Premier League Review Liverpool & Man United
Rooney is now so bad United would be better with 10 men
After scoring a hat-trick against Club Brugge, the talk was of Rooneys tendency to score in spurts, rather than relentlessly over a season. On 19 minutes against Swansea, he failed to shoot before Ashley Williams came across to tackle. On 34 minutes, he tried a left-foot chip which went straight to Lukasz Fabianksi. On the hour, he failed to complete a five-yard pass and Swansea launched an attack up the right wing to equalise. When Louis van Gaal made a substitution, the goalscorer Juan Mata left, and Rooney remained. With a one-on-one and three minutes to go, he again waited for Williams to tackle him.
For Swanseas second, Bafetimbi Gomis highlighted Sergio Romeros lack of quality, finishing at the near post when the keeper should have saved. Daley Blind failed to deal with the strength, pace and skill of Swanseas attack. This had all been foretold, and unless something radical happens in the next two and a half days, we can assume Van Gaal is happy to ignore it, and collect his wage for underperforming. Just like his captain.
Liverpool have little time left to fix their defence
Arsenal and Arsene Wenger have endured years of criticism for their transfer market failures. Each window, it is pointed out that Arsenal need to improve defensively, needing a central defender who can take charge, and a defensive midfielder to provide thrust and control. Olivier Giroud, it is clear, is not enough to lead the line of a Premier League challenger, and Theo Walcott demonstrated against Newcastle that his determination to be a striker should be met with a stern refusal from his manager, not indulgence.
Similarly, we all know that Manchester United need a central defender, and that Juan Mata cant play as a right winger at sufficient pace, and that Wayne Rooney cannot be Uniteds sole striker for an entire season with the Champions League and Premier League to compete in. These are established criticisms of both sides, and fans journalists are alert to the problem, constantly scouring the papers for news.
Whereas Liverpool and Brendan Rodgers have managed to escape criticism for their poor recruitment in central defence. Dejan Lovren has failed so far, but he was seen at the time as a reasonable signature to make. He had done enough at Southampton to earn a move in most peoples eyes. Martin Skrtel is fine, but he looks good in comparison with Lovren, and also with Mamadou Sakho. Big things were expected of Sakho because he came with a large price tag and PSG didnt want to sell him, but that was a decision borne of emotion, not football. At PSG, Sakho regularly made mistakes in terms of positioning and own goals, and that has not yet been cured at Liverpool.
Liverpool have received plenty of pelters for buying yet another round of players - last year it was after the Luis Suarez windfall - though this time around it does appear to have been a better selection of signatures. What is odd is that Rodgers has not been more strenuously interrogated over the failure to buy a commanding central defender.