Source: Daily_Mail
MARTIN SAMUEL: A cracking scrap but where was the class?
Oh, it was cracking fun, all right. Frantic stuff at both ends and played at a furious pace in a frenetic atmosphere that made good football impossible, but kept the buzz factor high.[LNB]And the best team won, which is always nice. Yet something was missing at Anfield yesterday. Once the noise had subsided and the pulse rates returned to normal, neither side came out of it particularly well.[LNB]On the day, Liverpool responded to the challenge of four straight defeats magnificently. This was a display that belied the insipid nature of the losses against Fiorentina, Chelsea, Sunderland and Lyon and they deserved their three points, as even Sir Alex Ferguson, manager of Manchester United, admitted.[LNB] Out-gunned: Ferdinand (right) has been criticised for his form this season[LNB]Yet the fact remains they should be about more than this by now. After five years under Rafael Benitez they should aspire to more than the odd showpiece victory to erase the memory of another run of mediocrity.[LNB]That, after all, was where Benitez came in, winning the Champions League with jaw-dropping victories over Juventus, Chelsea and AC Milan at the end of a season in which he could not finish above Everton.[LNB]The point would have been lost on those who left Anfield glorying in a third consecutive win over the great enemy but Liverpool are not moving forward. They are still as likely to find their way blocked by an inconsistent Tottenham Hotspur team as they are to humble the champions. They may be among the most feared opponents in Europe but they can be among the most docile here on the afternoons when inspiration deserts them.[LNB]It did not yesterday, and this was an impressive, bitterly fought victory at a stage in the season when Benitez and his players had everything to lose. And yet which Liverpool will pitch up at Fulham next Saturday the one who got the better of Manchester United and were not flattered by a two-goal victory or the one who came within one game of equalling their worst form for over half a century leading up to this match? Maybe even Benitez does not know, which is why he paces the touchline, sweating the small stuff, rarely satisfied that his players have done enough to win.[LNB] Absent friends: United have been weakened by Ronaldo's transfer[LNB]And then there is Manchester United, beaten here, and fighting anincreasingly losing battle to prove that the loss of Cristiano Ronaldowill not, in time, prove as damaging to them as the absence of XabiAlonso at Liverpool.[LNB]We cannot keep pretending that United have not been reduced by Ronaldo's transfer or that the uncertain form of Rio Ferdinand can continue to be regarded as a passing phase.[LNB]Fernando Torres is one of the greatest strikers in the world but there was something in the way he shrugged off Ferdinand on his way to score the first goal that would have sent a shiver through Franco Baldini, assistant to England manager Fabio Capello, watching impassively from the stands.[LNB]The goal was not entirely Ferdinand's fault. The beautiful pass played inside his partner, Nemanja Vidic, by Yossi Benayoun left him exposed, but the England defender seemed to have recovered before losing Torres again, trailing in his wake as the game moved out of United's reach.[LNB] Old foes: Ferguson (left) admitted Benitez's team deserved the win[LNB]Ferdinand was no doubt wary of conceding a penalty and, as the last man, a straight red card, but he did not show the familiar confidence of a world-class centre half. He let Torres get away, twice, and, as such aberrations grow more frequent, so will the speculation that fitness issues are affecting his form.[LNB]John Terry had similar problems three seasons ago and only with a return to full health are we now seeing the best of him again.[LNB]Ferdinand's fortune is that, at international level at least, he has no serious rival, with Matthew Upson undergoing his own private nightmare with West Ham United in freefall and Joleon Lescott lacking the consistency to put Ferdinand's failings in sharp relief.[LNB]Manchester United, however, have options, not least the promising Jonny Evans, and Ferguson surely cannot continue to indulge Ferdinand for much longer. He needs a rest, or a reminder: maybe both.[LNB]Ferguson's other problem, he is stuck with: there is no replacement for Ronaldo, and there was never going to be. Antonio Valencia had his odd moment here but not enough and, when Nani came on as a substitute, he wasted several good positions from where Ronaldo would have wreaked havoc.[LNB]If Arsenal win their game in hand, Manchester United could drop to third in the Premier League, and perhaps then the reality will bite.[LNB]The problems at Liverpool, and the general inconsistency among the elite teams this season, have proven a better agent of distraction than Ferguson's odd attacks on referees.[LNB] Narrow escape: Carragher (right) was booked for this tangle with Owen [LNB]He had another go yesterday, claiming Jamie Carragher should have been sent off for a foul on Michael Owen but it would have needed to be a straight red and that would have been harsh.[LNB]Vidic, on the other hand, deserved his second yellow card for a foul on Dirk Kuyt it was lucky not to have been his third, actually just as Javier Mascherano was correctly dismissed for a late tackle on Edwin van der Sar.[LNB]It was one of those games: 10 versus 10 at the end, summing up its blood and thunder nature, but also the general absence of a touch of class. That came, as ever, with the finishing of Torres but he deserves more.[LNB]Put him in the Manchester United forward line to make up for the loss of Ronaldo, with Carragher on yesterday's form ahead of Ferdinand: now that would really be a team worth watching.[LNB] MARTIN SAMUEL: Rangers and Celtic's barbaric Old Firm bigotry is last thing we need down hereLiverpool 2 Manchester United 0: Fernando Torres and David Ngog get reds back on rack as Nemanja Vidic is sent offLiverpool chief insists Benitez won't be sacked - even if they don't win the titleJamie Redknapp's weekend watch: Lucas and Javier Mascherano were too quick and too powerful for United MANCHESTER UNITED FC
