6 March 2011 Opposition

Date: 6 March 2011 Times Guardian Mail March2011 6 Opposition: Manchester United Telegraph Independent Mirror Echo Competition: League Ferguson applies silent treatment; The Premier League leaders were Barclays Premier League: Lethal Kuyt tears United to shreds left speechless after a defeat that cast severe doubt on their claims to It felt like springtime at Anfield yesterday. The sun came out just before the kick- the title off to illuminate a wonderfully entertaining match, but it was outshone by the If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all, goes the adage. Or as Sir smile on Kenny Dalglish's face as, with his side 3-0 up on their fiercest rivals, he Alex Ferguson tends to put it: "You'se lot can all f*** off ". listened to the Kop celebrating his 60th birthday, which fell on Friday. With nothing positive to be said of this Manchester United performance and What Dalglish had seen, as he entered his seventh decade, was the unmistakeable preferring to eat glass rather than praise Liverpool, Ferguson led a media boycott sight of the green shoots of recovery. A club so long mired in doubt and yesterday that ensured the term "graceless" could be inserted ahead of losers. despondency is emerging into the light. After that 1-0 victory over Chelsea four Justified anger at Jamie Carragher's horrible studs-up lunge at Nani -- backed up weeks ago, this defeat of Manchester United confirmed the reality of the changes with photographic evidence of a gruesome gash -- could not excuse United's in mood and mentality since the Scot took over in the first week of January. wider failings, so Ferguson and his entire staff took the option of saying nothing at Dirk Kuyt scored his first Liverpool hat-trick yesterday - and the first goals of his all. No doubt they filled empty airtime on MUTV with reruns of great victories to a career against Manchester United - but he would have been happy to ascribe the soundtrack of soothing violins. credit for his success to the prodigious efforts of Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan Ferguson could have just accepted that United were beaten by the better side -- forward, who briefly made himself the most unpopular man in world football last "no excuses", as Rio Ferdinand tweeted -- but measured reaction comes hard summer by denying Ghana a place in the World Cup semi-finals, has now helped enough, particularly at this time of the season after an afternoon of raw intensity. bring a long-lost sense of optimism back to Liverpool. So the only noise from the United camp was a backside emitting a tiny squeak. After Kuyt had struck for the third time, with 25 minutes left on the clock, there They remain top of the league -- "They are still the benchmark for everyone else," were smiles everywhere, but none bigger than on the face of Dalglish. He beamed Kenny Dalglish said -- and they have to be regarded as favourites for the title, when he sent on Andy Carroll, his pounds 35m striker, with a quarter of an hour given their experience and knowhow, particularly in comparison with their closest left, when he shook Suarez's hand after withdrawing his goal-maker just before challengers, Arsenal. the end of normal time, and when he shared some sort of light-hearted exchange But the only surprise is that defeats such as this, and away to Chelsea in midweek, with his captain, Steven Gerrard, during added time. have taken so long. Who can dispute that one of United's greatest strengths Liverpool had begun this high-pressure fixture by producing football worthy of a remains everybody else's weakness? That is not a view shaped purely by two side entirely comfortable with itself. As early as the second minute, interplay losses in a row -- and three in five league games after none in the previous 24. It between Maxi Rodriguez, Suarez and Raul Meireles almost put Suarez in for an has been said all season while United were getting away with some ordinary opening goal. While the visitors waited to take measure of the match, Dalglish's performances (admittedly a virtue in itself ). men were patiently producing a series of accurate first-time passing moves that They are top and still chasing a treble. Knocking Arsenal out of the FA Cup on dictated the overall shape and rhythm of the exchanges. Saturday may stir obvious comparisons with 1999. But this campaign feels as Suarez should have been booked by Phil Dowd, rather than merely warned, for different in tone to 12 years ago as Roy Keane is to Michael Carrick. the volley of invective loosed at one of the linesmen for failing, in the Uruguayan's Then, United were being pushed to rare heights by a superb Arsenal team fighting view, to spot a foul by Patrice Evra just before the half-hour, but the first of his to defend their own Double. They were required to go on a 33-match unbeaten decisive contributions to the afternoon was not far away. run from Christmas through a series of epic challenges that built to a climax. They Anfield has been waiting a long time to see the sort of confidence he showed in had a first XI with world-class quality from front to back, led by the peerless broken play following the failure of the United defence to clear a corner from the Keane, and reserves of the class and reliability of Phil Neville, Nicky Butt and right, when he set off on a twisting, jinking little dribble which took him past Teddy Sheringham. Rafael da Silva, Michael Carrick and Wes Brown before he prodded the ball across This side are capable of raising their game to a high pitch, and may well do so as the goalmouth, seeing it take a slight deflection off Evra on the way to Kuyt, who soon as Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic are back (not that this defeat could simply tucked it away. be put down to the central defenders) but, all season, they have been vulnerable A handful of minutes later it was Suarez's chip from the right that induced Nani to if they lost a senior player or two and if a good side came at them with real produce the most bizarre of defensive headers, directing the ball back into his conviction. own goalmouth for the grateful Kuyt to nod home. The third goal, after 65 It has taken one half from Chelsea and 90 minutes of sustained intensity from minutes, came from Suarez's 20-yard free-kick, which squirmed out of Van der Liverpool to confirm as much, though there is also the oddity of Ferguson's team Sar's arms and into the path of the voracious Dutchman, who completed a hat- selection in both defeats. trick that came from an aggregate range of no more than seven yards. For almost a decade he has faced the toughest challenges with a five-man It would be no surprise were Dalglish to see a little of his younger self in Suarez. midfield, almost without exception. Unable to find another Keane, and seeking to At 5ft 11in, the pounds 24m capture from Ajax is three inches taller than his banish some of the naivety of the Nineties, he would reinforce the centre. manager, but he possesses a similar talent for using strength and a low centre of Such an approach would seem even more necessary with midfield resources gravity to turn his marker and a familiar awareness of the movement of his team- underwhelming, so who was not surprised to see Carrick and Paul Scholes as a mates. United's spatchcocked defence will not be the only one to suffer. pair in a 4-4-2, not only for Chelsea but again at Anfield? Both times that duo Kuyt was a deserving beneficiary. No player has worked harder through worked, with some success early on, to take the sting out of the opposition, only Liverpool's barren time, in whatever role he has been asked to fill. to be overrun in the second period. Yesterday's performance was also that of a natural predator, demonstrating the To watch Carrick this past week has been to be reminded, sadly, of what he has virtues of instinctive movement, lightning reflexes and economical finishing. "I failed to become. He appears to have all the technical qualities of Xabi Alonso but scored more or these kinds of goals in Holland, when I played as a striker," he said lacks the personality to shape a game, particularly when the tide turns against afterwards. United. The introduction of Carroll provided a further warning to their future opponents For the club to have given him a new contract at 29 is troubling to supporters that Liverpool, who so recently looked impoverished, now have impressive who, understandably, interpret such a move as a sign that transfer funds are resources. Cheered when he came on to warm up with his fellow substitutes half restricted under the Glazers, whatever the manager insists. an hour before the kick-off, when he stripped off and replaced Meireles, and There was talk that Darren Fletcher was suffering from illness, though, if that when his first touch turned out to be a 20-yard header from Jamie Carragher's were the case, why start him at Chelsea and then bring him on yesterday? His free-kick, calmly plucked out of the air by Van der Sar, the Geordie appears to season has been fitful but his tenacity and drive are sorely needed.

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