Ten Hag dropped ‘tactical masterclasses’ but it’s Klopp who is ‘intoxicating’

Editor F365
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag.
Liverpool can decide Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag's fate, reckons the Mailbox.

Erik ten Hag pulled off not one but four ‘tactical masterclasses’ according to some bloke on X, but the Liverpool media mafia are not taking it well…

 

Tactics bored
We have seen this before with The Sun as they try to board the tactics train without the card required to buy a ticket; they’ve clicked ‘promise to pay’ but all they have is the platform previously known as Twitter and now ruined by that c***.

Last month they lauded a ‘tactical tweak’ from Erik ten Hag as Manchester United beat Luton and now they have gone three better after FA Cup victory over Liverpool.

Man Utd fans convinced Erik ten Hag ‘means business’ after spotting four tactical masterclasses in huge Liverpool win

‘Four tactical masterclasses’? In one game. Not sure that’s possible – surely it’s one tactical masterclass made up of four components – but let’s hear it for the (Dutch) boy and chronicle all of these ‘masterclasses’.

FANS are convinced that Erik ten Hag “means business” after they spotted four tactical masterclasses in the win over Liverpool.

You are presumably one step ahead of us here and already know that ‘FANS’ means one fan, in this case Preset Football, who has so many emojis in his X bio that we almost broke WordPress trying to copy and paste.

And here’s what he said:

So yes, the ‘tactical masterclasses’ detailed include ‘all subs were the right one’s to make’ and ‘he went all in to win by subbing attackers for defenders’. Which is quite the ‘spot’ from Preset Football (Football is life,Glory glory Man United). He should be a detective.

Of course we have no beef with a random social media user giddy on a rare Manchester United win; our beef is with Gary Stonehouse and whichever chancer at The Sun decided that this was the biggest story in football.

READ: 16 Conclusions on Manchester United 4 Liverpool 3

 

On the edge of glory
Elsewhere at The Sun, Neil Custis was on Manchester United player ratings duty, demoted by a trip north for Dave Kidd.

On Bruno Fernandes he writes: ‘He simply should not go down under that challenge from Joe Gomez which lead (sic) to Liverpool’s second goal. He moaned his way into the referee’s book because of it and could have gone off with a second yellow after a foul on Szoboszlai. A peripheral figure.’

A ‘peripheral figure’ who touched the ball more than any of his Manchester United teammates by a margin of 30-plus touches, created four chances and made more interceptions than any of his teammates.

And he obviously didn’t ‘spot’ him at centre-half…

 

But isn’t losing just brilliant under Klopp?
If you’re wondering how the Liverpool media mafia responded to defeat to Manchester United, here’s Chris Bascombe in the Daily Telegraph:

Liverpool should have killed off Man Utd but defeat is part of Jurgen Klopp’s wild ride

Yes, it’s all part of the fun, folks.

The calamitous finale to Liverpool’s FA Cup campaign offered an accurate summary of what has made Klopp’s Anfield reign so intoxicating.

Even in defeat, we can all reflect on the brilliance of Jurgen Klopp. Isn’t it just fantastic when they lose? Just look how f***ing great they lost!

Seconds remained as every Liverpool player bar right-back Conor Bradley hunted the winning goal from a corner. After 119 minutes and with penalties beckoning, many coaches would have considered pragmatism the wiser option.

Not Klopp. A month ago the same strategy led to Kostas Tsimikas picking out Virgil van Dijk to trigger some of the most raucous celebrations under the current manager as Liverpool won the Carabao Cup.

This time, that same ambition was the catalyst for a Manchester United counter-attack and the end of the weekly quadruple questions.

We are loving the implication that the ‘quadruple questions’ came from elsewhere; Bascombe wrote in January that ‘Jurgen Klopp’s massive cojones allow Liverpool to dream of competing on four fronts’. He really does love Klopp and his testicles.

And now…

Love or loathe the sentimentality around Klopp’s farewell, the feast for the senses is undeniable. What seprates (sic) Klopp’s Liverpool from Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City is there are always two teams on the pitch when the German is in charge. Where City are all about full control and disengaging the opponent, minimising risk with their short-passing, Klopp’s strategy gives hope to those courageous enough to take him on.

Which is a hell of a way to say that Liverpool are more interesting than Manchester City because they lose more. All hail Liverpool. Bascombe must have loved the Liverpool that finished fifth last season.

Defeat will sting for 24 hours, but Klopp will believe the psychological recovery will be swift, aided by the international break. Two more Wembley trips for Liverpool would have been a welcome distraction, but a distraction nonetheless in the Premier League and Europa League pursuit.

There was no desire for Klopp to ease the fixture congestion. But with a treble still to play for, there’s still a chance for trophy pile-up.

So yes, that’s how the Liverpool media mafia are taking it…

 

Insult to injuries
Over in the Liverpool Echo, Paul Gorst is taking it particularly well:

How the Reds manager would have loved to have thrown on Thiago Alcantara to steady the midfield ship or Diogo Jota to sniff out a winning goal. Trent Alexander-Arnold might’ve been a real creative threat, while either Ibrahima Konate or Joel Matip could have prevented Marcus Rashford dashing through for the 112th-minute equaliser.

Throw in the inability to field Alisson Becker, Curtis Jones or even Ryan Gravenberch, whose failure to get off the bench suggests he is nowhere near full fitness yet, and this was where another pulsating edition of the biggest fixture in English football was lost for the Reds.

It might sound like the souring of some grapes to those outside the Anfield vineyard but there is some solace for Klopp that this defeat has come ‘only’ in the FA Cup.

And Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag might have quite liked to use Luke Shaw, Lisandro Martinez, Casemiro, Tyrell Malacia, Jonny Evans, Anthony Martial and a fully fit Mason Mount too. It’s almost like it’s March and football clubs have injuries and suspensions.

And yes, it does sound like sour grapes from ‘outside the Anfield vineyard’. Which might just be the worst phrase we have ever read.

 

Finally, it’s happened to me…
‘So a formula has finally been found to stop Liverpool,’ writes Richard Jolly in The Independent.

They did literally lose at Arsenal last month.

READ: The many times Jurgen Klopp has come across as a massive arse

Mediawatch Erik Ten Hag

Related Articles