Giggs: Man United need to be more like Liverpool

8 April 2017 07:05

Manchester United must be more like Liverpool and find goals from all over the pitch amid their reliance on Zlatan Ibrahimovic, according to former assistant and player Ryan Giggs.

Ibrahimovic has starred since arriving from Paris Saint-Germain, scoring 16 Premier League goals and 27 in total for United, who are struggling to finish in the top four having drawn 12 matches and nine at Old Trafford following the 1-1 stalemate against Everton last time out.

The 35-year-old, however, has lacked support up front with midfielder Juan Mata (10) the only other play to reach double figures for Jose Mourinho’s men.

Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba have netted seven goals apiece this season, while out-of-form captain Wayne Rooney has five.

It is frustrating statistics for United, who are sixth in the standings and four points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester City, and Giggs said goals should come throughout the team as they did during Alex Ferguson’s time at the Theatre of Dreams.

Giggs also highlighted the spread of goals at Liverpool, who have netted a league-high 66.

“They’re getting in those positions, but it’s concentration when it falls for you,” Giggs said via the Daily Mail. “Jose’s said it, hasn’t he?

“It’s frustrating. You’re dominating games and have so many draws. You look up and it’s like ‘what could have been?’

“There’s luck too. [Paul] Pogba’s hit the bar nine times. If he scores those then he’s got 15. It’s that, it’s confidence – all of those need to come together.

“You can’t just rely on one person because they can have an off day. Leicester last year. OK, Jamie Vardy scored a lot of goals, but Riyad Mahrez got 17. That’s what you need.

“That’s how the United teams I played in were like. I’d chip in with seven or eight, [David Beckham] Becks would, [Paul Scholes] Scholesy would. Four centre forwards would. The centre halves. Denis Irwin too. The goals came from everywhere.

“You only have to look at Liverpool. I questioned them — they’ve not got a centre forward who can score 20 goals. But they just come from everywhere and they are the leading goalscorers. That’s what United need to get back.

“My target was always to get double figures and then 15 assists. That’s 25 goals. If Becks is doing the same, you’ve got a lot there.

“Sir Alex Ferguson would say ‘this is what I expect from you’. It put pressure on but you knew what the expectations were. If you were left out, you’d know why.”