I’M not falling for it.
Liverpool’s next opponents currently sit in 12th place with nine points having won just twice this season. The opening eight games represent their worst ever start in Premier League history. Their last away win came at Selhurst Park back in February thanks to two Romelu Lukaku goals. Since then they’ve drawn three and lost five on the road.
Things are not going well at Old Trafford.
The chief criticism has been their lack of planning. Spending a sizable chunk of change on Harry Maguire is one thing, but not replacing the brawn of Lukaku speaks of a panic buy mentality as Solskjaer seeks to undo the haphazard work of Mourinho and van Gaal before him.
Though the Norwegian has stated that Liverpool at home is the perfect fixture to kickstart their season, they must be dreading the arrival of the European champions on Sunday.
But I’m not falling for it for a second. I wasn’t born yesterday.
I know what will happen. We’ll get there and they’ll be all Manchester United about it. They’ve probably got the prime 1999 Keane, Scholes, Beckham and Giggs thawing in a cryogenic chamber under the pitch, ready to don masks of their current midfield setup.
We’ve been here before. The annual Rooney injury doubt followed by his bounding onto the pitch for kick off, the problem defender who suddenly turns into Beckenbauer and, of course, the new signing from Monaco who they overpaid for putting the game to bed just as The Reds come back into it.
This whole season is nothing but a ruse to lull us into a false sense of security. I expect to see Roy Race sitting on the subs bench (one for the teenagers, there).
Newer Reds may be confused at this paranoia, but it is borne of experience. It’s easy to suppose that Liverpool of yore would regularly batter United on our way to all those trophies. Not so.
Throughout the 1980s Liverpool won just one league game at Old Trafford – a 1-0 win in April 1982 thanks to a Craig Johnston goal, and even then Bruce Grobbelaar had to save a penalty to secure it. Other than that shaft of light it was draw after defeat after draw.
Things got so bad that their end smugly unfurled a banner proclaiming “10 Years and Counting” before the December 2000 game. Liverpool won 1-0.
And it’s that sort of hubris that we can do without, regardless of where both clubs are in the table.
They could be the worst team in the world and they’ll still pick themselves up for us. Solskjaer has no love of Liverpool these days (though rumour has it that he was VERY fond of The Reds in his youth), so will be urging them on to either run us off the pitch or kick us off it.
Well, that’s what I’d do if I were them.
It’s a cliche that the form book goes out of the window in these games and that it’s just a straight toe-to-toe scrap which determines the outcome, but it’s true in this case.
In April 1988, United came to Anfield 11 points behind Kenny Dalglish’s much stronger side having played two more games. Kopites thought that this would be the time to put them to bed following some disappointing mid-80s results against them.
We led 3-1 when Ferguson took off Mike Duxbury and threw on Norman Whiteside. Liverpool just weren’t ready for him as he kicked everything in a red shirt in an attempt to stall our passing game. It worked and they got a 3-3 draw.
Ferguson knew exactly what he was doing. If you can’t match them, bring them down to your level.
No one is suggesting that they’ll do that now, but it would be wrong of anyone to assume that any Liverpool win will come gift wrapped.
I’ll say it again. They could be in the lower reaches of the Northern Premier League and they’d still come out fighting. Liverpool just have to ensure that we don’t encourage them with hope.
The demise of United, supposed or otherwise, is fascinating as there are similarities with our own fall from grace in the early 1990s. We too had a dynasty which looked unrivalled. Then one day teams spotted a chink in our armour and started to think they could beat us after all.
That realisation may date back to the Palace semi final in 1990 for us, but for United it was certainly Ferguson’s departure.
Moyes could never match his predecessor (indeed his job was impossible), van Gaal was clearly mad and their Mourinho wasn’t that of his Porto/early Chelsea days. They spent like drunken sailors (Di Maria, Blind, and Falcao) on trinkets rather than worth and are paying the price now.
Just as Liverpool were reliant on youth back then (McManaman, Hutchison and Redknapp) United now look to their in the shape of James, Greenwood and McTominay. They have a huge rebuild to address and it’s far from a given that the man ‘at the wheel’ is the right one.
But all that is irrelevant. As pleasing as it is to see them struggle the only thing Jürgen can take from them is three points on Sunday and if we’re at our best that should be achievable even if they are too.
Some people dislike this fixture. It’s too visceral, too fractious and too much to lose to enjoy. That’s the occasion this game has become. Liverpool have to transcend that if they want to exert their dominance.
They’ll always be the side to beat. They’ll always be the benchmark even when they’re absolute dross.
I’m not convinced that they’re that just yet. We’ve been burned too many times before to believe the evidence of our own eyes.
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These feckers stand between us and 3 points. Let’s go and destroy them.
Yep. No resting on our laurels against this lot. I can almost see Solksjaer’s jolly little face, beaming with spiteful delight as they cream in some sort of poxy result. Let’s not let it happen. Please.
Solksjaer was very cryptic when discussing Pogba and De Gea “they’re not likely to play, we’ll have to see”. I wouldn’t be surprised to find them announced fit when the teamsheet is issued. Similarly with Martial who supposedly only returned to training this week. After a long-term hamstring nobody could return after one week’s training. Bet he was training during the international break and will miraculously also be declared fit.
Well as you asked, just in my matchgoing lifetime …. (we’ll take 91/92 and Rob Jones debut as a positive and roll forward 12 months)
92/93 – 2-0 up, and blow a lead after Ferguson junior maims Molby, drawing 2-2.
93/94 – penalty given for a foul on Thomas, overturned by a linesman’s flag on the other side of the pitch. Ince makes it 1-0 to them.
94/95 – dominate the first half, Liverpool can’t put the ball away and miss a series of chances. Scales, who has started well and goes on to have an incredibly assured few seasons at CB inexplicably lets a back header run through to Kanchelskis, who makes it 1-0.
95/96 – Cantona’s return from a 6 month ban is enabled by tv moving the match back by 24 hours. Despite an away fan ban (my uncle and a handful apart) and conceding in the 1st minute, we go on to dominate, Fowler scoring twice before a soft pen makes it 2-2, Cantona of all people equalising.
96/97 – early kick off, 11am (!) and I’m recovering from an appendix operation. Fowlerless Liverpool miss a hatful of chances, Schmeichel gets MOTM and Beckham makes it 1-0.
97/98 – Good Friday kick off, we’re the better side and Owen stands up for himself despite getting targeted by Schmeichel and others and gets sent off. Still the better side despite drawing 1-1.
98/99 – McAteer throws his arm out after about 12 minutes giving away a ridiculous penalty. Reidle has an equaliser disallowed, before Scholes wraps it up.
98/99 – THAT cup tie, which gives them the platform for their greatest ever season. Enough said.
99/2000 – we’re well on top, Berger puts us 1 up with a free kick, and Solskjaer maims Hyypia before equalising against 10 men LFC right on HT. Also the game Gary Neville claimed his car was attacked on the Quays by a group of Liverpool, which was, and remains, an outrageous lie.
2000/01 – a win. Hurrah!
01/02 – another win. Marvellous!
02/03 – Hyypia sent off after 4 minutes, and we get absolutely hammered 4-0. It probably was a sending off as Van Nistelrooy was through, but no way that gets given the other way.
03/04 – yet another 1-0 win. Hurrah! Also the last time the two sides met
04/05 – lost 2-1 fair and square, but two Silvestre goals against us adds a veneer of the surreal. The start of the witchhunt for Rafa on zonal marking.
05/06 – Cisse misses a succession of chances before Ferdinand makes it 1-0 in the 92nd minute and Neville performs a little war dance in front of the away end. Dennis Irwin’s car bears the brunt outside.
06/07 – the last time we ever saw Mark Gonzalez. Dreadful performance, and deservedly lost 2-0.
07/08 – Mascherano stands up to their snideness and gets sent off for his troubles. We lost 3-0 on Easter Sunday.
08/09 – boss day.
09/10 – 2-1 loss despite scoring first. Wheels well and truly come off under Rafa.
10/11 – come from 2 goals down under Hodgson to equalise, before Berbatov, of all people, gets a hattrick.
10/11 – Kenny’s return punctured by conceding a first minute penalty, never laying a glove on United and Gerrard being sent off. Season over and the first season in history Liverpool never won a domestic cup tie.
11/12 – Evragate part 2. Heads falling off all over the place. Rooney scores twice straight after half time and although Suarez gets one back, we were never getting anything from the game.
12/13 – a limp 2-1 defeat which we were never really in.
13/14 – an early season 1-0 exit from the league cup. Liverpool launch a lit flare from the upper tier into the K Stand, which happily doesn’t kill or blind anyone.
13/14 – the high point of 3 pens given at OT and a 3-0 win.
14/15 – battered 3-0 with Ballotelli subbed at HT.
15/16 – a flaccid, embarrassing 3-1 defeat, which carries no complaints at all.
15/16 Uefa Cup game – 1-1 and a great result, but even then, man of the match Sahko fails a drug test and gets banned for the final.
16/17 – 1-1. Ok result and, amazingly, no controversy.
17/18 – 2-1 defeat again. Mourinho does a number on Klopp and Trent getting in behind our right side meaning they’re 2 up at half time. Another OT game like 11/12, 12/13 which we were never really out of but lets be honest never really in either.
18/19 – a flat, lifeless 0-0.
So yeah, I’m not optimistic ….
Our football has not been good on the eye but the underlying statistics say otherwise we’ve been threatening to batter somebody for a while now I pray Sunday is when it all comes together here’s hoping we BATTER them