It’s been a long time since a Manchester United v Liverpool game felt of less consequence. These are the two most successful sides in English league history, hailing from neighbouring cities and they have a rivalry that stretches back well over a century. Yet it felt perhaps only the seventh-most significant fixture of the weekend, behind the games involving the two title contenders, Arsenal and Manchester City, and the four sides still scrapping to avoid joining Wolves and Burnley in being relegated this season – Leeds, Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Tottenham.
United’s 3-2 win sealed their place in next season’s Champions League while, barring very odd swings of goal difference, Liverpool need just three points from their remaining three games to be certain of their own qualification. For both, the biggest issue now is deciding who manages them next season – and this was a ragged enough game to cast doubts over the suitability of Michael Carrick and Arne Slot for their respective sides.
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All the indications from Anfield are that they will stick with Slot, although when United went 2-0 up inside 14 minutes there was a thought that this could be a defeat of such magnitude that it might make his position untenable. Nobody could pretend Liverpool have been good this season – they have lost 11 Premier League games, and were utterly outplayed by Paris Saint-Germain in the away leg of their Champions League quarter-final defeat – but there are explanations.
Most obviously there was the death of Diogo Jota. It will probably be years before players are able properly to understand the impact his death had on them and perhaps longer still before they can begin to articulate what it was, but it would be extremely unusual if grief had not affected at least some of the squad.
But there were also football reasons to anticipate this season would not be straightforward for Liverpool. The last campaign was odd. They won the title when nobody expected them to, having made only one senior signing the previous summer, and by the end of the season there was a sense that they probably needed five or six new players. Not only that, but Slot himself was beginning to talk about opponents having worked out his approach. It’s not untrue to say it was the final hurrah of Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool, but equally Slot had them play in a more reserved, conservative fashion. The old approach tempered by something new produced something extremely potent.
Any side making five major signings and changing style is taking a risk. It will always take time for the new system to bed in, and Liverpool were hampered by two factors: that it took them so long to get the Alexander Isak deal done and that they’ve suffered such misfortune with injuries that the big three purchases – Isak, Hugo Ekitiké and Florian Wirtz – have been able to start only one game together. It’s not entirely apparent what the plan was but, equally, it’s never been possible to put it into practice.
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At the same time certain key players – Mohamed Salah, Alexis Mac Allister, Andy Robertson, Ibrahima Konaté and, to an extent, Virgil van Dijk – have suffered downturns in form. Slot has not been without blame but it doesn’t seem unreasonable to think that a manager who won the league in his first season might be afforded an off year given the mitigating circumstances. Unless, that is, Liverpool have an outstanding candidate already lined up to replace him.
Slot’s biggest problem, perhaps, is that the relationship between Klopp and Liverpool fans was so intense, so exhausting, that whatever came next was always going to seem, perhaps necessarily, more transactional. This is fine so long as results are good, but means there is very little affection to draw on when performances dip.
If Liverpool have questions to answer, the sense is that United have an answer to question. Carrick arrived as an interim manager but has won 10 and drawn two of his 14 games in charge. At first glance, that looks exceptional, but United’s early exits from both cup competitions and their lack of European football has meant that they are much fresher than almost every opponent they have faced in his tenure. Has the football been so stunning to convince directors that he can reproduce that with Champions League involvement next season?
Really the question comes down to his work around the training field, how the players feel and the impression he has made within the club. The problem United have created is that if they do replace Carrick, he is going to be invoked as soon as any replacement suffers the slightest wobble. And yet the case for him is not overwhelming: he’s managed to achieve the precise level of success to make the decision as hard as possible.
It feels probable at this stage that Carrick and Slot will still be in charge when United and Liverpool next play each other but it’s perfectly possible to make a case that neither should be.
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This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Have a question for Jonathan? Email soccerwithjw@theguardian.com, and he’ll answer the best in a future edition
