Manchester United had not won at Anfield in almost ten years until today when they had the good fortune to come up against a Liverpool side that despite huge investment has simply not managed to gel. A four engine jet with only two of its engines functioning it is finding it hard to gain lift, and when it does, it is just as hard to maintain it. Whatever way Liverpool have played this season, they have never cruised.
I was just in from walking the dog and had not just made it out of the shower when my son shouted up that United were a goal in front. The surprise in that was not that Old Trafford men had taken the lead, just that it had come so early. This morning I had said to my son - who is now even more grumpily animated than me in front of the screen - that I expected Liverpool to lose based on their performances all season. Since Crystal Palace found them out four games ago, other teams have rushed the gap determined to ensure that once found out they will stay out. Arne Slot, despite his team selection has not yet found a way back in.
There are some positives to be taken from the game. Ibrahim Konate was Liverpool's standout player. His return to form after an inauspicious start is reassuring. If Liverpool are guilty of overspending on forwards in the summer transfer window, they were even more guilty of underspending in the backline, their two acquisitions combined at left and right back, pocket money compared to what was poured into the front line. Arguably, the target was missed because in need of even more reinforcing than the two wide defensive players is the centre back area. They had hoped for two, but only managed one who is out for the season with an injury sustained in his first competitive game. Joe Gomez is the natural back-up. Endo can fill in but he is not the player needed to sustain the backline for any length of time at this level.
In addition to Konate's performance, Florian Wirtz despite coming on as a second half sub showed a determination to become more involved in the play. Cody Gakpo although missing an easy chance with his head, and hitting the woodwork three times, scored Liverpool's only goal and is starting to show the form that made him such a success in the title winning side.
Against that has been an underwhelming start to Isak's season. How Eddie Howe and the Geordie contingent must be smirking. Ekitike is a much sharper striker who should be fielded from the start of the match.
Perhaps the best move made by Slot in his substitutions lay not in who he brought on but in taking Salah off. At a point in the game when Liverpool desperately needed a goal Slot gave Salah a vote of no confidence, rubbing the salt in by replacing him with the man bought in the close season as a right back who stepped up to the plate immediately with two crisply delivered crosses. Salah has been enduring his worst season in a Liverpool shirt. The money expended in keeping him has not paid dividends. It is baffling why Chiesa is not played from the start with Salah in the subs as a possible replacement if a change is needed. Salah is a great player but seems so out of place in this new Liverpool set up.
While this Liverpool team will click at some point, the moment when they do might be too late to see them retain their title.
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