Manchester United players huddled in the dressing room and again on the pitch before the start of the game against Sunderland. Their talks were about starting positive and pressing the Black Cats before they could settle. This approach to the game will be vital next week when United go to Anfield because Ruben Amorim and Bruno Fernandes know that Liverpool conceded in the first 20 minutes of their past three matches.
Considerable confidence has been restored in United’s usual shaky defence with the signing of Senne Lammens in goal. The players in front of Andre Onana never felt secure, they did not trust him. With Lammens that negativity and concern has disappeared because the calming influence he has on the players and crowd who spent long afternoons with their hearts in their mouths worrying whether Onana would have a good or disastrous game. Playing against Sunderland saw Lammens make two excellent saves during the match, one punched and the other caught which brought the crowd to their feet with an applause which was loud and encouraging. His distribution and passing are very good indeed.
Amad Diallo played an important part as a No10 last season but this time around Amorim is using him more as a wingback and he has developed a partnership down the right with Bryan Mbuemo. They look to Lammens to get them moving forward. Against teams who play on the front foot, Amorim might bring in Noussair Mazraoui or Diogo Dalot but against Sunderland his chosen pair passed to each other thirteen times and posed a real threat. Clearly what has gone wrong on the field lately is being sorted out on the training field but United are aware that the next game at Anfield will be a tough test.
**United owners say they are prepared to give Amorim three years to prove himself and get the club back in contention for top honours. Their next four games are against Liverpool, Brighton, Forest and Spurs and the coach will have to win at least two of those to prevent his future coming under scrutiny again. What I wonder is what would Barcelona, Real Madrid, PSG or Bayern Munich owners do if their clubs were placed 15th in the league like United?
What has gone wrong with Mo Salah?
During the past few seasons Erling Haaland and Mo Salah have battled for the Golden Boot. Haaland is once again in contention but Salah, since signing an extension to his contract, is out of sorts. What has happened to Liverpool’s goal scoring machine?
In the Chelsea game Mo was presented with three clear cut chances which in previous seasons would have put him on the scoresheet. On Sunday he sent the shots wide and high to the delight of the Chelsea supporters in the Shed End.
After spending £446million on new players during the summer, Liverpool still miss the creativity of Trent Alexander-Arnold and their midfield is not showing its usual quality in front of a shaky defence. However, Arne Slot’s biggest challenge is helping Salah to recover his mojo or has age finally caught up with the Egyptian wizard?
Last season Salah was involved in 57 goals, either scoring or assisting. So far, he has made three assists and scored three.
Recognising Mo’s lack of form, the manager dropped him to the bench for the Galatasary game. The first time Mo had not started since Slot joined the club.
Is Mo’s problem a knock-on effect from changes to the team and the absence of Alexander-Arnold’s creative moves behind him? Is it a change in Liverpool’s general playing approach?
Salah is backed up by Conor Bradley this season and is a more conventional right back who does his job well but rarely provides Mo with clear chances. Jeremy Frimpong is another who, like Bradley, will fly up the wing whereas Alexander-Arnold would move inside and either pass out to Mo or place the ball for him to run onto.
Mo used to wander into the centre more often than he does now because those spaces are usually occupied by Florian Wirtz and Mo is confined to creating his own chances on the wing. Liverpool are in desperate need for that to change and it is perhaps Slot’s fault that the potency of Salah is being hindered. You might ask if Liverpool needed Florian Wirtz given his lack of goals and the fact that he is preventing Mo from moving onto goal scoring positions.
Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike are also players Mo is not used to working with. Previously he operated effectively with deeper-lying forwards such as Luis Diaz and Roberto Firmino.
Mo has been criticised for not getting back to help in defence when Bradley gets into trouble and this was evident during the Chelsea game. These days he runs more slowly and tends to watch from upfield.
It is true that many coaches are not so worried about Salah these days and Chelsea’s left back Marc Cucurella was told by Enzo Maresca to leave Salah upfield and go in hunt of a goal himself and he assisted Estevao Willian’s winner.
Mo was on international duty this week but before that he was in the gym working on his usual punishing routine to keep his body in tip top condition but most of all he is trying to rebuild his strength and confidence and working out what has gone wrong.
City plan for the future
Pep Guardiola sat down with his staff and his director of football, Hugo Viana to plot out the future of his playing staff.
Tying down their younger talent was decided as the main strategy and as a result 21-year-old Savinho signed a new contract extension which keeps him at the Etihad until 2031. He was signed from sister club Troyes in 2024 for £30.8million.
This follows new deals for 20-year-old midfielder, Nico O’Reilly and 20-year-old full back Rico Lewis. City already have 23-year-old Jeremy Doku and 22-year-old Oscar Bobb tied down to long contracts.
When the older players eventually hang up their boots there would be plenty of young talents ready to step up and continue Pep Guardiola’s legacy.
Grealish goes for goal
Jack Grealish again shows what a talent he is. His late winner against high flying Crystal Palace was, he said after the game, thanks to coach David Moyes. Earlier in the week Moyes and his first assistant Andy Irvine had spent time working with Jack to encourage him to shoot for goal more often and to spend more time in the penalty area and not just concentrate on the wing. At half time with Everton one goal down, the Toffees players were all pointing their fingers at one another trying to find a way to beat Palace. Moyes took Grealish to one side and reminded him of their conversations and training from earlier in the week. Consequently, Jack was in the penalty area by the back post when Beto’s point-blank header was parried by Palace keeper Dean Henderson and Daniel Munoz’s half clearance went straight to Grealish who put the ball into the net. You could see how delighted Jack was as he ran towards his parents in the stands with arms wide open and a grin on his face.