Ten Hag's men showed an attitude and determination never seen before this season and overcame a Liverpool bereft of ideas.
The simple presence of the Brazilian seemed to serve to put an order in the 'Theatre of Dreams. He jumped onto the grass minutes before the start of the match, with a severe face, except for the protocol photos.
T-shirt of the new team in hand, with his name serigraph on him still without a number, he greeted his new fans. "If he could, he would already play against Liverpool", he said in his farewell from Real Madrid. It was not necessary.
This United, the one of constant instability and uncertainty, was an apathetic team, lacking in football and in attitude. The defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion and the home win against Brentford reflect the mood of a team that starts games losing.
At least that was the feeling until Monday's match, which closed the third day of the Premier League, a Derby in the Northwest of England with a lot at stake. Casemiro, whom the cameras followed assiduously during the 90 minutes, had the opportunity to analyze in the first person those who will be his new squires in midfield.
Far from the level of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, Scott McTominay and Christian Eriksen gave an excellent image of the one who will be their commander from now on.
The reason was apparent: Liverpool's energy could only be fought with more power, and the Portuguese no longer possessed it.
The captain, for his part, has low confidence and does not have that of his teammates either. In this way, United came out to bite, pushed by an Old Trafford mainly motivated by the type of game, the need, and the air of change Casemiro brings to the club in every way. Liverpool has more capacity and more maturity to dominate the ball.
Luis Diaz was more subdued than usual, Roberto Firmino appeared in areas of little danger, and Mohamed Salah was ideally watched by the young Tyrell Malacia.
After several threats, Jadon Sancho culminated one of the few elaborate plays of his team with an unusual coldness inside the area, leaving the defense and Alisson himself sitting down, an action applauded by Ronaldo himself.
Sancho leaves Liverpool's defense seated to overtake his own. The dominance of Klopp's men has only grown since then, but it has not been transformed into explicit scoring situations.
United's endurance exercise was admirable. To sample, look at Bruno Fernandes. The team's most differential player with the ball completed only 25 passes in the game but won five of his eleven contests, finishing five clearances and three interceptions. He captained the team from the effort.
Superior to Maguire in ball output, he was very inspired in his defensive actions and saved his team at critical moments.
The change in attitude was evident. So much so that two figures who arrived at the season demoralized, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford, were in charge of dealing a second blow to Liverpool with a new, perfectly executed high-speed start.
However, only Salah, catching a loose ball in the box with his head, could break the unbeaten run of an excellent David De Gea.
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