Phil Shaw: Man United's clash with Liverpool is full of hate, says Sir Alex Ferguson

Published on Saturday 20 March 2010 20:11

UNLESS A BBC microphone is thrust under his nose, Sir Alex Ferguson is seldom lost for words. The quartet of damning adjectives he summons to describe Manchester United's 4-1 home defeat by Liverpool last March – from "unbelievable" to "embarrassing" via "terrible" and "ridiculous" – reveal that this is one result which still rankles.

It was, admits Ferguson, the sort of "surprise" that sends even the most seasoned manager in search of a darkened room to lie down in. "I had my heid under a pillow for about three days," he recalls, his face caught between a grin and a grimace at the thought of such a mauling in the derby he ranks second only to the Old Firm match for "intensity" and "hatred".

Liverpool, and Ferguson's bitter adversary of last winter, Rafael Benitez, are back at Old Trafford today, almost exactly 12 months after the humiliation which threatened, albeit only briefly, to stop United's march on a third consecutive Premier League championship.

United are now pursuing a fourth in as many years and their 19th championship overall – one more than Liverpool, who led them by a seemingly unassailable 18 to seven when the trophy last rested at Anfield in 1990. However, for a man who famously decreed that his aim, on relocating from Aberdeen, was to "knock Liverpool off their perch" (expletive deleted), Ferguson seeks, publicly at least, to play down the importance of overtaking their total.

"Somebody said before the Carling Cup final recently that it was my 28th final, and that didn't really register with me. I don't go trying to count up all the finals I've been in," he says. "It's the same with the league. We want to win it, but for the right reasons. Winning the title is important – it doesn't matter how many it is."

There will be some who view such comments as disingenuous, especially after his spat with Benitez 15 months ago. A war of words followed the Liverpool manager's claim that United received preferential treatment from everyone from referees to the fixture compilers, assertions which he characterised as "facts".

Yet while Ferguson is reluctant to rake over old hostilities with the Spaniard or to accept the invitation to comment on his side – now reduced to being one of a clutch slugging it out for fourth place – United's game with Liverpool remains a key date on his calendar. "OK, the atmosphere for the AC Milan match was fantastic, and Barcelona, too," the Scot says. "But it's hard to match a Liverpool-United game in terms of the intensity, the ferocity, the crowd and the hatred."

"Hatred" is not too strong a word. Veteran United defender Gary Neville has placed his contempt for Liverpudlians on the record, while Steven Gerrard's collection of shirts traded with opponents does not include a United top because he "wouldn't have one in the house".

Ferguson, donning his metaphorical shipyard-apprentices' shop steward's cap, argues that the antipathy has its roots in the history of shifting labour opportunities as much as in the jostling for sporting supremacy. "I think it was always there. The relationship between Manchester and Liverpool has always been a contentious thorn in the flesh of Liverpool in so far as industry went to Manchester once they opened up the canals."

What is different today is the way the respective sets of fans regard themselves as participants in the rivalry rather than onlookers. "I saw a picture in a book called United Unlimited which showed United and Leeds players fighting on the pitch in the 1960s," says Ferguson. "You could see the faces of the crowd and there was not a bit of emotion about them – they were just stood watching – whereas today you see the hatred boiling over."

Ferguson, of course, is steeped in Glasgow's footballing divisions. So is United against Liverpool now comparable to Rangers versus Celtic? "No. That's the biggest. The atmosphere is really incredible at those matches. Someone asked me the other day whether they were still like that. I told them, 'Well you go and sit in the Rangers end in a Celtic scarf'. But there's no doubt in my mind that this is still the biggest game in England."

Talk of the volatile atmosphere is a reminder that there is a "four in a row" United are keen to avoid. Nemanja Vidic, now restored to central defence alongside Rio Ferdinand after both endured a long absence due to injury, has been sent off in each of their last three games against Liverpool – all of which the champions have lost. When Ferguson stresses the need for his players to focus on the task in hand, he surely has in mind such rushes of blood.

"Everyone will have to step up because it won't be an easy game. (Liverpool] will make sure they're hard to beat, as they always do. We have to make sure we have good concentration and composure, and not get carried away with the atmosphere."

That, in a nutshell, is what he believes happened last time at Old Trafford. United led 1-0 and were apparently cruising until Vidic let Martin Skrtel's long clearance bounce and was startled by the strength and speed of Fernando Torres as he ran clear to score. "Concentration levels are what cost us. If you look at the goals again, it's unbelievable. It's too embarrassing to even think about them," Ferguson says, plainly still unconvinced that Liverpool were the better side.

Fifty-three weeks on, and with Benitez now fighting internal battles after winger Albert Riera described the club as "a sinking ship", United cannot afford to allow Liverpool to beat them for a fourth successive time (there's that number again).

Referring to the title, and the experience of Neville, Paul Scholes and a fit-again Ryan Giggs, Ferguson ventures the opinion that "sometimes, knowing how to win it is better than having the ability to win it". Intriguingly for today's spectacle, Liverpool are a rarity among Premier League sides by virtue of knowing how to win against United.