Manchester United v Liverpool

With memories of that night in March fresh in the heads of the United players, they managed to reverse the scoreline and win 3-0 through goals from Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Robin Van Persie.

Pre-match, both clubs knew that this was a must win, for both confidence and the bragging rights. In terms of selection, it was surprising to see Brendan Rodgers drop Simon Mignolet in favour of Brad Jones even though he was in a bad rut of form. It was a bold decision, but in the end, I don't see it as a contributing factor to the final result. For the home side, Louis van Gaal favoured the youngster, James Wilson over the injury prone Radamel Falcao. This was nice to see, as a local lad, he would have grown up in the thick of the rivalry so the victory would have meant a bit more to him than a signing who joined in the summer. 

If we look at the game, Liverpool dominated the opening exchanges and Raheem Sterling had a perfect opening to give Liverpool the lead, but David de Gea remained on his feet to foil the attempt. No more than 25 seconds later, Antonio Valencia found himself one on one with Joe Allen, he pegged him before pulling the ball back to the edge of the area for captain Wayne Rooney to fire it past Jones in nets. This goal could have been prvented if a holding midfielder had tracked the run of Wayne Rooney, marking him outside the box and making it a lot more difficult to get the shot off.

The second goal was dubious to say the least. A cross on the left from Ashley Young met the head of Van Persie who flicked it too Juan Mata who nodded it into the back of the net. Juan Mata was at least a yard offside when Van Persie flicked the ball on, so I'm assuming that Mike Mallarky did not believe it touched the Dutchman. I firmly believe that if Martin Skrtel had got closer to Van Persie, then he could have headed the ball to safety.

Liverpool could have easily had at least 3 goals but for the efforts of man of the match David de Gea, Mario Balotelli could have had a hat trick when he came on at half time for Adam Lallana and Sterling squandered a glorious one on one opportunity against the United keeper. The score line was complete when a swift counter attack from United resulted in Rooney drilling a low cross into the box before a poor clearance from Dejan Lovren allowed Juan Mata to free Van Persie who applied the finish. While the move should never have materialised, if Lovren had cleared properly, a tracking holding midfielder may have halted it and sweeped up the poor clearance. 

As for individual performances, Sterling was getting into positions but couldn't handle the finish. He created more chances than anyone else and did cause problems for a uninspiring defence but was unable to beat De Gea who was in fine form. On another day, Sterling could have had a hat trick. With goals being a worry for Liverpool of late, Brendan is encouraged that Sterling is getting into scoring positions. He just needs to be composed, then the goals will eventually come. 

As for half time substitute, Mario Balotelli, he is in a similar pickle. I felt he didn't contribute as much as he could have in open play, but, like Sterling, was getting in goal scoring opportunities but was not able to beat inform de Gea. We saw a few bits of frustration from the Italian, and I get the sense that the fans are running out of patience with him. Philipe Coutinho tried to get the odd moves initiated but like most of the Liverpool midfield, he was restricted and well marshalled by Marouane Fellaini.

The midfield for Liverpool had plenty of the ball, but they were unable to beat Marouane Fellaini, who had a very good performance. He stifled they play and was used as a defensive ball winning midfielder, a role which he performed with aplomb. It was up in the air as to whether he was going to remain a United player in the summer as nobody saw where he fitted into LVG's technical strategy, but if his performances become more consistent then nobody will have any qualms about him remaining.

I thought that the wing-backs for United, particularly Valencia, operated and got joy down the flanks as so amply demonstrated in the build up to the first goal. Valencia got the better of his man on countless occasions and this possibly could have warranted more goals for his side. In defence, I also thought Michael Carrick was a standout performer. Playing out of position, he did have hairy situations, but with 94% passing, his distribution from the back was textbook. If United's injury tally remains at a critical level, then this positional change for Carrick may be employed more regularly. 

As Gary Neville pointed out in commentary, it's a rarity that a keeper gets the man of the match award when his team wins 3-0, but that's David de Gea for you. He pulled off several truly magnificent saves to keep Liverpool at bay. I was particularly impressed with his one on one save against Sterling when the Liverpool tried to take it around him. Plenty of keepers would have rushed out and gone to ground leaving an easy goal for the attacker. Without him today, United could have conceded at least 3 goals leaving a completely different outcome on the game. I am really not surprised that Real Madrid are in the market for him, as he would be the perfect heir to the Casillas throne.

Manchester United increase their winning run to 6 games while Liverpool aim to start a run having gone out of the Champions League midweek. Pressure must be building on Rodgers while Van Gaal must be quietly confident about a successful season.

Is Brendan's Time Nearly Up?

The month of November threw up many trials and tribulations for Liverpool Football Club and their manager Brendan Rodgers. Having lost four out of the six games played during the month and only collecting 4 points, there have been a few rumblings of discontent amongst the Liverpool faithful. Is the Northern Irishman's time up on Merseyside? Or can he turn it around?

First of all, this piece can not begin without mentioning the terrific season they had last year, and probably should have even won the league. Rodgers made a very shrewd investment in Sturridge and his partnership with one Luis Suarez merited 55 goals in all competitions. The infamous partnership of Sturridge and Suarez (SAS) contributed greatly to their 101 league goals in that campaign, over twice the amount they scored two seasons prior in the 2011/2012 league season and thirty more than the 2012/2013 campaign. Without Rodgers' guidance, Liverpool probably wouldn't have been in that position at the end of the last campaign.

The most notable negative about the last season for Liverpool was sheer amount of goals conceded at the back. Seven teams in the Premier League conceded less goals than Liverpool and the net of the Champions' Manchester City was only breached 37 times - a colossal difference compared to the 50 goals conceded by Mignolet and co. Sticking with the topic of Simon Mignolet, I find similarities between him and David de Gea who was like Bambi on ice, when he first arrived at their fierce rivals Manchester United. He appears quite indecisive and is prone to one or two mistakes from set pieces. Although two years older than de Gea, he is nowhere near his peak, he has plenty of time to grow, and develop into a solid keeper. With the attacking prowess of Suarez sold to Barcelona, and Daniel Sturridge battling repetitive injuries, the problem at the back has only been emphasised. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that Liverpool struggle at the back, and it looks like Rodgers' signings in the summer has done nothing to aid this cause.

This leads on to his summer signings, which if I'm honest have largely failed to impose any confidence for the manager in their short times on Merseyside. I'll always remember thinking that Brendan must be desperate if he is sinking as low as to sign a problematic Mario Balotelli. Even though he isn't setting any fireworks alight in his bathroom, neither is he on the pitch either. Scoring a measly 2 goals in his 12 appearances on Merseyside, the Italian has to do a lot better if he is going to remain employed, nevermind replicate the accomplishments of one Luis Suarez. Rodgers signed Alberto Moreno and Javi Manquillo to improve Liverpool down the flanks. In fairness to their manager, he has given his new signings plenty of game time, but they too have been unable to prevent Liverpool conceding a large number of goals. Having been sent on loan from Atletico, Manquillo, will be looking to gain vital experience and challenge Glen Johnson for his position, something which he seems to be achieving.

Rodgers raided Southampton FC to acquire Dejan Lovren, Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana. Lovren was signed to plug a leaky defence, but he has found himself on the bench recently after a few questionable performances. At approximately £20m, it seems to be that Brendan overpaid on the Croatian. The signing of Rickie Lambert stems back to that fateful Sunday afternoon in April when Jose Mourinho's Chelsea parked at coach in front of the Kop at Anfield. Plan A wasn't working for Liverpool and Plan B was plan A revisited. In short, Lambert was signed to offer them a target man for them to pump balls into the box whenever their usual exciting football was not breaking the defence down. So far this season, he has made most of his appearances of the bench.

Similar to Lovren, Lallana has not imposed himself upon his new club, but his appearances in the Premier League have been sporadic to say the least. Now that he netted his second goal for Liverpool on Tuesday night, Brendan will be hoping that he can kick off and net a few more before the end of the season. We need to consider the 'wonderkid' that Brendan Rodgers brought from Portugal. Lazar Markovic is tipped to be the next best thing to come from a nation that contains all of youthful talent. Markovic epitomises Liverpool's season so far: hasn't started. A factor that could be hindering the Serbian's growth is his lack of playing time. He hasn't played in the Premier League since the Merseyside Derby at the end of September and has only come off the bench to accumulate 172 minutes out of the games played so far. Yes he has disappointed so far, but he hasn't been given enough game time to shine, on the other hand, he has age on his side. At 20 years of age, he has an abundance of time to turn into a future Liverpool star.

Brendan Rodgers needs time. He recruited the players that he wanted in the summer and he has to be given time to see if they can produce the goods. There is no point in sacking a manager and having to start the process all over again. I believe Rodgers himself said that it will take time to get this right and time is what he must be given. Having taken Liverpool to within a hair of the title, the board should reward him by sticking with him throughout the tough times, and this will make the highs taste ever so more sweeter. On the contrary, very football management is a cut throat business, and results are demanded imminently as the cliche goes; if you can't handle the heat, get out of the dugout...