IN 1992, the United We Stand fanzine published a picture of a wild-looking, unkempt man with the following caption: “Graeme Sounness in the year 2000”. Souness was Liverpool’s manager, a Liverpool legend trying to save a sinking ship.
A solicitor’s letter duly arrived a few weeks later concerning the picture. “As a Manchester United fan, my client is distressed to be compared to the manager of Liverpool Football Club,” it read, demanding an apology.
There’s little love lost between United and Liverpool who meet at Old Trafford on Sunday, but United right now resemble Liverpool in the early 90s, a floundering giant nowhere near the top of the league where they sat for so long. Liverpool, then England’s most successful domestic team with 18 titles, fell behind at the start of the Premier League era.
They weren’t in United’s league when it came to merchandise, they didn’t have a coherent plan for expanding or developing Anfield, they wasted money on poor signings, they wore white suits before an FA Cup final. As recently as 2015, Jamie Carragher told me that he couldn’t see Liverpool challenging for the title again any time soon – even though they’d nearly won the league in 2014.
There is an acceptance within the boardroom at Manchester United that the club needs at least 6 new players to challenge Liverpool and Manchester City for the Premier League title. [The Athletic] #LFC #MCFC #MUFC
— RedReveal (@RedReveal) October 16, 2019
“That was a missed opportunity,” he said. “We had the best player in the league by a mile. We had no European football that year either. You had Moyes; it was Mourinho’s first year (at Chelsea). So many opportunities there for Liverpool and we missed it. Looking at history, Liverpool have a title challenge every four or five years.”
Five years on, they pushed City right to the end last season. They’re currently clear at the top with a 100% record. Given how bad United are, they’re favourites to win at Old Trafford against their injury-hit greatest foes. I saw one fan say that the only solution is to start drinking early on Sunday to numb the pain that will inevitably follow. United defended well for a draw against Klopp’s side in March, but United were winning football games at that point.
How on earth has it come to this? We can laugh loudly at the self-aggrandising Liverpool fans and before Liverpool’s Super Cup win in Istanbul, one prominent fan account seriously claimed that no other club in the world could organise a party for 2,000 travelling fans before a European final because Liverpool are, you know, just so special. It’s bollocks.
I can think of hundreds of clubs who could do that, but then every club has fans which make you cringe. Or executives, like the Liverpool one who claimed they were back on their perch. No, the perch is where you sit when you win the league title.
And what happened to all those net-spend weirdos who followed Liverpool and picked apart Klopp’s transfers…and then went very quiet as Liverpool won a sixth European Cup? Then there’s the supercilious tone of the ‘this means more’ as if Liverpool are some holy institution and not a football club owned by an American hedge fund who haven’t won the league since the dark ages.
Liverpool are a great team right now and thousands of fans who wince at their own social media loons – no, not the Liverpool employees hacking into Manchester City’s scouting system. They’re in a far better place than United and United are now labelled the new Liverpool – a winning machine who’ve fallen so far that they now play their European football on a Thursday night.
#MUFC have never lost a home game within 90 minutes with Sergio Romero in goal. pic.twitter.com/56VvEatAFw
— Oddschanger (@Oddschanger) October 18, 2019
That’s the night United fans used to mock Liverpool for playing on. United even mocked the Scousers’ ‘Mickey Mouse’ treble in 2001 because it didn’t include the league or the European Cup. What United fans would give for even one of the trophies in a Mickey Mouse treble right now.
It’s grim alright and the Glazers, Ed Woodward, the underperforming players and even Ole Gunnar Solskjaer should take some of the blame, though many of the problems are not of the latter’s doing. Nine points from eight games is disgraceful from Manchester United. Twelfth in the league is appalling. Not scoring more than one goal in the last 10 games sounds like some sick joke.
I can’t even argue that it’s a blip because positives are limited to an upturn in recruitment after three decent summer signings and an improving youth set up. With a run of four away games after playing Liverpool, the next month looks daunting for a team that lost at home to Crystal Palace, a Newcastle side who couldn’t win games and drew against third division Rochdale.
Yes, there are several key injuries and the absence of Paul Pogba and David de Gea is the latest blow. Yes, United should have picked up more points in their first four games – but they didn’t. The league table doesn’t lie and United have had their worst start for 30 years. That’s so long ago that Liverpool were on their way to winning the title.
United will rise again. I don’t know how or when, but they will. It won’t be the 30 years without the title it has taken Liverpool so far, but then I doubt United fans thought it would be 26 years without a title when they won the league in 1967 and the European Cup followed a season later.
And, fool that I am, I’ll believe that United will have a chance when the roar goes up at kick-off on Sunday afternoon.
