Diego, You see, you're deluding yourself if you think 'your' supporters haven't taken great delight putting the boot into us despite you being champions etc, and did Utd supporters not hate us in the years their club needed to 'raise' to our level?
Sorry G but the loss of Ferguson is such a game changer that it totally negates the previous common knowledge about United sides e.g. they come stronger as the league goes on, they are sure to score right up to the last minute, etc. etc. Off the pitch the loss of Gill will I believe have the same effect upon the structure of the club. The overall effect of the loss of these 2 talismans will be to reduce United's effectiveness on and off the pitch. I have never said that I think United will crash and burn (even though I may wish for that!). However, I do believe that they are the team in the top 4 who are the most likely to lose their spot and that this season could see them end up in the lower part of the top 8 - 10.
I agree with all that. However, you forget that they still have more or less the same squad and the players won't just forget how to play as a team. I would like it if you are right mind. My comment in #220 was more about overturning Fergie than Man Utd. If we managed to finish above them now it won't mean as much because people will just point at the manager.
Off the perch is a long term thing but yes, Raffa was good enough to make it nip and tuck for many seasons if he had been backed.
I am not deluded, i look at Liverpools result every week and am delighted when they lose and gutted when they win (it`s a United Liverpool thing), but during the 80s and 90s i always wanted us to be up there challenging you, it would have meant nothing to me if you had dropped to our level.
Again, I agree. As much as I dislike Man Utd, I'd rather they were near the top so that we were in direct competition for things as that makes for the most excitement, adrenalin and banter. Of course, it also makes for the biggest disappointment and depression too That 2008-09 season was brilliant for the rivalry
Yes it is, he meant knock you off being the top team in England, you can`t do that in one season, if that were true we have been knocked off it by Arsenal, Chelsea and City already.
So you're mixing us up being happy with Utd showing signs of 'decline' and our own hopes for our own club to improve. Thats either an LFC/Utd thing or delusion, you make your mind up which Diego.
I agree its not just one season. It was about being seen as the best team in the country. I just thought you meant the "perch" comment was towards league titles. Never in a million years did he mean winning more titles than Liverpool. Liverpool were the number one team in the country at the time and he purely meant becoming a better side. I believe Rafa could have done that had he been given that backing. We improved most seasons under his reign and our football was getting better with each passing season too (bar the last one obviously but the purse strings being cut were starting to show).
I`ll make it simple, United supporters always want to see Liverpool below us and vice versa, you tell me how far you need the decline to go to make you happy
I have always thought Raffa was a good manager but feel some of his transfer dealings could have been better (maybe the pressure to produce). It seemed to me that when he did have money he bought 6-8 squad players when he might have been better off buying 2 top quality team players.
We (not all) often say we want to see Everton do well so long as we finish above them, in an ideal world, Everton would finish second I'm not quite sure the relationship with Man Utd would stretch quite that far However, I did want a Liverpool versus Man Utd European Cup final in 2007 but you guys lost to Milan
If you really knew what you were/are talking about you'd know that during your 26yrs in the wilderness that Utd were never crowned Champions of Europe and that Liverpool during our time without a league title have never been relegated.
Yeah, he did tend to buy a few but I think there are reasons for it. At first, he was rebuilding the club so needing to bring in quite a few players, later on he had to sell to buy so was chopping and changing to create the funds. Of course, the latter introduced higher risk in that we was getting rid of proven settled players and risking the incoming player not performing as expected. He did make some shocking signings too but nor did Rick Parry help, I'd say it was a joint **** up. I believe Rafa wanted Robbie Keen for example, but I'm certain he didn't £20m want him! A good aspect of Rafa was his willingness to recognise he'd made a mistake in signing someone, if they weren't good enough then he wasn't afraid to move them on again; aka how many right backs did we have in a few short years
Would we? Or would we not actually care if they'd sunk that low? Leeds and Forest used to be big rivals with us (albeit, not to the same level as Man Utd or Everton) but who looks at what they're doing now? (obviously, I look for Forest but that's different)
With all due respect Dev i think if you were from home base you would have a different outlook, the rivalry between Liverpool(city)and ****chester goes deeper than football.
