Man United showed lot of courage
LEGENDARY LEFT-BACK IRWIN EXCITED TO SEE OLD FIRE BACK
The old rivals are at each other again. This Sunday, Manchester United travel to Anfield to take on Liverpool in a proper top-ofthe-table clash. The following weekend, they face each other again, in the Fourth Round of the Emirates FA Cup.
Memories of countless titanic battles over the years are back in sharp focus — and one legendary Manchester United left-back is taken back to 30 seasons ago, when United were, like now, trying to respond to a Liverpool title win.
“They were top dogs at the time, everyone knew they were the team to catch,” admits Denis Irwin, who was Alex Ferguson’s major summer signing in the summer of 1990. “But it did feel like I was joining a club who were on the rise again — United had just won the FA Cup — and Alex Ferguson was just wanting us to compete with them.”
There was definitely something stirring in that 1990-91 season, which you could argue laid the bedrock for two decades of United domination. Irwin got injured against Everton and, with United chasing the game, a young 17 year-old winger called Ryan Giggs replaced him for his debut. Another exciting teenager, Lee Sharpe, announced his arrival with a hat-trick in the League Cup, and this blossoming of youth combined with the experience of Bryan Robson, Paul Ince, Brian McClair and Mark Hughes saw United beat Barcelona in the European Cup Winners Cup Final.
“Alex Ferguson was investing in the academy and the local young lads, just as it’s great to see the likes of Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood come through now,” he says.
It is tempting, then, to cast this United side in similar light — not least because if Irwin’s team had a complete game changer in Eric Cantona, then Solskjaer may have also stumbled upon one in Bruno Fernandes. “Only time will tell on that,” Irwin cautions.
Irwin has been particularly impressed with the way United have bounced back from an indifferent start to the season.
“United have it [the momentum] right now, they’ve shown a lot of courage and bravery to get themselves on top — but we’re not half way through the season yet.”