MOURINHO MAY MAKE THE DIFFERENCE, SAYS RUSH
JOSE Mourinho knows how to get the best out of his players and his arrival at Manchester United will bring some added spice to tomorrow’s Premier League clash against arch rivals Liverpool, the Merseyside club’s alltime leading scorer Ian Rush has said.
United head into the game on a 15-game unbeaten run and recorded a ninth successive win in all competitions against Hull City in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final on Tuesday.
They are sixth in the league on 39 points, trailing second-placed Liverpool by five points.
“I think with Mourinho going there, he’s going to be a great manager,” Rush said.
“When you’ve got a great manager like Mourinho, he’ll bring out the best in the players ... That’s something we should all be worried about, when you’ve got a manager like Mourinho who knows exactly what to do.”
Meanwhile, the momentum gained from Manchester United’s nine-game winning streak means nothing against Liverpool tomorrow, midfielder Juan Mata has said.
After a shaky start to Mourinho’s tenure, United have dragged themselves into fine form and will hope to arrest their three-game winless run against Liverpool in a bid to narrow the 10-point gap to leaders Chelsea.
“We have a massive game against Liverpool. Nine games in a row but football has no past, you have to live in the present and the present is Liverpool,” Mata said.
“They are doing very well. They have a very good manager, they have a good squad and are playing good football.
“When we play at Old Trafford, we need to play strong and play at our best level for these kind of games.”
Mata arrived at United soon after Alex Ferguson ended his trophy-laden 26-year spell at the club and the Spaniard hopes the 20-time league champions can recapture those glory days under Mourinho.
“When I came, it was after Sir Alex Ferguson, who was the most successful part of this club’s history, so it was not easy. But we feel we are getting there,” Mata added.
“The last two or three years have not been the best in the history of the club but hopefully the next ones will be very good and hopefully I can be here to live it and to celebrate very important things with this club.
“It is not good to celebrate things too early... We are very happy with what we are doing but there are still months to go and hopefully we can celebrate at the end.
“Let’s see what the season brings for us. But we are in a good way now.”
Five great Manchester United v Liverpool games
MANCHESTER UNITED 2 LIVERPOOL 1 MAY 1977 – FA CUP FINAL
Liverpool were hoping to become the first English club to secure the treble, having already claimed the league title and with the European Cup final to come four days later.
Their old rivals, however, had other ideas and set about spoiling the party.
All three goals came in a fiveminute spell early in the second half, with Jimmy Greenhoff grabbing the winner after Jimmy Case had cancelled out Stuart Pearson’s opener. LIVERPOOL 2 MANCHESTER UNITED 1 MARCH 1983 – LEAGUE CUP FINAL
Liverpool made the League Cup their own in the early 1980s and were looking to lift the trophy for a third straight time when they faced United at Wembley.
It was Bob Paisley’s last major final but things got off to a poor start for Liverpool’s most successful manager when Norman Whiteside became the youngest player to score in a League Cup final at 17 years and 323 days to give United the lead. Alan Kennedy equalised with 15 minutes remaining and Ronnie Whelan curled home an extra-time winner. LIVERPOOL 3 MANCHESTER UNITED 3 JANUARY 1994
English football’s powerbase had shifted firmly in United’s favour by the time the two sides met at Anfield in January with Alex Ferguson’s side all powerful and Liverpool about to part company with manager Graeme Souness.
Things looked bleak for the hosts when United raced into a 3-0 lead inside 24 minutes, with Steve Bruce, Ryan Giggs and Dennis Irwin all scoring, but two goals before halftime by Nigel Clough brought Liverpool back into the match. A stunning comeback was completed when Neil Ruddock rose at the far post to power a header past Peter Schmeichel, with 11 minutes remaining. MANCHESTER UNITED 1 LIVERPOOL 4 MARCH 2009
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez had taken his side to the pinnacle in Europe, winning the Champions League in 2005 and reaching a second final two years later, but when it came to the domestic game, Alex Ferguson’s United were still the team to beat.
The closest Benitez came to claiming an elusive Premier League title was in 2009 when Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres combined to inflict a humiliating home defeat on their rivals. At the end of the season, however, it was United and Ferguson who had the last laugh, finishing four points clear of Benitez’s Liverpool. MANCHESTER UNITED 0 LIVERPOOL 3 MARCH 2014
Liverpool’s next serious assault on the Premier League title was in 2014 under Brendan Rodgers and again they inflicted a painful home drubbing on United before falling short in the final standings.
Liverpool were spearheaded that season by Luis Suarez and played some of their best football in the Premier League era, typified by a scintillating demolition of United, who were struggling under the short-lived managerial reign of David Moyes.