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Liverpool's Trauma: Life In United's Shadow Nigel Smith looks at how the tables have turned in the North West, where Liverpool are left trying to match the standards being set by Manchester United.
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Historically, Liverpool are still the most successful club in England, but over the last 20 years, they have struggled to even come in second to Manchester United.
Not surprisingly, there is much mockery and laughter to be heard among United fans at the confusion and rancour which now engulf Liverpool.
A last-gasp defeat at Upton Park effectively ended Liverpool’s title quest. It is 18 years since Liverpool last won the league, and that's set only to grow. The team is now in seventh place in the Premiership, 17 points behind United and Arsenal.
And as well as the league, problems arise in head-to-head matters. Rafa Benitez was aggrieved late last year when the press labelled him a ‘dead man walking’ and signalled that he would be sacked if his Liverpool side failed to beat Fergie's team.
The Merseysiders did indeed lose the game but Benitez, much to his satisfaction, kept his job. The newspapers were exaggerating, came the whisper from the Anfield boot room. Rafa’s ‘misunderstanding’ with his employers was a spat easily smoothed over. The show would go on with Benitez at the helm.
We know differently now. The press was spot on in its ‘sack race’ speculation. Jurgen Klinsmann has admitted he was offered the Liverpool manager’s sheepskin last November but turned down the opportunity to take over instead at Bayern Munich. The news was a crushing blow for Benitez and should have prompted his resignation.
TV pundit and Anfield legend Alan Hansen has warned that the behind the scenes manoeuvring could have an impact on Liverpool’s form on the field.
"These events cannot do anything but undermine Benitez,” he told the Sun newspaper last month. “If it adds to the tension then that will eventually start to affect the team on the pitch.”
Another Liverpool hero, Ian Rush, worried that the affair had turned the club into a “laughing stock.”
Press reports suggest Benitez will soldier on, clinging for dear life to the hope that a good run in the Champions League will save his skin. Winning the trophy might encourage doubt in the minds of the club's American owners, but with a refreshed Jose Mourinho lurking, anything less than a Euro victory would, it seems, bring the curtain down on Benitez’s reign.
Sir Alex says that Newcastle are the most difficult club to manage. The impatience of the north east club’s fans and a trigger-happy boardroom certainly give that impression. However Liverpool could soon rival the Toon volcano if a hunger for glory at Anfield trumps plain common sense.
It took Ferguson four long years before he cracked the English league code. During a similar period, Benitez has won the FA Cup and taken his team to the Champions League final twice, returning home with the trophy at his first attempt.
The Spaniard might believe that his record should insulate him from criticism this season. If so, he has reckoned without the mindset of his public, who would trade Euro glory for domestic success - and the chance to lord it over United - in a heartbeat.
Therein lies the problem for Liverpool.
Just as Ferguson was determined to knock “Liverpool off their perch,” so the Scousers are similarly taken with the need to recover ground lost to the north west enemy.
Eighteen years spent coping with disappointment grows steadily more traumatic for the Liverpool hordes. Over that time, the club’s fans have suffered with symptoms similar to a stress disorder - frustration, denial, renewed confidence, anger, depression and obsession - to the point now where they live and breathe United, United, cursed United!
The mention of a new stadium is never complete without reference to the need to earn the equivalent of United’s match day receipts. John Aldridge implied incompetence when he complained recently that Liverpool had lost the “Liverpool-supporting” Cristiano Ronaldo because United were quicker off the mark.
The ‘Jol Factor’ is also raised to damn Benitez, too. The former Spurs manager was trashed for his lack of success against the top four sides. Liverpool fans appear to care not a jot about the team’s results against Arsenal or Chelsea. It’s the United scalp they want. Benitez cannot deliver it so the guillotine is sharpened.
Every trophy held aloft by a United captain since 1993 has been a torture worse than having to sit through a looped tape of Anthony Cotton singing show tunes!
Every televised goal fest and every back page United celebration is a finely tuned humiliation and reason for yet more visceral loathing, ratcheting up the level of despair for Liverpool's. No wonder all of this pent up rage pours out uncontrollably whenever Gary Neville takes the field and kisses his badge.
United lived with these feelings for more than 20 years. The shoe is on the other foot now but perhaps the temptation to rejoice at the Liverpool shambles should be resisted. What happens to the Red kingdom when Sir Alex retires?
zoom - galleria Historically, Liverpool are still the most successful club in England, but over the last 20 years, they have struggled to even come in second to Manchester United.
Not surprisingly, there is much mockery and laughter to be heard among United fans at the confusion and rancour which now engulf Liverpool.
A last-gasp defeat at Upton Park effectively ended Liverpool’s title quest. It is 18 years since Liverpool last won the league, and that's set only to grow. The team is now in seventh place in the Premiership, 17 points behind United and Arsenal.
And as well as the league, problems arise in head-to-head matters. Rafa Benitez was aggrieved late last year when the press labelled him a ‘dead man walking’ and signalled that he would be sacked if his Liverpool side failed to beat Fergie's team.
The Merseysiders did indeed lose the game but Benitez, much to his satisfaction, kept his job. The newspapers were exaggerating, came the whisper from the Anfield boot room. Rafa’s ‘misunderstanding’ with his employers was a spat easily smoothed over. The show would go on with Benitez at the helm.
We know differently now. The press was spot on in its ‘sack race’ speculation. Jurgen Klinsmann has admitted he was offered the Liverpool manager’s sheepskin last November but turned down the opportunity to take over instead at Bayern Munich. The news was a crushing blow for Benitez and should have prompted his resignation.
TV pundit and Anfield legend Alan Hansen has warned that the behind the scenes manoeuvring could have an impact on Liverpool’s form on the field.
"These events cannot do anything but undermine Benitez,” he told the Sun newspaper last month. “If it adds to the tension then that will eventually start to affect the team on the pitch.”
Another Liverpool hero, Ian Rush, worried that the affair had turned the club into a “laughing stock.”
Press reports suggest Benitez will soldier on, clinging for dear life to the hope that a good run in the Champions League will save his skin. Winning the trophy might encourage doubt in the minds of the club's American owners, but with a refreshed Jose Mourinho lurking, anything less than a Euro victory would, it seems, bring the curtain down on Benitez’s reign.
Sir Alex says that Newcastle are the most difficult club to manage. The impatience of the north east club’s fans and a trigger-happy boardroom certainly give that impression. However Liverpool could soon rival the Toon volcano if a hunger for glory at Anfield trumps plain common sense.
It took Ferguson four long years before he cracked the English league code. During a similar period, Benitez has won the FA Cup and taken his team to the Champions League final twice, returning home with the trophy at his first attempt.
The Spaniard might believe that his record should insulate him from criticism this season. If so, he has reckoned without the mindset of his public, who would trade Euro glory for domestic success - and the chance to lord it over United - in a heartbeat.
Therein lies the problem for Liverpool.
Just as Ferguson was determined to knock “Liverpool off their perch,” so the Scousers are similarly taken with the need to recover ground lost to the north west enemy.
Eighteen years spent coping with disappointment grows steadily more traumatic for the Liverpool hordes. Over that time, the club’s fans have suffered with symptoms similar to a stress disorder - frustration, denial, renewed confidence, anger, depression and obsession - to the point now where they live and breathe United, United, cursed United!
The mention of a new stadium is never complete without reference to the need to earn the equivalent of United’s match day receipts. John Aldridge implied incompetence when he complained recently that Liverpool had lost the “Liverpool-supporting” Cristiano Ronaldo because United were quicker off the mark.
The ‘Jol Factor’ is also raised to damn Benitez, too. The former Spurs manager was trashed for his lack of success against the top four sides. Liverpool fans appear to care not a jot about the team’s results against Arsenal or Chelsea. It’s the United scalp they want. Benitez cannot deliver it so the guillotine is sharpened.
Every trophy held aloft by a United captain since 1993 has been a torture worse than having to sit through a looped tape of Anthony Cotton singing show tunes!
Every televised goal fest and every back page United celebration is a finely tuned humiliation and reason for yet more visceral loathing, ratcheting up the level of despair for Liverpool's. No wonder all of this pent up rage pours out uncontrollably whenever Gary Neville takes the field and kisses his badge.
United lived with these feelings for more than 20 years. The shoe is on the other foot now but perhaps the temptation to rejoice at the Liverpool shambles should be resisted. What happens to the Red kingdom when Sir Alex retires?