Manchester United didn't lay a finger on Liverpool. We wouldn't have stood for that. I'm not saying there'd be violence but there'd be tackling! - PAUL SCHOLES meets JAMIE CARRAGHER

It was late on Thursday night and calm was descending over Anfield. But in a private box high up in the Centenary Stand, the debate between two old rivals continued to rage.

Liverpool's 2-0 blitzing of Manchester United surprised JAMIE CARRAGHER and PAUL SCHOLES but for entirely different reasons.

Have Jurgen Klopp's team done enough to reach the Europa League quarter-finals, or can Louis van Gaal mastermind a great escape? DOMINIC KING listened as the views were aired.

Paul Scholes and Jamie Carragher debated the finer points of Liverpool's 2-0 win over Manchester United at Anfield on Thursday night

The two old rivals from the clubs competing against each other in the Europa League spoke in a private box high in the Centenary Stand

CARRAGHER: So you've had your say and called United a 'shambles' but if you were Louis van Gaal, what would you do in the second leg? What team would you pick to turn it round?

SCHOLES: It's very difficult, really. I'm not sure the squad is strong enough to win the game. Listen. We are at Old Trafford. We should be good enough to win the game. But what changes would I make? (blows out cheeks). I don't think there is a lot of choice. I really don't. He can give them shape, of course. But (at Anfield) it looked like he threw them on the pitch, picked a back four and said, 'Do what you want'.

CARRAGHER: I'd never say I was very confident playing Manchester United but when I saw the team, with Guillermo Varela at right back, Marcus Rashford playing right midfield and no Michael Carrick? I thought that was huge. I had confidence then.

SCHOLES: When I saw the teamsheet my first thought was, 'They're going to get beat'. I thought Carrick should be playing. Michael probably isn't in the best form of his life, he's picking up injuries and he can't stay fit. But he has to play centre midfield. He's brave enough to take the ball.

Coming to Anfield, bravery is the biggest thing. Having the b**** to go and play. This is a tough, horrible place to play. It's a tight pitch, everything is on top of you. But Michael possesses that ability to get on the ball and calmness.

Morgan Schneiderlin didn't want to do it. Marouane Fellaini isn't someone you can play through. He played for one reason: so they could smash the ball up to him and they didn't have to play through midfield. This is United you are talking about! Every time Fellaini plays, that happens.

Scholes would have liked to see Michael Carrick in Louis van Gaal's starting XI despite his mistake for Liverpool's second goal

 Morgan Schneiderlin 'didn't want' to get on the ball and show calmness in possession against Jurgen Klopp's side, according to Scholes

CARRAGHER: So as an ex-player and a supporter, what do you think? From my own point of view, I think about United's name but then I see the way they are playing. It feels like they have become a long-ball team. How do you feel watching that?

SCHOLES: It's disappointing. But, deep down, I knew beforehand this would happen. If you play Fellaini, you can only play one way. You have to smash it to him. That isn't Manchester United. That should never, ever be Manchester United. But, where we are, it is.

Van Gaal is almost saying we haven't got the midfield players to handle the ball, to handle the pressure of Liverpool. He is saying we haven't got the players who can play one-touch. He's saying if we go long and smash it up to Fellaini, Liverpool can't win the ball off us.

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It didn't work. Liverpool were brilliant. Liverpool were 10 times better than United. So much quality. Philippe Coutinho took Varela all over the place. They all ended up out of position. Memphis is nearly playing as a left back!

United had no control in the middle of the park. If Michael is there, you still might not get control because Liverpool are good. But if you try it, at least you have the chance to get into position.

Now even if Memphis does get into positions, he has been poor. In games against the top teams, his quality has been really poor. Martial is a young player who will become a top centre forward. But, as a 20-year-old, he is a second or third choice.

Philippe Coutinho (right) put in a fantastic performance to drag Manchester United right back Guillermo Varela all over the Anfield pitch

Anthony Martial has impressed since joining Manchester United from Monaco but Scholes says he should not be first choice just yet

CARRAGHER: One thing I admire about Van Gaal is he gives young players a chance. But to come to Anfield and play those kids? If you play too many of them, it's asking for trouble. It is being too brave. Do you understand what I mean?

SCHOLES: Yeah, absolutely. If you have got a left back and a right winger, then you can get away with it. But to have them both (Rashford and Varela) on the same side? If you'd said to anyone at the club six months ago that Varela would be playing for the first team, they'd have said, 'Never in a million years'. But he's been very good. He's been better than Matteo Darmian. But I thought this was a game for experience. I don't know. It's just so disappointing.

CARRAGHER: I'd have loved to play in this game, wouldn't you? I had tickets and they were right by the away end. I saw Anthony Crolla (boxer and Manchester United fan). It was a bit lively! How did you feel watching it up here?

SCHOLES: It wasn't so much the quality of play, it was more not laying a finger on them that got me wound up. Not tackling? Adam Lallana was taking the p*** when he was rolling his studs over the ball in the second half! Why didn't someone just tackle him?

You can come here and not string three passes together but still win the game. There were no standards. There was almost an acceptance of that performance.

We wouldn't have stood for that. I'm not saying there would have been violence, but there would have been tackling. We've been here and lost 2-0 and 3-1 but at least there was a bit of fight. Could you imagine us not tackling?

Scholes doesn't believe United's squad is strong enough to turn around the deficit and win the second leg at Old Trafford

Liverpool-United games have seen frequent flashpoints in the past, but Scholes said this side did not lay a finger on their opponents

CARRAGHER: No chance! Even in those games, there would be a spell of 15-20 minutes when we had to hang on. We would need our keeper to play well. Liverpool didn't need Simon Mignolet to play well. I never felt Liverpool were going to concede a goal at any stage.

SCHOLES: I thought if United were going to win, David de Gea would have to be brilliant. He was brilliant and we still got beat! United had 10 minutes when they penned Liverpool in but that was about it.

CARRAGHER: We beat you at times down the years, but whenever we went into a season, or a game, we always felt we were chasing you. But looking at those teams now and this game — I know you say there isn't much you can change and it could still go wrong in the second leg, but I've never seen such a difference between Liverpool and Manchester United in one game.

SCHOLES: This is the hardest place to come as a United player by a million miles. You can go 90 minutes without touching the ball and still win 1-0. That's the way it is.

If you do that, it is just about acceptable. But when you saw the gulf in quality here, it was just incredible. Look at the forward players Liverpool had: Coutinho, Firmino, Sturridge. They've got goals. I hadn't been sure about Firmino but this last week he has convinced me. He's been brilliant.

Lallana had a quiet period but he looks like a real player. Before the Liverpool versus Manchester City game, which I worked at, I was thinking, 'Klopp might only keep two or three of these'. But what is he building now? They need to go on from here. They can go on from here. They could even finish in the top four in the Premier League this year if it carries on.

David de Gea was in stand-out form, particularly with his stop from Coutinho in the first half, but United were still defeated at Anfield

Klopp celebrates Roberto Firmino's strike as Liverpool sealed the 2-0 victory, and Scholes says he can lead this team into the top four

CARRAGHER: Another thing I couldn't believe was the captain. Juan Mata? I'm not criticising him — I like him, he gets a few goals and assists. But, if everyone is fit, does he even get in the team?

SCHOLES: That is exactly what I said: how is Juan Mata captain? He's a good player and he's had a good month. But to be captain of Manchester United?

I don't think there are many real leaders in there. Chris Smalling? The goalkeeper? They, possibly, could be captain but are they real Manchester United captains?

CARRAGHER: What do you think for the second leg, then? If you were playing, what would have happened?

SCHOLES: The formation is irrelevant next week. Do you know what they should do? Tackle. Just tackle and run, like Liverpool did. United need to do the same.

If they do that, things will happen at Old Trafford, I'm sure of it. They will be capable of scoring goals and creating chances. But they need to get the players into the game.

Martial and Mata were ineffective here. They got bullied. Mata looked like a 10-year-old at times. Memphis? You just don't know what you are going to get from him.

But you need to get the ball to these players to see what they can do. They will have more time to do that at Old Trafford.

Juan Mata was a surprise choice as United captain ahead of Chris Smalling, and the midfielder failed to have a big influence on the game

CARRAGHER: You're right. It's a big pitch. It was always completely different to playing at Anfield.

SCHOLES: It's 100 miles an hour at Anfield, you don't even get time to breathe. At Old Trafford, you can have a bit of time on the ball. But he has to play Carrick in midfield. He has to. Maybe then he brings in Ander Herrera as well. He's been all right at Old 

Trafford and isn't a bad attacking midfielder. He doesn't do much away from home but hopefully there will be a bit of pace to it. I suppose he can bring Bastian Schweinsteiger in.

CARRAGHER: When he came on, I couldn't believe it. He comes on, you are getting beaten 2-0, the first thing he does is get the ball on the edge of his own box. Then he gets the ball on the byline from a goal kick! He's supposed to be playing central midfield!

SCHOLES: He plays anywhere but centre midfield. He's played left back more than centre midfield.

CARRAGHER: Exactly! The first thing he did when he came on was go to left back to get the ball from a goal kick.

Ander Herrera and Bastian Schweinsteiger could be returning options for Van Gaal by the time the second leg comes around on Thursday

SCHOLES: He's played in great teams, hasn't he? That might work in those teams at Bayern. That is the way they want to play and he can control it in the Germany team. But he hasn't got the players in front of him here to maybe make him as good as he was for Bayern Munich and Germany.

CARRAGHER: Do you think the atmosphere will be bouncing?

SCHOLES: It should be. It would definitely be bouncing more if it was the Champions League. It's the Europa League. This game has probably made the Europa League worthwhile.

Let me ask you: how would you have felt coming to Old Trafford with a 2-0 lead?

CARRAGHER: You would certainly be nervous. It's a goal each half, that's all. I just feel Liverpool have got to get a goal.

SCHOLES: Whoever we played at home, I always felt we were well capable of turning a two-goal lead around — 2-0 is nothing.

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SOURCE:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3488164/Manchester-United-didn-t-lay-finger-Liverpool-wouldn-t-stood-says-Paul-Scholes.html

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With Emre Can out for the remainder of the season, who can Liverpool replace him with?

The German midfielder has damaged ankle ligaments and now Jurgen Klopp's side must gun for Europa League glory without him

 

The Liverpool midfielder will miss the remainder of the season

Liverpool's breathtaking 4-3 win over Borussia Dortmund last week was one of the most memorable in the club's recent history - but it didn't come without a cost.
Midfielder Emre Can sustained an ankle injury during the second-half and, although he initially played on, he eventually had to be substituted.

Subsequent scans showed the Germany international has sustained ligament damage - leaving Jurgen Klopp with a gaping hole in the centre of his midfield.
The Reds boss now has a huge decision to make about the structure of his team and who should play in Can's place.

Can sustained ankle ligament damage against Borussia Dortmund

Amidst the bedlam at Anfield on Thursday night, few thoughts were spared for Emre Can. The midfielder, so pivotal for Liverpool’s first goal, had just departed the pitch when Mamadou Sakho made it 3-3. What was to follow was remarkable.

He was there on the pitch after Dejan Lovren scored, and then yet again minutes later as the celebrations began in front of the Kop.
It could be the last time he is seen this season.

If Can was not thought much of in the euphoria post-Dortmund, he will be thought of plenty now; the 22-year-old has damaged his ankle ligaments, meaning he will miss up to six weeks.
A cruel blow for the German, who has been superb in recent months and improving all the time under Jurgen Klopp.

A cruel blow, too, for Liverpool. With Jordan Henderson also likely to miss the remainder of the season, it leaves the Reds without their first-choice partnership. Not ideal, given a Europa League semi-final awaits.

Jordan Henderson is also out for the season

There is hope, of course. The 4-1 win at Stoke last weekend came with neither Can or Henderson on the pitch; Joe Allen and Kevin Stewart filled in, and did it well. With Can off the pitch against Dortmund, it was the returning Lucas who stepped in.

There is still plenty left in this season for Liverpool, so there is plenty for Klopp to contemplate in dealing with a midfield vacant of both Can and Henderson.

Indeed, the shape of the side is something to be deliberated. The energy and ability of Can has allowed a two-man partnership, at times. Now, it might be necessary to bring in an extra body – James Milner, for example – to solidify the middle.

An overstatement, perhaps, to suggest what Klopp does will define their campaign. But Liverpool will have to deal with Can’s absence properly; not just in the two-legged tie with Villarreal, but for the remainder of the league campaign.
Here are the options for Klopp to replace Can while the German is out.

Joe Allen

This could be a big month for the Welshman. With just over a year remaining on his contract and no new offer on the table, Allen himself admits he is playing for his future at Anfield. He has done well to give the decision-makers a nudge with his recent performances – including his two off the bench against Dortmund.

Joe Allen could step in for Can

He would, arguably, be best-placed to replace Can. He does not have his power, but he has shown the ability to move between both boxes – a nice addition to his game under Klopp. He has proven he can play in important games in recent weeks.

James Milner

The 30-year-old joined Anfield because he wanted to play in central midfield, but he has found himself back out wide in recent weeks. Restored to the middle against Dortmund at Anfield, he failed to have any impact on the game, and looked far better when put on the right-hand side.

Milner likes to play centrally but he has struggled to influence games from that position

He has been criticised this season – unfairly so, judging by the goals and assists he’s bagged in his first season, and his presence is a no-brainer given his big-game experience. Whether that comes in his preferred central midfield role, however, remains to be seen.

Lucas Leiva

His return from injury could not have been timed better. Back as a substitute in the 4-1 win over Stoke, he replaced Can for the final 10 minutes on Thursday. He gave away a few free kicks, but did not shirk his responsibilities, either.
The Brazilian brings experience. He might not have the dynamism of Can, but he would offer a stability, sitting deep and looking to break up the play.

Lucas Leiva is experienced and his return comes at just the right time

There are still questions over his fitness, but there is time for him to regain that. He was proving solid, dependable and reliable under Klopp before his injury; the hope is he could do that once more.

Kevin Stewart

A similar option to Lucas in that he is very much focused on the back foot first. He was not named in the Europa League squad, so any involvement with the first-team would have to come in the Premier League.
However, as Stoke proved, Klopp is not averse to mixing up his team; as those ahead of him in the queue are selected for the Europa League semi-finals, this could give him an opportunity to fresh up the midfield in the league.

Kevin Stewart is an option but he's ineligible in Europe

It would be well-deserved. The 22-year-old is a solid operator, the surprise beneficiary of Klopp’s arrival.

Cameron Brannagan/Pedro Chirivella

It may seem unfair to put these two youngsters in together, but both have found themselves in similar situations. Part of the FA Cup youth side in January, both now sit on the fringes of the first-team, awaiting their next opportunity.

Cameron Brannagan deserves a chance

They are different to Stewart in terms of style, which has perhaps seen the former Spurs man get the nod ahead of them. Given what both could offer on the front foot – Brannagan in a similar mould to Allen, Chirivella as a controller – they would be options in the league, and also qualify as youth players in Europe.

Philippe Coutinho/Adam Lallana

Taking either Coutinho or Lallana out of the attacking three would blunt Liverpool further up the pitch, but both have shown the propensity to play in a more withdrawn role, so can be considered options.
Under Brendan Rodgers, Coutinho thrived as the third prong of a three-man midfield, while Lallana has been utilised there under Klopp, as well as with England.

Adam Lallana has the ability to play in a deeper role

It would be a surprise, of course. Attacking, too. But when has that stopped this club, and this manager, before?

Jordan Rossiter

The wildcard, perhaps? Rossiter has only run out once under Klopp – a substitute in the Europa League draw with Sion – with his season ravaged by two injuries. He is set to resume training with the Reds soon, however. Not soon enough, in all likelihood.

Jordan Rossiter is an outside bet for the Reds 

 

CREDIT: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/emre-can-out-remainder-season-7780302

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Liverpool wanted Grzegorz Krychowiak from Sevilla

The Reds were keen on a move for the Poland star, but he's heading to Paris Saint Germain instead.

Sevilla's Grzegorz Krychowiak in action with Liverpool's Roberto Firmino

According to the Mirror, Liverpool were interested in a move for Grzegorz Krychowiak this summer.

The Reds were in the running for the defensive midfielder, who starred against them in the Europa League final defeat to Sevilla.

Indeed, he has been a key man for the Spanish side for a number of years, becoming a star performer in their midfield over the last few years.

Liverpool's James Milner in action with Sevilla's Grzegorz Krychowiak

He has built on that reputation at Euro 2016 with a series of impressive performances for Poland.

And according to the Mirror, Liverpool were keen on a deal to bring him to Anfield this summer as Jurgen Klopp rebuilds his squad for next season. 

However, the player has instead opted to follow Unai Emery to Paris Saint Germain, with the Sevilla boss having replaced Laurent Blanc at the club.

Sevilla manager Unai Emery before the match

It now remains to be seen whether Jurgen Klopp will target a different defensive midfielder in this transfer window.

One option may be Belgian midfielder Axel Witsel, with TuttoMercatoWeb claiming they are interested in his services.

 

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He looks destined to leave Zenit St Petersburg this summer and perhaps Klopp will push ahead with a move to secure him ahead of potential Premier League rivals.

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp

Would Gregorz Krychowiak have been a good signing for Liverpool?

CREDIT TO:http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/07/02/report-liverpool-wanted-gregorz-krychowiak-from-sevilla/

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