Liverpool’s historic triumph at Old Trafford was about effective pressing

A historic, glorious win for Liverpool. Humiliation and infamy for Manchester United. This was a day of brutal lights illuminating the reality of the chasm that still kept United adrift of Liverpool, and of just how good this sometimes underrated side managed by Jurgen Klopp remains.

There was a lot of inquest focusing on United’s poor performance. It was that, but it was also the performance of a team still searching for an identity against one with an assuredness of its own. Liverpool are a team defined by the concept of the team itself. The pack mentality that drives the pressing and the attacking surges was clear throughout a devastating first half, and painfully absent where it concerned United, stars that could not adjoin into a constellation.

It’s also a game that underlines that pressing is an art in as much as passing is. It takes practice and is about more than just chasing after the ball. In fact, that is precisely what it isn’t about.

Liverpool’s first and last goals painted this explanation perfectly. For the first goal, as Virgil Van Dijk receives possession he is immediately pressured by Bruno Fernandes. The Dutchman is able to shift the ball onto Robertson who is then pressured by Mason Greenwood. Robertson then relocates the ball to Diogo Jota who is…