This match on Sunday will be David Moyes’ most important match of his career. Do not be mistaken one bit. He, the United fans and the board will be looking at this match as the barometer to see if he really has what it takes to continue in Alex Ferguson’s shoes. Many Man United fans like to draw a comparison to the succession of Bob Paisley to Bill Shankly. Then of Joe Fagan to Bob Paisley. Then of Kenny Dalglish to Fagan. This difference though, which these United fans do not understand, is that we had the famous Boot Room. The managers that followed Bill Shankly were prepared and groomed to take over from the great man himself. With Moyes, most, if not all of Ferguson’s backroom staff have since left. There was no continuity. No smooth transition, and the Reds can take advantage of that. Moyes has never picked up three points at Anfield. If he does this time around, it will validate him and give him confidence in managing Manchester United. If he loses, his faith and confidence will be shot…and I will be smiling.
Liverpool have been playing brilliant football at times during this infant stage of the season. But we have also been prone to a few lapses of concentration. Agger’s handball against Stoke, the inexplicable last ten minutes of the Aston Villa game and the second half of the Notts County game. We cannot allow this to happen on Sunday.
So how do we beat them
I hoped that Rodgers would share my thinking in resting some of the first team players. Alas, he did not. And my worst fears were realised when Kolo Toure was carried off the field. He had been a calming, yet confident presence in our back four. We will be weaker without him. And it only gets worse, with Coates injured and Skrtel fighting to be fit. So with a weaker back four, we will be attempting to keep out the second most feared striker in England (behind Luis Suarez). We did well against Aston Villa by cutting off the supply to Christian Benteke. This would not be as affect against Van Persie because unlike Benteke, Van Persie will drop deeper to collect the ball. This is a secondary threat that we need to accommodate for. Our back four need to be tight and solid, but we will also need our defensive midfielders to be on their game. When Van Persie and Rooney drop into the hole, Lucas and Gerrard need to be there kill any and all potential threats.
In an attacking sense, I would like to see Sterling replace Aspas in the starling eleven. His pace and directness will give Ferdinand and Vidic numerous problems. And his pace will also be an asset for Coutinho and Gerrards’ wide range of passes. And the carrot for us after the 90 minutes is that should we win, we will be on top of the table. But one thing we all need to remember, no matter the result, we are still Liverpool FC.
Latest Forum Discussion