Manchester United were not at their best against Liverpool, but Erik ten Hag’s side still managed to hold Jurgen Klopp’s team to a draw at Old Trafford this past weekend.
Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United played out a 2-2 draw with Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday.
Liverpool took the lead through Luis Diaz midway through the first half. Bruno Fernandes equalised for the Red Devils five minutes into the second period.
Kobbie Mainoo made it 2-1 to United midway through the second half. Mohamed Salah, who could leave Anfield for good in the summer transfer window, scored the equaliser for Liverpool in the 84th minute from the penalty spot.
Liverpool had a number of chances, and I think that the Merseyside club should have taken them and won the match.
The draw is unlikely to do much for United. I do not think that Ten Hag’s team are going to beat Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa to the fourth spot in the Premier League table this season.
Alan Pardew watched the match, and the talkSPORT pundit noted that two United forwards were not helping the team defensively.
The former Newcastle United manager has said that England international forward Marcus Rashford was poor defensively.
Pardew has stated that Alejandro Garnacho did not help out defensively either and has noted that the 19-year-old Argentina international winger did not track back.
Garnacho started on the right wing, while Rashford was deployed on the left. Bruno Fernandes was playing down the middle as the playmaker.
Marcus Rashford’s Manchester United teammate criticised
Pardew said on talkSPORT (8:28 pm, April 7, 2024): “Listen, before we get onto Rashford, Garnacho, let me tell you, right, as good as he is and I really like him as an attacking threat and he looks like your best player offensively, defensively he was poor today, his tracking back was as poor as Rashford’s.
“When you have got two players who are not tracking back in the sort of detail that you need, then your central midfield players are in big trouble.
“Casemiro today, there were a couple of occasions today where he wasn’t running back because he couldn’t run back. He was doing so much work.”
What Erik ten Hag said about Alejandro Garnacho after Liverpool match
Alejandro Garnacho was not exactly at his best for Manchester United against Liverpool.
The winger could not always trouble the Liverpool defence, but he was still United’s main attacking threat and looked a threat most of the time when he had the ball.
United manager Erik ten Hag was not particularly impressed with Garnacho and has noted that the winger was tired.
The Manchester Evening News has quoted Ten Hag as saying about his decision to take off Garnacho: “Today, Alejandro, [it] wasn’t his game, he wasn’t that fresh as he can usually be. He always had some decisive moments in games, [but] he was tired.
“We are winning at that moment, they went more offensive in that period, to bring more control in the centre of the midfield.”
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