During the buildup José Mourinho and Jürgen Klopp were careful to highlight each other’s qualities. Cut to his arrival at Old Trafford and the Liverpool manager quickly dropped that stance and ended the game arguing with his opposite number saying: “I read the programme notes and it is the first time there was nothing about welcome to Liverpool or something like this. Then I wanted a coffee and in the can was only tea. It’s started already, yeah? It’s all OK. It’s football and we are ready for it.”
So, too, was the crowd whose vibrancy gave the stadium a cauldron‑like feel, the United support answering Mourinho’s midweek demand to “come and play” with his side. All that really mattered to the managers, of course, was the result and how 90 minutes of play may illuminate how clear the vision is for their respective Manchester United and Liverpool teams.
Klopp’s side have yet to win in 2017 but had they done so here the gap to the leaders, Chelsea, would have returned to the five points it was at the start of the weekend. Mourinho, in contrast, came into the game with nine successive victories and a 15-match unbeaten sequence.
More importantly, he had United performing precisely as he wished before what was a litmus test. “I’d say to my guys don’t lose the identity that we built up in these last couple of months,” he said before the kick‑off. “We have to play the same way because this is the identity we want to develop.”
Key in this has been how the main players have performed. In the opening exchanges Anthony Martial offered one illustration. He was a nightmare for defenders with his balletic footwork and dazzling pace. That came after Liverpool offered an initial threat via Divock Origi. After this Klopp became the concerned man in the dugout and Mourinho the man who could rue Paul Pogba missing a golden chance and admire the vision of Henrikh Mkhitaryan that gave the attacking midfielder the opening.
Mourinho also touched on how Klopp can be the more animated during a match. Just before the 25th minute both made a first retreat from technical area to the bench but within moments Klopp was back out and was soon followed by Mourinho.
Klopp’s masterplan has constant pressing at the forefront. So it was that Liverpool’s opener came when Roberto Firmino harried Phil Jones into a mistake which won the corner from which Pogba handballed for James Milner’s penalty.
Cue role reversal for the managers, as Klopp could enjoy the control this gave Liverpool and Mourinho hoped anxiety would not disrupt United’s rhythm.
Rio Ferdinand, the former United defender who experienced many of these games, said: “This Liverpool team is exciting. They’re great to watch. They play with verve. They have a direct, aggressive, quick, attacking mentality and attack in numbers. While I think, defensively, they have an achilles heel, if they’re going to outscore teams then they’re going to be a big threat.”
This was surely the weakness Mourinho instructed his men to exploit when they came out for the second half with Wayne Rooney now among their ranks and Michael Carrick removed. The rejig had the captain at No10 and Pogba dropping into Carrick’s midfield berth as Mourinho made the first move in this battle of the No1s.
It had an immediate impact as Rooney linked with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Liverpool struggled to get out of their half. United were the ones pressing now à la Liverpool, and when Firmino hooked a ball skyward the tension that coursed through Klopp was shown by him going ballistic.
He can be a difficult read, though. Moments before Klopp threw a grin at Mourinho and later that broad beam of his was aimed at the bench following a harum-scarum hack clear. It was also being played in a bear‑pit atmosphere in which each set of fans swapped particularly pithy pleasantries.
Ferdinand had said: “José has had one of the hardest jobs out of the top teams in terms of personnel, changing the mentality at the club, going against the philosophy that had been drilled in over the last couple of years.”
Ibrahimovic’s late equaliser showed how far along Mourinho already is on this chart. United’s display was the latest evidence the dour days of Louis van Gaal Ferdinand referred to are gone. Mourinho’s team are the best of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
A similar claim can be made of Klopp’s Liverpool. They are the Anfield club’s most complete team since the Premier League began.
Just as United have the right man in charge, so do Liverpool. Near the close they clashed and Klopp refused Mourinho’s offer to make up, though they did shake hands at the final whistle. Expect their rivalry to dominate English football for some time.
