After the two blows in the first two rounds, this gala performance of Manchester United was as sensational as it was unexpected. The audience was on the benches from the first to the last minute and to complete the Dutch party it was wonderful for Ten Hag to see an Ajax player (Lisandro Martinez) and a Feyenoord player (Tyrell Malacia) leading the way in the battle.
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The first was a ‘boss’ everywhere and the second acted as if he had never heard of one Mo Salah and threw flying tackles as if he could earn points with them. But Ten Hag himself also deserved compliments for his tactical choices under 10,000 volt high-voltage cables.
Loaded evening
What happened around the already fraught competition for years was sufficient for the script of a thriller or a drama series. Regardless of what was happening on the pitch, there was a massive and strong protest against the American owners of Manchester United outside the Old Trafford stadium. The Glazer brothers, who own the entire club, must disappear as quickly as possible in the eyes of the supporters.
That has now gone so far that every stall selling United scarves and caps is selling mega-flags depicting the Glazers as clowns with the accompanying text: ‘Love United, hate the Glazers’. That poison towards the owners, who are accused of mismanagement and have no idea how a football club should be run, even had consequences for the preparation of the Ten Hag team in the run-up to the match. An aggressive atmosphere developed at the hotel where the team was staying, which made the discussion very difficult.
Casemiro show
While the team had to prepare for a top game, the management of United put together a Casemiro show on the field of Old Trafford. Casemiro, who had just bought 70 million euros from Real Madrid, held a complete parade through the stadium with more than three film crews behind him. The girls of Sarina Wiegman, who became European champions with England, were also put in the spotlight.
And in the middle of the warm-up, Cristiano Ronaldo withdrew from everything with the Ten Hag team by having a pleasant conversation on the sidelines with United legend Roy Keane, who was making a preview for Sky Sports. Keane and his former teammate Gary Neville were embraced, the third Sky Sports analyst Jamie Carragher (ex-Liverpool) was brutally ignored and made fun of.
Ten Hag (right) thinks so.
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Sensation
The fact that Ten Hag knocked Ronaldo out of his team was actually the sensation of the day. The Portuguese world star had to settle for a place on the bench and Ten Hag dared to tell us why he did that before the game. ,,Liverpool are a good team with possession of the ball and you have to be on top of it with them. That takes a lot of energy and we have to be very good in the transition…”, said the Dutch coach.
Separately, he also put his captain Harry Maguire, the man of almost 90 million, on the bench. Lisandro Martinez, who he brought with him from Ajax, kept his place at the heart of the defence, while Tyrell Malacia was given full confidence to start against none other than Mo Salah.
But in the first half, all Ten Hag’s choices turned out to be good. Martinez had his best performance to date, Malacia never suffered from stage fright and gave the impression that he was playing in his own Rotterdam Kuip, the tactics worked in the vanguard with sheer speed and Ten Hag dared to let Manchester United play forward.
Guts and aggression
The reward for the guts and the enormous aggression came after fifteen minutes, when Jadon Sancho shot in the 1-0 after a wonderful attack. The fact that the home club did not lead 2-0 halfway through was because Anthony Elanga hit the post on behalf of United in a free position. The best chance for Liverpool was also created by Manchester United, because shortly before half-time the new captain Bruno Fernandes tried to ram the ball into his own goal in a kind of total blackout, but to the relief of 75,000 fans at Old Trafford the very strong Martinez again like a block of Argentine concrete on the goal line.
But in the second half, that second, liberating goal came for Man United. Again using speed in the front line: Frenchman Martial sent Marcus Rashford away and he finished the job: 2-0. Ten Hag exploded with joy on United’s bench and knew that the entire board of his club a few rows up was just as happy for him.
Just under ten minutes before the end, it became unusually exciting, after Mohamed Salah made the connecting goal. United, which had thrown in forces, had to pull out all the stops not to run into the lamp after all, but after five long minutes of injury time, Ten Hag’s fists were finally in the air.