National media make Liverpool point after Man United misery - 'What exactly is the plan?'
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A look at how the national media reported things at Anfield as Liverpool lose 2-1 to Manchester United and suffer a fourth straight defeatA fourth successive defeat means Liverpool are now on their worst run for 11 years following Sunday's 2-1 loss to Manchester United at Anfield.After Cody Gakpo had cancelled out Bryan Mbuemo's opener after just 63 seconds, it was left to Harry Maguire to head home a late winner as the Red Devils secured their first win away at Liverpool for nine years.The ECHO, of course, was on hand to provide our extensive match-day coverage. Here's what they made of it all on the day as the Premier League champions suffered another setback.Andy Hunter, of The Guardian, writes: "The time has come to start judging Alexander Isak fairly as a £125m Liverpool centre forward, Arne Slot said on Friday.
In that case judgment must be harsh but, as Britain’s most expensive footballer sat alongside Mohamed Salah on the Liverpool bench while the Premier League champions tried in vain to force an equaliser against Manchester United without them, it was not Slot’s misfiring forward line that warranted the fiercest criticism at Anfield. The Sweden international had his first shot on target in the Premier League as a Liverpool player in the 35th minute, well saved by United’s latest goalkeeper Senne Lammens."Salah squandered a glorious second-half chance in front of the Kop and neither could complain when their numbers eventually came up.
But it is not impossible with a defence in this form, as Crystal Palace, Chelsea and now United have proven."As he presided over a fourth successive defeat as Liverpool head coach, the first man to do so since Brendan Rodgers in November 2014, Slot must have despaired at a defensive performance that invited United to take the initiative as well as their first victory at Anfield since January 2016."Littered with the same mistakes that Liverpool’s coaching staff had worked on eradicating after the international break, including another set-piece goal, it was a display that completely derailed the champions’ second half recovery and cost them the game."The Daily Mirror's John Cross pens: "The last place Ruben Amorim probably expected to banish his most unwanted record was Anfield."But, sure enough, it says everything about the current state of Liverpool’s form that Amorim finally won back-to-back Premier League games 11 months into his reign as Manchester United manager. It is now just 221 minutes this season."The ECHO's verdict reads: "If three defeats on the spin was just a bad week at the office for Arne Slot before the international break, the sight of Manchester United's players celebrating a first Anfield win for nine years with their fans at full-time was the moment it became a crisis.