The great northern rivalry of English football has been a little one sided of late. Just two of Manchester United’s last 15 meetings with Liverpool have seen them emerge victorious. Last season’s Premier League clashes were won by a 9-0 aggregate margin to Jurgen Klopp’s side, and in both games it might have been worse. Mohamed Salah scored as many goals at Old Trafford last season as Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Anthony Martial combined.
With that recent history, the bar is set so low for Erik ten Hag in his first competitive meeting with Liverpool that even the sort of faceplant as performance his side delivered in their opening two league games might constitute progress. Well, maybe not the Brentford game.
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The former Ajax manager goes into what was, on paper, the first great test of his tenure with precious little that he might want. The player to dictate play from the base of midfield has not arrived; instead of a facilitator they are ploughing on to secure one of the game’s best destroyers in Casemiro, paying a 30-year-old one of the most generous salaries at Old Trafford for the next five years. The Brazilian won’t be registered in time and bar the returning Anthony Martial there is no cavalry coming. As Rick Pitino might say, “Cristiano Ronaldo ain’t walking through that door.” Only, awkwardly, a version of him has, and, after not making much difference, he’s turned around Abe Simpson style, attempting to force his way out of the club almost as soon as he arrived. …
Source : cbssports
