Respect Costs Liverpool At Old Trafford

Respect is a word in football that can go so far. But on the pitch  players can show it too much mentally to the opposition. Small things that can matter so much was never so in evidence at Old Trafford yesterday. If any indication was to how average both sides are, the first 18 minutes was a testament to this. Whilst a great team goal from United on 19 minutes the game, compared to United and Liverpool games of the past were vastly short on creativity and quality. Which says as much about the Premier League as anything else but will save those judgements for another post.

Once United took the lead - Liverpool allowed United too much of the ball. Carrick was running the show, unlike the earlier part of the half when we were closing down, now he had the freedom of the pitch to orchestrate United's attacks. What more can be said of Robin Van Persie, give him a yard as Agger did for the goal and you will be punished. The bizarre approval of Danny Welbeck as Man of the Match by Sky, his movement dragged Skrtel out of the space that was soon to be taken by Van Persie to unleash a shot beyond Reina into the net. 1-0.

From then on United could have easily scored a few more, Cleverley and again Van Persie unlucky not to score. The one thing that has been a reoccurring theme especially in big games that Rodgers cannot legislate for is individual mistakes. Both of United's goals could have easily been stopped but players not taking the responsibility to concentrate and be aware of what is around them at this level are punished. People will debate about the offside for the second goal but the defending of the free kick was shambolic to the extreme. Reina's reaction in the goal said it all about the situation. The usual reliable Johnson and young Sterling fell asleep and allowed Evra a yard to get into a position which proved to be crucial. Fine lines between success and failure - United's two goals proved what a minuscule of space a yard can be in football.

From a Liverpool performance point of view - Joe Allen, Lucas and Sterling were non-existent in the first half. As Allen is struggling for form and his confidence, improved in the second half but he needs more than a few games out of the spotlight and work on the training ground. The manager is learning on the job but it's getting a common feature among the Liverpool fan-base that line which is true. The dropping to the bench of Henderson when he is in-form was a massive mistake.

As for Sterling, he has played so many games for a 18 year-old but yesterday was probably a game more suited for the bench and it proved to be as Rafael coped with his effectiveness. The lynch-pin of the system Rodgers wants to play Lucas, is trying to find both form and fitness. It is going to take time to even get back to where he was 14 months ago before the injury at Chelsea and if he even can. We need proper cover for him, like a younger Mascherano type player because games like yesterday needed one from a Liverpool point of view.

In defence of Rodgers, like in games this season he has seen the weakness and quickly rectified it. The introduction of Sturridge, closing down United higher up the pitch forced United onto the back foot despite them going 2-0 in front. The fact Ferguson's substitutions late on were defensive minded, showed the game was swinging in our favour. Whereas United's passing was crisp in the first half, in the second half it was a different story.

Sloppy passing and a interception lead to Liverpool getting back into the game and for Liverpool for once we had a striker following in to finish off what can be construed I feel a mistake not from De Gea but Rafael. The alertness and quickness of Sturridge left the Brazilian flat footed and the new £12 million pound Liverpool striker scored to make it 2-1. Game on.

Liverpool were now in control, Suarez now had the space needed between United's defence and midfield began to show with Sturridge signs of what could be a decent partnership. Linking well together, the midfield was now been controlled by probably the greatest Liverpool player to ever grace the Red jersey. Steven Gerrard began to exert more influence as the second half wore on. The introduction of Borini and Henderson by now provided more energy which at times you felt we were going to overrun the United side.

But as a sign of Champions, United's experience held firm despite Liverpool getting into some decent areas but not capitalising on them. Had Sturridge taken his time, he could have steadied himself but he snapped at a shot with his right foot only to sky it over the bar.

As the clock wore down, United played smart football by keeping the ball in the Liverpool half. When the final whistle blew, it was a moral victory for Liverpool with a tinge of regret that we didn't offer for the whole 90 minutes. For Rodgers and the travelling fans the sign of Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez linking up as they did was a massive plus despite what is heartbreaking losing to what are our most bitterest of rivals. Top 6 is very attainable for Rodgers but the next few games will dictate if that will be the case. For once the referee went unnoticed and Howard Webb refereed the game very well no complaints there.

The story off the pitch was again in the stands, some United supporters still serve out the vile chants and for the majority of the game they could be heard on the TV feeds. No point in repeating them(as some will already know what was being sung) but I am not going to tar all United fans with the same brush as there is a silent majority out there which was proven last September on the Shankly Gates. These embarrassing chants that were show yesterday only indicate to me personally what kind of people use the deaths of 39 and 96 football fans as a tool for cheap point scoring. At the end of the day its a game of high passion but its time the clubs, Premier League, FA curb this as much as they profess about kicking racism out of football. Until then moronic people who weren't even born when these disasters happened will continue to sing them. They need to be educated on what the meaning of supporting your football team is about because singing about dead football fans like themselves is not it.