SI:AM | Manchester United Avoids Disaster. Liverpool … Not So Much.

Plus, why NFL teams are breaking the bank for top-notch receivers.

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. Watching Manchester United vs. Liverpool was a great way to round out my work day yesterday.

In today’s SI:AM:

⚽ Temporary joy for Man U

💰 Wide receivers got paid

🏈 Baker’s second chance

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Crisis averted—for now

Yesterday’s match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford had all the makings of a disaster for United. After losing its first two games of the Premier League season (including a shocking 4–0 defeat against tiny Brentford, which is playing its third season in England’s top flight since World War II), United would have to face not only one of the most consistently impressive clubs in the world but also its fiercest rival. The scene was tense. Outside the stadium, fans gathered to protest the Glazer family, the club’s American owners, as they’ve done many times before.

But United was up to the task, handing Liverpool a 2–1 defeat and looking like a new team in the process. Here’s how Jonathan Wilson summed it up:

United was quicker, slicker, tougher than Liverpool. It took its goals with efficiency, playing with the sort of verve on the counter that used to characterize it on the good days under Ole Gunnar Solskjær—before the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo and his static approach to center-forward play led to an unhelpful rethink. Notably, having got into such trouble last week against Brentford trying to pass out from the back, David de Gea took every goal-kick long. Given how uncomfortable the Spanish keeper is with the ball at his feet, that was probably a necessary compromise, but it is probably not a long-term solution for Erik ten Hag if he is to have United play remotely in the same way his Ajax did.

ten Hag is in his first season as manager at United, having been hired after a successful stint at Dutch club Ajax. The first season under a new manager is always a time of transition for a club as the new boss works to find the combination of players and tactics that work. And ten Hag made two bold personnel decisions for last night’s game, removing Cristiano Ronaldo and captain Harry Maguire from the starting lineup. They paid off, though.

But one win, even over a staunch rival, isn’t enough to paper over all the things that are wrong with the club. United’s loss to Brentford last week, which Wilson called “probably its worst performance in half a century,” can’t be ignored, and neither can the questionable decisions it has made in an attempt to turn things around. The other big show at Old Trafford last night was the introduction of the club’s latest signing, the former Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro. United paid a massive fee (​​reportedly $60 million, plus a possible $10 million in add-ons) to sign him, the second largest ever paid for a player over 30.

Casemiro is a quality player. He anchored the midfield for Real Madrid during a stunning stretch of success. But he seemingly doesn’t fit the style of play that ten Hag was supposed to bring to Manchester, Wilson writes:

This is not long-term planning. In fact, it doesn’t seem much like planning at all. United spent most of the summer chasing Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong, who had played for ten Hag at Ajax. He is a player who could provide an obvious basis for ten Hag’s vision of United. Having failed to land him, United then turned its attention to Adrien Rabiot, a wholly different type of midfielder. And when that deal stalled, United turned to Casemiro, a midfielder of a totally different profile.

If ten Hag is going to be the manager to lead United to its first Premier League title since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure in 2013, there’s still lots of work to be done.

Liverpool isn’t in great shape, either. The Reds have taken just two points from their first three games. The loss was their first in the Premier League since Dec. 28, 2021, against Leicester City. Yes, it’s early in the season. But no wins in three matches has already created a significant deficit for a club that has title aspirations.

The best of Sports Illustrated

Today’s Daily Cover is Conor Orr’s magazine story about how the NFL’s receiver market blew up:

Executives gobbled up veterans at the position seemingly without care for financial norms or precedent. The average wide receiver salary ballooned. For years, wideouts had been viewed as a luxury. Unscientific studies of past Super Bowl champions (specifically, the Patriots) revealed a cast of mostly anonymous role-playing pass catchers. Between 2000 and ’20, only once had a Super Bowl team employed the NFL’s leading wide receiver (Torry Holt, of the Rams, in ’01). But then Super Bowl LV featured top-of-the-line pass catchers like [Tyreek] Hill, with the Chiefs, and the Buccaneers’ Mike Evans, Antonio Brown and Chris Godwin. Super Bowl LVI? The Rams’ Cooper Kupp, who led the league in receptions and yards; and the Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase, the NFL Rookie of the Year.

Trey Lance and John Lynch told Albert Breer how a finger injury inhibited Lance’s rookie season more than previously disclosed. … Nick Selbe explains what the Astros and Mariners have in common, aside from spots near the top of our MLB power rankings. … By burying the news of his hiring Friday afternoon, Fox Sports indicated it knows it’s making a mistake in bringing back Urban Meyer, Jimmy Traina writes. … ESPN’s increased emphasis on putting microphones on baseball players has been a major success thus far, Emma Baccellieri writes.

Around the sports world

Bryce James, LeBron’s younger son, has received his first college scholarship offer. … The Panthers have officially named Baker Mayfield their starting quarterback. … The Jazz reportedly have a very steep asking price in negotiations for Donovan Mitchell. … Nate Fisher, who was working in a bank last year and made his MLB debut over the weekend, was designated for assignment by the Mets. … The coach of the football team that inspired Friday Night Lights has died.

The top five...

… things I saw yesterday:

5. Johnny Gargano’s return to WWE.

4. Aaron Judge’s 47th home run of the season.

3. Albert Pujols’s 693rd home run of his career.

2. Nolan Arenado’s bare-handed play.

1. The Twins’ triple play.

SIQ

On this day in 1953, Phil Paine became the first major leaguer to pitch professionally in which country?

• Japan
• South Korea
• Mexico
• Cuba

Yesterday’s SIQ: On Aug. 22, 2007, the Rangers beat the Orioles 30–3, leading which ESPN reporter to make an iconic appearance on SportsCenter where his voice kept rising higher and higher?

• Peter Gammons
• Tim Kurkjian
• Pedro Gomez
• Buster Olney

Answer: ​​Tim Kurkjian. Was this trivia question just an excuse to link out to one of my favorite YouTube videos? Pretty much.

As funny as Kurkjian’s bewilderment was, his SportsCenter hit was also tremendously informative. In less than 90 seconds, he managed to pack in seven fun facts about the absurd box score, like how the Rangers scored more runs in that game than the Devil Rays had scored in their last 11 games combined and how Texas scored more in the final two innings than they had scored in their last six games.

The offensive outburst broke a modern MLB record for runs in a game previously shared by the 1955 White Sox and ’50 Red Sox (29 runs). The Braves also lit up the Marlins for 29 runs on Sept. 9, 2020.

The Orioles used four pitchers in the record-setting game. Daniel Cabrera got the start and allowed six runs over five innings of work. He was pulled after allowing a lead-off homer in the sixth to Texas catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia that gave the Rangers a 6–3 lead. And that’s when the wheels fell off.

Brian Burres, who replaced Cabrera, allowed seven runs while recording only two outs. He was pulled in favor of Rob Bell and was charged with another run when Bell allowed an RBI single to Ian Kinsler, making it 14–3.

The game was decided at that point but far from over. After going down 1-2-3 in the seventh, the Rangers poured it on in the final two innings, scoring 10 in the eighth and six in the ninth.

Two things about this game are incredible to me in retrospect. First of all, it took just three hours and 21 minutes to play. The Nationals and Padres played a 3–1 game last week that took three hours and 19 minutes. Second, the four pitchers the Orioles used were actually pitchers. If a game like that happened today, Baltimore would have had some Quad A second baseman pitching the final three innings.

From the Vault: Aug. 23, 1976

Heinz Kluetmeier/Sports Illustrated

The expansion Buccaneers thought they had things all figured out when they joined the league in 1976. They made a big splash when hiring their first head coach, luring John McKay away from USC after 16 seasons and four national championships. Then they tried to get the home fans on their side by trading for Heisman-winning former Florida quarterback Steve Spurrier. We all know how that season ended up for Tampa Bay (0–14), but at least McKay could always be relied upon for a good quote.

The coach had earned a reputation for making witty remarks while at USC, and John Underwood’s cover story is full of them, like this one about cutting players:

One guy said he was already a millionaire. He should’ve been glad I cut him. Another guy was making a fortune raising Spanish goats. He asked me if I wanted some of the action. Some guys cut themselves with their attitude. We had a punter who said he “lost his desire.” How can you lose your desire to punt and eat steaks? If you've lost your desire for that, you’ve really lost it. Some guys act relieved when you cut them. It’s not that different from telling a college player he won't be playing much. It’s not a terrible fate. I tell them a lot of great people never played pro football. George Washington never played pro football.

McKay’s NFL tenure couldn’t have started much worse (the Bucs lost 26 games in a row before winning their last two games in 1977), but he actually managed to turn things around before long. Tampa went 10–6 in ’79 and lost in the NFC championship game, then made back-to-back playoff appearances in ’81 and ’82. The losing streak overshadows how impressive it was for McKay to build a team from scratch that quickly.

Check out more of SI’s archives and historic images at vault.si.com.

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