Again, it seems like our team's still poor at transitioning from defence to attack against teams like Liverpool that aim to cut out the options quickly. It's as if our players are really concerned about leaving gaps open and aren't yet trusting themselves and their teammates to commit to a counterattack. Mkhitaryan was quite guilty of this today and was one of the reasons we looked poor in our transitions. Young played too deep and rarely came out on the counter as well.
Other than that, our full backs today were the worst players on the pitch. They were frequently out of position, poor in the 1-on-1's, and struggled to pass the ball out from the back. Valencia and Darmian both didn't work well with their wingers at all, and both always looked to hoof it forward aimlessly in the hope that Lukaku could somehow barge his way to the ball.
Speaking of Lukaku, he showed, once again, that he's quite poor when isolated. He really struggles to hold the ball up in isolation and really struggles to keep control of the football when under pressure. Watching him today made me realise why I wanted Morata over him: whilst Morata isn't as big and strong as Lukaku, at least he can keep himself balanced under pressure and maintain control of the ball. Oh well, here's hoping that Lukaku can improve that side of his game, but I don't really see that happening.
Some people will attack our midfield for not taking control of the match, but what I saw was a midfield that struggled to find options. Liverpool kept pressing us hard, and the other players didn't look to make themselves available for passing options, instead preferring to stay back in order to not get caught out. Too often did we see Matic get caught out as he couldn't find anyone to pass the ball to. Too often did we Herrera attempt to play a quick pass to our static attacking players.
I guess this will be the pattern in our big games. The players need to have more trust in others and not worry so much about the gaps that can open up at the back. On top of that, we need full backs that don't look timid in their game.