Footy Speak

Forget Chelsea vs United on the pitch – a game which both teams seemed happy to draw until a dodgy set-piece – there were far more entertaining matters taking place off the pitch.

Just what is this guy playing at?!

Today’s mammoth clash between Liverpool and Manchester United doesn’t decide who wins the Premier League this season, but it did speak volumes about the make-up of both sides.

In years gone by, United have had big characters who rolled their sleeves up in times of need; Hughes, Bruce, Pallister, Ince, Keane, Stam – even Beckham. But for all the qualities that this current-day squad possess, a combative, body-on-the-line spirit isn’t one of them.

Too many times in recent memory have this United side surrendered a crucial match with a whimper, with the Champions League Final in Rome being the most inglorious example. Today, Liverpool didn’t have to be particularly impressive in order to celebrate their third successive win over United but they applied the fundamentals, scrapped for every ball, and fought as though their lives depended on it. In circumstances like that, you expect the opposition to match that endeavour but it never happened and the champions meekly raised the white flag and conceded three points to their most bitter rivals.

The one-paced United midfield were never gifted a second with Lucas and Mascherano in their faces and first to every loose ball, supported by the trio of willing hustlers in Kuyt, Benayoun and Aurelio. Scholes and Carrick surely isn’t the answer for Ferguson’s side in big games; technically astute they may be but as a pairing they lack pace, mobility and physical presence. What the great Scot would have given for Darren Fletcher and Owen Hargreaves. Sir Alex has a vast array of options in that middle third but, when it comes to the grand occasion, is it a case of numerous tradesmen and masters of none?

That’s for Fergie to seriously ponder. But nevertheless, take nothing away from Liverpool; when the chips are down, they seem to be in total contrast to United. Four straight defeats and yet you could sense even before kick-off that they were going to give this everything they had and more often than not, that’s enough.

Manchester United equalled Ajax’s record of 14 successive unbeaten away matches in the Champions League last night after beating CSKA Moscow 1-0 to move within touching distance of the knockout stages.

Sir Alex Ferguson hailed a thoroughly professional performance as Antonio Valencia’s second goal in as many matches, four minutes from time, saw off Juande Ramos’s side and ensured United matched the record set by the Dutch club between 1994 and 1997.

United and Ajax both lost Champions League finals in Italy during these 14-game runs, but let’s not be pedantic…

Like Chelsea, 4-0 winners over Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge, a point from their next fixture — against CSKA at Old Trafford on November 3 — should be enough to secure qualification with two games to spare.

With Liverpool to play at Anfield on Sunday, it was the perfect run-out and result for United, who also avoided any further injuries on the artificial pitch at the Luzhniki Stadium.

Liverpool fans love the number five. It’s what sets them apart. It’s what makes them believe. Five times they’ve lifted the European Cup and they never let anyone forget it.

But now, they’re facing an altogether different number five. An unprecedented fifth successive defeat, against their arch rivals Manchester United on Sunday, would leave a season that was so hyped, so bullish, so promising…. in tatters. In October. Five has become a hugely frightening number indeed.

And it might not stop there. This morning Rafa Benitez’s side lick their wounds that could easily be reopened time and time again in the next fortnight as, after the champions come to town, there are two more crunch clashes with Arsenal and Lyon again.

Liverpool’s 2-1 home defeat to the French league leaders has left them with a uphill battle to qualify for the Champions League second round; failure to do so would be a catastrophic malfunction, both on the pitch and in the boardroom.

What has happened to the swash-buckling, steam-rollering, free-scoring, never-say-die Liverpool from last spring? Jamie Carragher cut the most forlorn figure you are ever likely to see as the final whistle went last night; close to tears in his post-match interview. This is Jamie Carragher – the embodiment of all that it stands for to be a Liverpool player – and there he was looking like a totally broken man.

These are worrying times for Rafael Benitez. Manchester United will head to Merseyside on Sunday smelling blood, envisioning a huge Street Fighteresque ‘Finish Him’ mirage above the Anfield pitch – and if they head back down the East Lancs with a ten-point lead over Liverpool, Benitez – and his team’s 2009/10 season – may well indeed be finished.