GET THAT BALD DUTCH FRAUD OUUUUUTTTTTTT!!!!!!!
Who the hell do you think you are ARNE SLOT?! Beating my bald Dutch fraud.
That's just a joke. No offence intended to anyone.
But indeed, Arne Slot's Liverpool did beat Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Man Utd? It feels that way as when you look at the amount of game time given to the likes of Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Scott McTominay and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, it really do feel like that.
And in that case, has much really changed?
Despite the scoreline though, this was one of United's better performances this tour. We weren't as bad as that scoreline suggests as the performance would indicate a much closer game.
But why the game ended 3-0 to them is down to MUFC's lack of a cutting edge up front, big gaps in midfield and poor defending.
That's the same as last season.
We haven't improved.
Erik ten Hag's side did create double the amount of chances (16) to LFC (8) and had more shots (18-9) so it would show that it wasn't too bad in an attacking sense as at least the opportunities were created.
This is something that the manager pointed out to in his post-match presser:
“Against Liverpool we created many chances and I would be concerned if we didn’t create chances. I’m pleased with the way we created chances out of open play but also from good pressing situations and good counter-pressing situations.”
The midfield was another area where United failed as it was too open too often allowing Liverpool to get at our weakened defense.
Casemiro still hasn't improved much from last season nor has he got gradually better throughout the tour. From the start of pre-season, we could see that the Brazilian was sluggish, lethargic and a little bit on the back foot in everything he did. Casemiro still liked to fly into tackles missing the mark on many of them and in turn, exposing the back line.
This was the case again as he just wasn't at the races. For Liverpool's opener in the 10th minute, Fabio Carvalho sent Casemiro back to Brazil with a simple drop of the shoulder before he put the ball in the bottom corner.
Poor defending from him and United all round. That was an indication of what was to come.
With youngster Toby Collyer in midfield next to the 5x CL winner, it was always going to be difficult for United in the centre of the park but one should be expecting much more from someone as experienced as Casemiro.
ten Hag's side did continue to create openings but failure to take their chances ended up costing the team as 10 minutes before halftime, Curtis Jones made it 2-0 after Mo Salah went passed young Collyer a little too easily to play in a simple cross for the second.
Erik ten Hag then took off Rashford (who was coming back from a knock), Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans at halftime with majority of his changes coming on the hour mark which is when Kostas Tsmikas made it 3-0 to seal the deal.
Far too easy for LFC to get in behind United's defence to score a pretty simple goal. All three goals could've easily been prevented.
This is where the manager will be most disappointed because it was much too simple for Arne Slot's side to score. The flip side is that Liverpool didn't actually create too many clear opportunities themselves which is a small positive to take.
As ever with United though, more injuries plagued the side.
Lindelof and Evans both came off because they weren't able to continue with one of the substitutes Will Fish getting injured in a tackle with Harvey Blair. There was no Harry Maguire because he had a "precaution" according to Erik ten Hag which explained his absence.
That wasn't the end of the injuries though, as Aaron Wan-Bissaka also went down with a problem. While it didn't appear too serious, you just never know. We all thought that Rasmus Hojlund's injury wasn't too bad and he's out for a reported six weeks.
Why Wan-Bissaka (and McTominay for that matter) played at all baffles me. With the two of them looking highly likely to leave the club to West Ham and Fulham, why risk them getting injured? If they did and do happen to be out for a while, will those clubs still want to sign them? Will they end up pulling out of the race?
I thought this was a silly decision by ten hag and the club as should West Ham and Fulham not want to buy them, that would mean having to keep them and not being able to bring in new players who are better suited to how the manager wants to play.
The boss said that "there were mixed feelings" after this defeat and that he wasn't happy with the way the goals were conceded. He also said that a difference between the sides was LFC's efficiency up front.
Erik ten Hag also said that they had all "learned a lot" from this tour with them being "really pleased with all the effort put in." He added that now it is about the recovery and preparation for the next game which is a big one.
And so ended the US tour and pre-season. Not the most memorable in terms of the football and results although the experience must have been great especially for the youngsters.
But to be honest, I'm not sure we learned a whole lot from this tour. If anything, it's more of the same. It was a bit of a waste of time as it actually left us worse off when looking at the injuries, than what we were at the start.
Bring on Man City and 24/25 😩.
Background Image: Liverpool's Fabio Carvalho and Man Utd's Aaron Wan-Bissaka | Image credit: Getty Images via Goal