Team selection
David Ngog started up front and Alex Kacaniklic was rewarded with strong substitute performances by starting wide on the left. Daniel Pacheco missed out on this game – one of the biggest of the reserves’ season – due to a knee injury. Gerardo Bruna also missed out through injury which was disappointing as he had just started to build up some momentum. Tall left winger Vincent Weijl is still out. David Martin, Alvin’s son, started in goal for his first competitive game of the season. Jay Spearing started on the bench after his vigorous warm-ups against Debrecen last night (according to LFCTV commentator Steve Hunter).
Exciting young German left back Christopher Buchtmann was on the bench but there was no space for Jordy Brouwer and Peter Gulacsi who weren’t involved at all.
The match
The first half was excellent. Liverpool quickly got stuck in and there were lots of sliding tackles from both teams. After the game settled down the reds bossed the game, closing United down well, maintaining good organisation when not in posession and being confident in posession. The goal was a simple punt downfield from Martin and Ngog did well to take it down on the turn and then head it past the keeper, sandwiched between two defenders.
Plessis got sent off after 30 minutes which was a shame as he had shaken off the lethargy of his performance against Blackburn reserves. He had combined well with Palsson; both were available for the pass, tackled and closed down well. The red card wouldn’t have been in doubt at first team level. The ball was bouncing, Plessis’ foot was high and his studs showing but neither player got the ball so it was a bit harsh at this level. Despite taking a few minutes to re-organise (bringing on Spearing for Kacaniklic) the reds continued in the same vein.It was bitterly disappointing, though, to see some Manc import get straight up from the tackle to wave a card at the ref and point towards the tunnel.
For 20 minutes in the second half Liverpool dropped too deep and United started to look stronger. Macheda and Danny Welbeck looked like the experienced players they are – although Tosic never quite demonstrated £12m worth of talent. But the goal never came thanks to assured keeping from Martin and really good defending from Ayala and Mavinga.
The performances
The two Davids, Amoo and Ngog were particularly impressive in the first half: power, pace and good delivery. Ngog looks stronger than last season, which is important if he is to break through to the first team. Plessis upped his game and Eccleston was particularly effective once he was pushed out wide after the red card. The second half was different and Spearing put in a more convincing shift than so far this term. Ayala and Mavinga looked assured at the back both dealing with the aerial threat and playing the ball out of defence. Ayala was also a threat from set-pieces in the United penalty box.
Steve Irwin didn’t really impress me, although left back probably isn’t his best position – and he needed to provide cover for Kaca and Eccleston.
The season
It will be a real confidence booster to the reserves to win such a big fixture in front of the largest home crowd they’re likely to get – including Rafa, Sammy Lee and Paco De Miguel.It was good to see an improvement on previous games – but not just because they worked harder, closed down better and were (sometimes) more decisive in posession. It was better because it’s a constant improvement on previous games which suggests a sense of direction that was lacking last season.
Next up: the Carling Cup game against Leeds United. It is a potential embarrassment so it will be brave of Rafa to select many of these. It would be particularly helpful for Ayala, Spearing and Ngog to get time to build on the things they’re learning – and possibly Darby from the bench – as the most senior reserve team players.
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[...] The reds were missing a number of first-choice players away on international duty, and Damien Plessis was suspended after his red card against Man United. [...]