Man United 3 Liverpool 1: Rodgers sets Liverpool up for a beating

An East-Lancs Derby without the towering figures of the injured Rooney and Steven Gerrard now in sunnier climbs.  Rodgers without his creative mainstay Philippe Coutinho (suspended) and captain Jordan Henderson still out injured started with a 4-4-3 formation with Lucas sitting in front of the back four.

Liverpool seemed intent on lapping up the pressure allowing Man United to come on to them.  The casualness was bourn out by Mignolet casually bowling the ball out into the back of the retreating Mata and was lucky the Fellaini’s chip sailed harmlessly into the stands rather than into the back of the net.  The centre-halfs and Lucas looked panicked stricken on the ball, as their lackadaisical nature set the tone for as poor first half hour as we are likely to see.

Man United as with Liverpool playing a target man upfront, both sides lacked the breaking midfield players of bygone years and a cutting edge in the last third.  The game seemed bereft OF the magic Man City fans are taking tor granted at the moment.

One has to feeL for Benteke, pound for pound the best striker of his type in the League, but Brendan Rodgers has yet to fathom out how to service his striker and is fast running out of time.

It was obvious Rodgers brought his side to play against a less than dominant Man United to avoid the defeat after the loss to West Ham.  Is he running scared, who knows?

Man United looked a more balanced unit with Young replacing the disappointing Depay at the break.

Unbelievably from a dubious free-kick, Liverpool switched off allowing the free-kick to be rolled across the area for Daley Blind to sweep the ball home from the edge of the area.  That one goal showed the lack of leadership in a Liverpool team where experience is of a premium.

De Gea almost inadvertently brought Liverpool back into the game when his tepid pass out found Can, who in turn sent Clyne breaking in the area from the right.  The full-back found Firmino running inside him only to see the Brazilian’s cross for the waiting Benteke hooked away by Smalling in front of the goal-line.

Liverpool stung into response saw Ings volley palmed round the post by de Gea,  The ever decreasing fan club of Lovren will have been dismayed to see the defender brushed off the ball by Fellaini after failing to attack a long ball hit over the top.

Minutes later Liverpool came close again after Skrtel headed on a Milner corner deflecting off Ings only for Danny Blind to knock the ball off the line with Firmino on his heels, not reacting quick enough as he mis-controlled the ball before seeing it squirm wide of the post.

It was to be Firmino’s last real moment in the match as he was replaced by Jordon Ibe.  Firmino still looks to be off the pace and Rodgers may need to continue his Premiership education on a more gradual basis for him to get used to the physicality and speed of the English game.

Any chance of getting back on parity was blown after the inexperience Gomez lunged in on the waiting Herrera giving away a penalty, which the Bilbao native dispatched from the spot with a flourish of his talented right foot high up into the roof of the net.

With Liverpool finally getting forward a string of half chances ensued.

Milner delivered the first real cross of any quality for Benteke over the last two games only for Belgian to head wide of the near post.  Jordan Ibe looking bright cut in from the right before hitting a powerful left footed drive which de Gea easily pushed around the post.

Jordan Ibe again on the right then chipped the ball in from the right which Blind could only head to the right for penalty area.   Christian Benteke unleashed a stunning overhead kick leaving David de Gea no chance as the ball flashed beyond him.

As is the Liverpool way over the last two games any hope was snuffed out by poor defending.  Martial on for the ineffective Mata, picked the ball up in the left hand channel and drove for the area with Skrtel back pedalling like Bradley Wiggins in reverse, cut inside between the centre-half and Clyne to tuck his shot into the corner like a seasoned veteran and distinguish any hopes of a comeback.

Man of the Match: Christian Benteke – Lived on scraps throughout which makes his goal an even more phenomenal effort as his chances throughout the season have been as rare as a cross from a Liverpool winger.

Already one feels sorry for Daniel Ings.  The statistics will say two appearances, but Brendan Rodgers use of the striker says a lot about his mind set and surely Origi or Ibe would have been a better fit for what was expected?

Critical eye:  Rodgers is running out of time and it’s not because we are losing, it’s more the way we are losing.  Against West Ham we were out paced and out powered.  Today, we came to up against a side who were also struggling, had very little pace and creativity, yet Rodgers set us up to draw, not even to nick a win which was disappointing.

The squad is lacking in experience and leadership yet Emre Can and Jordon Ibe are important members of the squad and worryingly are the only two of their types available to the manager.  Rodgers is looking for both to provide creativity from central midfield and on the wings respectively, when their experience says their  optimum levels will fluctuate when we badly need consistency and reliability to push forward.

Rodgers is managing as if expressing his attacking beliefs has become a problem.  He needs to find away of supplying Benteke and having sent out on loan all his young wide men including Markovic this may be a problem.  His position of strength is his strikers and instead of having Ings languishing out on the left he needs to bring him in closer to Benteke as an authentic two upfront or else his time as Liverpool manager may just becoming to end sooner rather than later with Sturridge still weeks away from full fitness.

Liverpool: 22 Mignolet, 2 Clyne, 37 Skrtel, 6 Lovren, 12 Gomez, 7 Milner, 21 Lucas (Moreno – 88 mins), 23 Can, 11 Firmino (Ibe – 65 mins), 9 Benteke, 28 Ings (Origi – 74 mins)

Substitute: 4 K Toure, 17 Sakho, 18 Moreno, 27 Moreno, 27 Origi, 33 Ibe, 34 Bogdan, 46 Rossiter

Referee: Michael Oliver

Attendance: 75,347