Liverpool and Manchester United made different moves in the transfer window last year, with the two clubs swapping places. But Eric Ten Haag’s success was short-lived.
Manchester United paid $89 million to sign Casemiro from Real Madrid. Liverpool and Manchester United swapped places last season. In his first season in charge, Erik ten Hag guided Old Trafford to third place in the Premier League, a Champions League final and successfully saved Cristiano Ronaldo from leaving the club.
But it never looked like they were going to overtake Liverpool for good. Otherwise, Jurgen Klopp’s men beat Manchester United 7-0 at Anfield that season. Without a functioning midfield, they finished fifth, with Newcastle and Old Trafford well below the Reds’ sheet.
Early signs this season are that Liverpool are actually leading ahead of Sunday’s game, while Manchester United are struggling. At this point, one side is clearly ahead of the other, but that doesn’t mean every outcome is a foregone conclusion when the two face off.
Last season’s changes were driven by two midfield positions. The wheels fell off for Liverpool last season and the likes of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho went down. In particular, the Brazilian’s performance seemed to fall off a cliff. In reserve, “Liverpool” failed.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was reliable and Naby Keita barely fit. An emergency loan to bring in Arthur Melo eventually didn’t make sense and James Milner was an aging player. And “Manchester United” has lost the smallest amount of quality in a short period of time.
Casemiro, an experienced midfielder from Real Madrid, was brought in for a big transfer fee and a big salary. The $89m (£70m/€81m) addition emerged as both a panic buy and a potentially standout signing following the loss to Brentford.
Casemiro helped us a lot in the short term. Manchester United bounced back to fourth and won the Carabao Cup, with the Brazilian proving a key player on both occasions.
But now the mega-paid player turns 32 in February and has three-and-a-half years left on his long-term contract, while Casemiro hasn’t played since October and is still at Anfield, making the chances look slim.
Even when he does return, he will have to shoulder a big responsibility to help Manchester United recover and it remains to be seen if he can respond.This is not the midfielder’s only return. Casemiro started well and soon became a problem for Ten Hag, while Klopp’s side had the opposite effect as the German’s midfield transformation came to fruition.
Alexis McAllister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenbirch have all proved to be long-term signings, but Liverpool need to act quicker on their midfield skid than Casemiro. It was certainly a mistake not to bring in a new midfielder a year or two before Milner, Keita contract expired, but it could have been worse. Liverpool would have been embarrassed to sign an expensive player like Casemiro with joint problems.
Liverpool suffered a year without progressing into the Champions League and Manchester United returned to the top four ahead of schedule but fell behind again, having already been knocked out of European competition.
However, it is clear who will emerge victorious from the midfield duo’s strategy and Liverpool will be hoping to celebrate another win.
