ALEX FERGUSON pointed a familiar accusing finger at the referee following Manchester United’s defeat at Liverpool but, in the eyes of Patrice Evra, the cause was self-inflicted and far more damning. The France international identified a lack of spirit and the wrong attitude as causes of a third successive defeat by their hated rivals. No wonder his manager sought to look elsewhere.
In fairness Ferguson did accept that Rafael Benitez’s team deserved their 2-0 triumph on Sunday, when United missed the opportunity to establish a 10-point lead over Liverpool and compound their anxieties in the process. Yet, while the United manager cited the “wounded animal aspect” of Liverpool’s performance and atmosphere as contributory factors, plus the referee Andre Marriner’s two key decisions involving Jamie Carragher, Evra said there were no excuses for a display that mirrored the champions’ failings at Anfield last season.
Goals from a fit-again Fernando Torres and David Ngog ended a run of four losses for Liverpool. United rarely threatened against their bitter rivals, with Antonio Valencia’s effort which hit the bar the only real shot of note.
Ferguson suggested the red raw atmosphere may have affected the players but Evra was in no mood to offer excuses with United remaining two points adrift of Chelsea at the top of the table.
“I’m always happy to play at Liverpool, I am not scared. It was a bad day, the same as last year. We played the same way and didn’t show the Manchester United spirit,” said the United defender. “The idea was to play our football but we didn’t do that and I don’t know why. Liverpool were aggressive in everything but we just didn’t have the right attitude to play our football.
“The atmosphere wasn’t a factor. We have played a lot of times at Anfield and have players with experience, so it is not about the atmosphere. For professional footballers, you are happy to play at a place like Anfield and are not scared by it. We just didn’t play our game.”
Torres again rattled Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic at the heart of the United defence, despite being short of match fitness, with the Serbian international sent off against Liverpool for the third game in succession. In midfield Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick failed to match the industry of Liverpool’s Javier Mascherano and Lucas Leiva.
A previously vulnerable home defence was rarely troubled by the anonymous Dimitar Berbatov and isolated Wayne Rooney. “We hit the bar but didn’t create real chances and that’s why it is frustrating,” Evra added. “Normally, when United play, we get five or six clear chances. But we only had one and it’s not enough if you want to win against Liverpool.”
Evra admitted the United defence had to take responsibility for Torres’s decisive 65th-minute opener, when Ferdinand struggled badly against the power and pace of the Spanish striker. He said: “We know the game and we know Torres. He got a chance and he scored. He is a good striker but for a defender it is not good to concede those goals.”
Evra did concur with his manager’s view that Marriner erred in only booking Carragher when he pulled Michael Owen to the floor as the last man in the 80th minute. Evra claimed: “I don’t think the referee has an easy job but I think he made some mistakes. Against Michael Owen, Carragher was the last man and didn’t get sent off. It was important because, when you play 11 against 10, you have an advantage and it is difficult to understand why Carragher wasn’t sent off. Maybe it was a factor but I would rather focus on the display of Manchester United and the performance was poor.”
While Ferguson attempted to shift the focus on to Marriner’s experience of such grand fixtures, or supposed lack of, he will no doubt share Evra’s demand for a similar response to last season’s defeat at Anfield, when United embarked on a 12-match unbeaten run in all competitions.
“Losing to Liverpool is the most pain you can have when you play for Manchester United,” the defender conceded. “It’s a great feeling when you win at Anfield but it’s also a big pain when you lose. After the game there was silence and big disappointment in the dressingroom. We need to show the same as last year now. We lost against Liverpool twice but won the league. We have to make sure we do that but also, at Old Trafford, we have to show the real United team.”
GuardianService
