Dalglish’s men a work in progress

THEY might have shared the spoils on the pitch, but Manchester United and Liverpool remain poles apart.

One glance at their midweek schedules illustrates the current gulf that exists between England’s two most decorated clubs in terms of domestic titles.

While Alex Ferguson takes his United players off to Romania for Champions League action, Kenny Dalglish’s side will board a flight to Scotland tomorrow.

Liverpool’s failure to secure a place in Europe last season has left the club’s fringe players kicking their heels at the lack of playing time. Hence Dalglish’s decision to arrange a friendly with Rangers at Ibrox to give the likes of Danny Wilson, Craig Bellamy, Sebastian Coates and Maxi Rodriguez a much needed run-out.

Yet on a glorious autumnal Merseyside afternoon came evidence that the gap between United and Liverpool might not be as big as it has been of late.

Yes, United have opened up a six-point advantage on their bitter rivals with less than a quarter of the season gone.

And no doubt that gap will increase over the course of the remaining 30 games but, make no mistake, Liverpool are moving in the right direction under Dalglish.

It was United who condemned Dalglish to defeat just hours after the Scot accepted an invitation to return to Anfield’s dugout last January, Ryan Giggs’ second minute penalty and Steven Gerrard’s 32nd minute dismissal contributing towards Liverpool’s FA Cup third round demise at Old Trafford.

On Saturday, the actions of Giggs and Gerrard combined to give the hosts the lead as Liverpool’s returning captain capitalised on United’s veteran winger failing to do his job properly in the wall.

Nine months ago, Ryan Babel tweeted a mocked up picture of referee Howard Webb in a United shirt after defeat at Old Trafford.

Babel’s fellow countryman Dirk Kuyt must have thought about doing the same thing after the Netherlands forward had a penalty appeal turned down by Andre Marriner when Jonny Evans appeared to handle his header.

Dalglish grumbled in his after-match press conference that his side should have been awarded a spot kick but refused to make a huge issue about it.

“We’ll dust ourselves down and move on from it,” he said, no doubt remembering the huge slice of fortune Liverpool profited from when Everton’s Jack Rodwell was wrongly dismissed during the Merseyside derby two weeks earlier.

But while Dalglish’s side remain a work in progress, they are clearly capable of inflicting the most uncomfortable of experiences on United.

Rio Ferdinand and Evans will be thankful they do not have to face Luis Suarez on a regular basis while Giggs, Darren Fletcher and Phil Jones all looked relieved to be leaving Anfield with a point after finding the going tough against Gerrard.

Jordan Henderson impressed as a late substitute alongside Gerrard and Jose Enrique again caught the eye with another impressive left-back display.

Liverpool are still playing catch-up with United, Manchester City and Chelsea in terms of mounting a serious title challenge but the signs, based on Saturday’s evidence at least, suggest that they are improving, and the days when they are back playing in Europe again may not be far away.