A derby win would help Carlo light Everton fire
ANCELOTTI CAN MAKE HIS BOYS BELIEVE, SAYS RUSH
WITH Everton top and Liverpool three points behind, the current top- flight table echoes a time when the two rivals almost had a monopoly at the summit of English football.
You have to go back to September 1989 for the last time Everton went into a Merseyside derby as the league leaders.
And Ian Rush, who starred that day, remembers it as a pivotal match in what proved a titlewinning season for his Reds.
“It sounds a bit dramatic to say it now but in the team talk before the game we all agreed it really was a must- win for us,” the Welsh great explained.
“We knew if we let them get away even a little, it would be incredibly hard to bring them back. It was about momentum and we knew we had to stop theirs.”
It was a time that younger fans may not recognise.
A month before that derby, Michael Knighton juggled a ball across Old Trafford in an ill- fated bid to buy Manchester United.
The balance of power lay firmly at the other end of the M62 where, between them, the Merseyside clubs had won eight of the previous 10 Division One titles. And with two swift blows in that derby – in the space of three decisive minutes – Rush, below, swung the pendulum towards Liverpool as they won 3- 1. “Hillsborough had happened only a few months earlier and it was still raw for everyone on Mers Merseyside,” recalled Rush, who holds the record for w most goals in the derby w with 25.
“We knew we had to do something to get football back for the people in the city.
“We were the two best teams in Europe for a lot of that decade and, really, it was probably the biggest game in Europe at that time. They went ahead and my two goals in such a
short space them.”
That season was something of a swansong for both teams.
Liverpool claimed the title but then had a 30- year wait for the next one, while Everton finished sixth and on the way out of the top echelons.
Now, under Carlo Ancelotti, they are rejuvenated and for the first time in ages they go into the encounter confident of a first derby victory in 10 years.
For Rush, the Italian’s arrival has been a game- changer. He predicted as much when the pair met a couple of years ago for a Liverpool legends match against AC Milan in front of a sell- out Anfield crowd.
“Everton have done brilliantly to get such a top- class manager,” said Rush. “In that legends game I talked to him beforehand and he said he couldn’t believe it was a sell- out.
“He knew it was a proper football city. I’m sure he had that
hm in mind when Everton made their approach. All the great teams have greats as managers.
“We had them in the Eighties and Everton had Howard Kendall. Now it’s Jurgen Klopp and Ancelotti and they are greats too.
“If Everton win, Ancelotti knows he can use the momentum to keep his team up there. After that 7- 2 defeat at Aston Villa, Liverpool need an answer – so it’s going to be some contest.” of time
demoralised