Nev and Carra on old hostilities as giants once again slug out top spot
Ex-United man remains measured ahead of crunch Anfield test
“WE are just having a four-day lockdown party at Liverpool’s expense and it is fantastic,” Gary Neville beams.
Neville was accustomed to looking up the table at Liverpool as a fan in the 80s and looking down on them as a player during a garlanded career.
The last few years as a pundit will have been unpalatable to someone whose warm-up in front of the Anfield main stand was abruptly halted by the kit man Albert Morgan out of concern for his safety.
Neville dispelled reservations his chant (‘Gary Neville is a Red, he hates Scousers’) would compromise his punditry long ago but many United supporters are frustrated with his critical tone of the club, suspecting Neville overcompensates for his allegiance with his analysis in the gantry.
Neville aired a faux apology after the midweek win at Burnley amid giddiness at United’s status at the summit and a late winner for Salford. Some still interpreted it as a genuinely contrite comment.
On his way down the steps of the Jimmy Hargreaves Stand, Neville recorded himself humming the tune to London Bridge Is Falling Down, the genesis of his terrace chant, and tweeted the video accompanied by, ‘See ya Sunday.’
Unlike Neville descending the Turf Moor steps, United are heading in the opposite direction and are at the top of the pyramid in January for the first time since 2013.
Despite goading Kopites, he is measured ahead of United’s return to
Anfield five years on from their last triumph there.
“There is no expectation that United will win the league yet,” he stresses. “I don’t think anyone is thinking that. Even now. I think the fact is that six to eight weeks ago it looked inconsistent. Going out of Europe, it seemed it would all catch up with them.
“All of a sudden momentum builds and resilience builds, especially with those comebacks in away games. City dropped points, Liverpool dropped points. That has given everyone encouragement. There is no one in this country who watches football who expected United to be top of the league in January.
“So the idea of United fans getting carried away? I don’t think the answer is yes.
“It may seem like that when you read Twitter because you get the extremes of people like me looking like we are getting carried away. When you ask us professionally? No. We are just having a bit of fun.
“After the City game there was pressure on Ole. They had just gone out of Europe and that game was dire. It looked like it would have to be reviewed at the end of the season. To go from that mindset to where we are now is an unexpected shift and we are enjoying ourselves, which is nice because it has not been enjoyable the last seven or eight years.”
The Reds are winless at Anfield in five and have scored once during that reticent run. Jurgen Klopp, defeated in his first LiverpoolUnited fixture in January 2016, has transformed the stadium into a near-impenetrable fortress and Liverpool have not lost on their own patch in the league since Crystal Palace’s surprising success in April 2017. Yet United are on a remarkable run of 22 unbeaten domestic away fixtures. Liverpool were their last conquerors on January 19 last year.
Mohamed Salah’s addedtime clincher that afternoon sparked the first rendition of ‘We’re gonna win the league’ from The Kop all season and everyone believed them. Liverpool’s triumph was enriched by the 30-point chasm that had developed between themselves and United, with about as much chance of regaining their perch as Monty Python’s dead parrot. “My greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their f ***** g perch,” Sir Alex Ferguson told The Guardian in 2002. “And you can print that.” Ferguson later feigned ignorance about his immortal quote, though it has been embraced by both sets of supporters – Liverpool matchgoers unfurled a banner for the 2006 FA Cup fifth round tie that read ‘Back on our f ***** g perch’ – the five asterisks signalling their five European Cups.
“Liverpool was always the team to beat and Anfield was always the best place to win for a Manchester United player,” Neville recalls.
“If you left Anfield with a victory, you felt on top of the world. If you left Anfield or Old Trafford with a defeat, you always felt terrible. If you are a Manchester United player and you lose against Liverpool or City – even for the youth team – then it was bad.
“Sir Alex’s mood was terrible. The mood around the club was terrible and it didn’t get any better for a few days after that. Sir Alex’s next team talk after a Liverpool defeat was never pleasant.
“Sir Alex used to say ‘if you win at Anfield, then you’ve got a great chance of winning the league.’ That was his belief because it was the ultimate test for a United team.”
Neville and Jamie Carragher are sitting in on a Sky Sports round table in what is the most tangible tribalism that is going to surround the weekend’s behind-closed-doors contest. Solskjaer regards the absence of Scousers as an ‘advantage’ and, for Neville, it might be the only time he arrives at the stadium without a security escort.
“You would have to think that can only suit United,” Neville opines. “In terms of the noise that would normally be there...”
“So you might have to attack,
He has to win the league or he won’t live as United manager. Ole knows that
Gary Neville on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
then?” Carragher chirps.
“What Jamie seems to be wanting from this game is for United to go gung-ho and attack like mad so his mob can counter-attack! I would be delighted for it to be 0-0 with half-hour to go.
“United need to get through that first 15 or 20 minutes, do not overcommit – it would be madness to overcommit against this Liverpool team. If it goes into the latter part of the game I fancy United.”
Klopp’s complaints about United’s penalty penchant last week has lingered and still topical as today’s match looms.
“Now they are getting penalties again, and they are challenging again,” Carragher laments.
“Mad isn’t it – what a coincidence!” Carragher is asked if any part of him is glad United are competing with Liverpool again.
“No, not really! Listen, that’s me with my Liverpool hat on. If you’re thinking of me with my Sky Sports hat on and what it is for the season – not just Liverpool-United – I think we always start the season hoping that there will be three or four teams challenging for the title and it never seems to happen.”
“Ole has to get United closer to City and Liverpool,” Neville stresses.
“United have been miles away from them for two years, so I think if they are within two or three games of City and Liverpool at the end of the season I would say that’s probably where he needs to be. That would be progression this season.
“What I would say is that, over 12 months, Manchester United have put together a really consistent run of performances.
“He has to win the Premier League title – or he won’t live as Manchester United’s manager for a long time. We know that. Ole knows that.
“The worst thing that can happen on Sunday is that we end up joint top of the league! It’s no problem! That’s why I’ve enjoyed the last couple of weeks. It just seems as though the Liverpool fans are just biting a little bit – for no reason!”
Forget the commentary, he’s still a Red.