Erik ten Hag was delighted with his Manchester United side. But after beating Liverpool, the full picture needs to be viewed to get an accurate reading of things.
Manchester United deserves some credit for the way that it won the game against Liverpool. Erik ten Hag will feel that his side was worthy of its place in the semi-finals, where it will face Coventry City.
Ultimately, though, the reality is clear. Ten Hag was going a little overboard with his comments at the final whistle in a fixture that could have swung either way. Liverpool played nothing like its best football — if it had, the Reds would have won at a canter. If Cody Gakpo’s passing had been a little sharper, it might have done regardless.
Liverpool gave away silly goals and could not make the most of the vast amounts of space that the Manchester United set-up (and its flimsy midfield) allowed them. And if you aren’t clinical, then you always run the risk of being hit with a hammer blow.
“This could be that moment,” Ten Hag said at the final whistle, via the BBC. “It can give the team the belief and energy to do amazing things. When you beat Liverpool you can beat any opponent.”
That might be true to some degree, but there is an element of ‘Ole’s at the wheel’ about such a statement. While Manchester United beat Liverpool, there is still a 17-point gap in the Premier League table. The Reds should have won even when playing well below par and looking physically and mentally jaded.
The real story of Manchester United 4-3 Liverpool should be that Ten Hag’s side needed to play at its best to win, while the visitor could have gone through despite its flaws. No one should be getting carried away.
“They are great characters and we see the determination again,” Ten Hag continued. “This season we have had so many setbacks and every time we have had to adapt. Yesterday, Jonny Evans dropped out at the last minute and then we have to bring in a player (Aaron Wan-Bissaka) who didn’t play for four or five weeks and had only one or two training sessions.
“But we can deal better with such situations than we did in the autumn when it was difficult. I am very proud of the run we are in but we still have to catch up. I am happy Spurs lost and Aston Villa dropped points. We are happy to be in the semi-final but we have to keep going.”
Keeping going will ultimately be the true test of whether or not Manchester United really has turned a corner. In three weeks, the teams will reconvene at the same time and in the same stadium, this time in the Premier League. If Liverpool turns up, it will win, but if Manchester United thinks that the game will be the same again, it will have another thing coming.
That is not to say that the Reds will definitely go to Old Trafford and get what would be a vital three points — instead, it is a reflection of what went wrong. Liverpool has not often passed up so many chances to score goals this season.
“Man City will beat you comfortably in the final & ETH will still be in charge next season,” Jamie Carragher tweeted post-match. “It’s not the win you think it is!”. If Ten Hag’s side plays the same game on April 7, the scoreline against Jürgen Klopp’s men on that occasion could be very different.
