance when McTominay slipped him through in the 67th minute, but his point-blank shot went straight at Alisson. Nobody sent a decent cross into him until the very end. Rashford and Luke Shaw, reunited at last on the left, played a give-and-go (and give again, and go again) and then Rashford drilled in a low ball, only for Hojlund to be beaten to it. Tony Cascarino, in The Times, said he looked like a Championship centre-forward: certainly it feels as if United blundered by not going for someone more seasoned, such as Ollie Watkins.
Antony, meanwhile, is getting into the team only as a defender in disguise. He put in a proper shift helping Diogo Dalot (who should never have had two yellow cards for the price of one) and even topped the chart for tackles in the match with seven. But as soon as United got hold of the ball, Antony turned back into a waste of money. The next two league games are both tough ones (West Ham away, Villa home) and United badly need goals after three games in which they haven’t scored. As Fernandes returns from suspension, it would make sense for Antony, rather than Mainoo, to be the one to make way. Or for McTominay, United’s best finisher in the league, to start a job-share with Hojlund.
Tim de Lisle is the editor of United Writing and a sportswriter at The Guardian. If you’re still on the medium formerly known as Twitter, do follow him and United Writing.