Terrace Talk

I’ve chosen for this week’s topic a subject I’m not particularly an expert on. You should know that this is strictly the random perceptions of an ecstatic United fan.

The storied downfall of Liverpool from their heralded decade of dominance hasn’t been so much a guiding light for the Kop faithful as it has been an unreachable standard throwing the fans into a chronic coma of depression. To add to their pain, has been the dominance of their bitter rivals from Manchester, who have rightfully taken their place as England’s premier team, regardless of any fluke 2005 Champions League final (and that second half was certainly a fluke). To add further underlines to this state of affairs are the voluminous statistics pointing to only one superior team. While I do love pointing out the obvious inferiority of the “bin dippers” I think I’ll try to make some less obvious, yet more objective points.

I’ll ignore the Houllier years as they were truly a disaster that is not worth mentioning. The last four years however have seen another foreigner take the reigns and the hearts of many of the scouse fans. Rafa Benitez, by most standards, is a very good manager. I think that is beyond a doubt, and his record does speak for itself. Fortune and luck have certainly not happened to place the man at the head of two teams of relative success. No man is so lucky. However, the issue then comes with why when paired against “brilliant” managers both on European and domestic soil, his results are not consistent.

Several years ago I had argued emphatically, that Liverpool’s major problem was that they focused too much on Steven Gerrard’s game and did not spread enough of the responsibility across the pitch. It was becoming clear that Liverpool were needing some players of genuine quality that were absolutely world class. Since that point, Fernando Torres and possibly Xavi are the only qualified candidates to carry the mantle of “world class.” While I personally think they are great players, I do feel that they are not the types to put a team on their back and make everyone around them better. That is a distinct quality, an admittedly rare quality, that Gerrard does possess. You would have thought the search would have been on, but instead we have the likes of Crouch, Kuyt, and Fowler. If only Rooney had been born on the red side of town.

Neither can anyone say that Rafa Benitez hasn’t had the funds to compete. By 2004-2005, I only heard about how United were clearly heading to an eventual limbo of the mid table, relinquishing the reigns to a Liverpool side on the up. It was understandable stance post Rio Ferdinand’s suspension and the debacle of the 2003 season. Clearly at that point, without a fully ingrained Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, we were truly a side that was on the brink of losing it’s most heralded players in half a century, and only left with a single world class central defender and a legendary striker in Ruud Van Nistelrooy were keeping the goals banging. This 2004-2005 season was a critical moment for both teams. The purchases of Rooney, and Ronaldo seem to have produced another golden age of United players, ready to take the baton from Giggs, Scholes, Neville and Keane. In contrast, Rafa’s purchases have neither had the potency nor the long term vision of his counterpart.

This week, Ferguson was asked by a report whether he thought that Liverpool still had a chance to win the League. Sir Alex, as he did last year, retorted that relegation was more likely. Of all of the personalities in the world of football, Sir Alex Ferguson has to be without a doubt the most hated by red scousers. His absolute distaste for Liverpool has been an impediment that not a single Liverpool manager has been able to scale since 1989 and two decades later, no one would be surprised to still see Manchester United standing over their rival. As a United fan, I can look to our dominance as the sole cause of his efforts. This makes me wonder why Liverpool have not abandoned hope of Rafa being the manager to turn them around? It’s clear that any Liverpool success must go through Manchester. Let’s look at the statistics.

- Number of goals for Benitez’s first XI on Sunday: 0
- Number of goals for Ferguson’s first XI on Sunday: 1
- Number of points for Benitez’s first XI after Sunday: 30
- Number of goals for Ferguson’s first XI on Sunday: 39
- Number of goals scored by a Benitez first XI against a Ferguson first XI in the league (over 7 games): 1 (not even by a Liverpool player)
- Number of goals scored by a Ferguson first XI against a Benitez first XI in the league (over 7 games): 8
- Number of times Benitez has beaten Ferguson in a league game: 0
- Number of times Ferguson has beaten Benitez in a league game: 6
- League Titles at current club Ferguson 9, Benitez 0