In his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, former Liverpool and Nottingham Forest star Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including Liverpool’s 7-0 win over Manchester United, the state of the title race, and Tammy Abraham’s potential return to the Premier League.
Lessons for both Liverpool and Manchester United after shock 7-0 drubbing
Where else to start but with Liverpool’s 7-0 demolition of Manchester United? This was a result no one saw coming, and I think it would end up being an important one for Erik ten Hag.
I was surprised at some of the talk before the game of Man Utd being title challengers – they might not be that far behind Manchester City and Arsenal, but I think most people would’ve recognised that there’s still plenty of work to do. Marcus Rashford has been in the form of his life, as are several other players, but Ten Hag is still a relative rookie, at least at Premier League level, so there are still areas to learn and improve in.
I thought in the first twenty minutes United actually did quite well, but the second half was a capitulation. That’ll worry Ten Hag – players losing their discipline and not sticking to the game plan, not sticking to the process, to borrow a modern football expression. In the longer term, and I’m talking about the next 18 months, I think this could end up being a healthy dose of humility. I don’t think Ten Hag has been cocky and shouting from the rooftops about winning four trophies, and I don’t think the majority of match-going Manchester United fans have either, they’re seeing progress, and they still have silverware to play for this season, but I think this result at Anfield can put an end to the talk of a title tilt. This is where United are at – it’s a healthy wake up call, and if they win another trophy, which they could, then it’ll be an excellent season, but they mustn’t get ahead of themselves.
For Liverpool, the lesson is much the same – don’t get carried away in thinking that this is Jurgen Klopp’s side on their way back and edging towards everything being as it was. The point still stands that Liverpool probably need two or three new midfielders this summer, probably a right-back as cover or competition for Trent Alexander-Arnold, and possibly a central defender as Virgil van Dijk’s not getting any younger and I’m not convinced that Ibrahima Konate or Joe Gomez have the quality that they can be the next clean sheet machine…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Serie A – CaughtOffside…