Manchester United fans should hope for Liverpool success under Klopp

In March 2009, Andrea Dossena carried out his single act of merit. Not for Liverpool, but ever. His deft chip to score the last Liverpool goal in a 4-1 victory at Old Trafford had Manchester United fans throwing enormous strops. It was reported that sales of cheap, cheap vodka spiked amongst United fans desperate to locate the sweet embrace of unconsciousness. It was part of the stressful 2008/9 season, where it seemed that Rafael Benitez had alighted on a team to finally make a proper fist of challenging for the Premier League. Steven Gerrard was free of being required to think, and his relationship with Fernando Torres was the best attacking partnership had until Luis Suarez turned up alongside Daniel Sturridge.

Of course, Federico Macheda’s own acts of merits eventually ended that fright for Alex Ferguson. He was twice the player that Dossena was, given his goals against Aston Villa and then Sunderland, manage to comprise his only two contributions to football. He has done nothing else since. Benitez, it turned out, was a manager having a great period, rather than a great manager, as he traipses about in Jose Mourinho’s wake.

Then, a few years later, it finally seemed like Liverpool were going to do it. Brendan Rodgers had a team playing with remarkable brio, backed up by his nonsense words but also the barely credible ability of Luis Suarez not just to score goals, but to drag 10 players with him when it was needed (NB, it cannot go unmentioned whenever Suarez is cited, that he is yet to apologise to a man for racially abusing him, and it demeans Liverpool that they still support him despite him jilting them and tarnishing the reputation of the club).

Again, it didn’t happen. A 3-0 victory at Old Trafford, where Steven Gerrard got to both kiss the camera and look at his reflection at the same time - perhaps his two favourite pastimes - were eventually worth nothing after a calamitous slip against Chelsea, and for a mesmeric tear-causing, dignity-shredding 3-3 draw at Crystal Palace a few days later. But they were so close. So close that some United fans were considering a move to North Korea, supposing that it would be the one place with sufficient media blackout in the event of Gerrard lifting the league trophy.

Both these challenges would have done nothing for United but hurt them. United were attempting to retain the Champions and Premier Leagues in the first instance, and in the second it would have been an added kicker to watch David Moyes pull off a toxic eight months at the same time as watching a spoofer like Rodgers deliver a trophy as traditional rivals floundered. But this year, and possibly next, it will be different. Under Louis van Gaal, Manchester United fans should be urging Jurgen Klopp onto success.

It doesn’t really matter that in their last match Liverpool lost 2-0 to Newcastle. Klopp has already demonstrated that even with a squad as patchy as the one under his disposal now, he can do magnificent things. Goals are being scored, Daniel Sturridge has been told to get his act together, and Manchester City were beaten 4-1 in a performance that would have given most opponents little chance of a draw, let alone a victory. The 6-1 win against Southampton might only have been in the League Cup, and it might have taken place against the worst defending some journalists have ever claimed to see, but Liverpool are now favourites for the trophy. Klopp will probably have his first trophy in England by February 2016.

Manchester United might not even have their next goal in England by February 2016. Van Gaal has set up United with an almost incredible aversion to risk, and players are clearly under instruction to be less than the some of their parts. We know that Anthony Martial has the ability to break down defences by himself. We know Juan Mata can assist from almost nothing and score vital goals. We know that you don’t need two holding midfielders against terrible sides. And yet Van Gaal wants his team not to think of how to entertain or create, but to win in a game of attrition. That’s fine if you have Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Aguero or Lionel Messi to score a goal without relying on any assitance, or for Robert Lewandowski to need fewer than one chance to score two goals. If you have Martial and a possibly comatose Wayne Rooney, it’s just determinedly and plainly wrong. So wrong that United’s chance of qualifying for the next round of the Champions League, or winning the league this year when the competition is so lacklustre, are almost definitely out of reach.

Klopp on the other hand, probably won’t win the league, but he has shown what can be achieved with a refusal to bow to what is expected. He took the job at Liverpool because he believed he had the chance to win the league this year, even if it wasn’t a great chance. Not for him a year of dour misery because his squad wasn’t exactly au fait with his demands. Or for 700 sideways or backwards passing every match, because he knows it doesn’t have to happen. Already, Liverpool’s mediocre squad is entertaining, something Van Gaal hasn’t managed with a quarter of a billion pounds to help him.

It was obvious to United in 2009 that their team might have played with the handbrake on, but was still one of Ferguson’s great sides. In 2014, it was obvious to fans that Moyes needed booting out, and it became quickly apparent that the United board would act to remedy it. Now, Ed Woodward has said he thrilled with Van Gaal’s football and that they may extend his contract. Whether or not this is bluster, it is no longer clear that United care an ounce for actually winning games, let alone using them to entertain. If that’s the case, then United fans should hope that Klopp has success for Liverpool, to give United no option but to change their approach.