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Everything comes to an end; it is the wicked way of the world, the further you rise, the more damaging the fall. And the Mancs’ vice-like grip on the domestic game was loosening and had been for some time, it is a deterioration that can be traced back to when Liverpool secured the historic treble in 2000/01.
The 2000/01 campaign saw the men from Anfield of course win the three trophies, which announced, resolutely, that Liverpool were back with a vengence. Beating the Mancs themselves in the following season’s Charity Shield added to their grief. In fact, that result alone was a far more shattering blow to them than was first realised.
That very same season, Arsenal clinched an impressive double leaving the Old Trafford trophy cabinet devoid of any new additions. All this while their European pursuits began to stutter. The slowing Manchester Express was in danger of being derailed.
Then this season, at Maine Road of all places, Manchester United fans the world over finally had to admit what the rest of the footballing community had been whispering for some time – that Manchester United Football Club, the great footballing institution, was in serious rapid decline.
Since that embarrassing derby defeat, days haven’t passed without more news of player unrest, manager rants and numerous sections of the press and media being stopped from getting close to the players.
On the pitch, with their unconquerable reputation gone, their arrogant swagger a distant memory, Mancunians now watched their heroes go into a game genuinely unsure of the outcome. Imagine how much of an alien concept that must be to them?
But then we don’t have to imagine do we? All we have to do is recollect the Souness years, when almost three decades of invincibility and hard work was shattered. Becoming an ordinary team when you were once kings is the hardest thing to take.
A rejuvenated, success hungry Liverpool have demonstrated they are now fully capable of adding to the trophy room (the only real bench mark in which the greatness of the two clubs can truly be compared to one another). Liverpool are ready to undo the work and progress that Man Utd have made during the last ten years in trying to better our hallowed roll of honour. And of course, Manchester United fans know this, the very realisation of it drives them crazy.
This all got me to thinking about the whole Liverpool/Manchester debate. I began to realise just how different we were as tribes, and the fundamentally uncommon ways we supported our teams. How we were better winners, more gracious in defeat, and above all, accepted the success that had been bestowed on our club with style and morality.
While the minions of Manchester, display, as regular as clockwork, an almost demonic obsession with all aspects of the goings on at Anfield, with the very word ‘Liverpool’ constantly on the tip of their tongues.
The Manchester United infatuation with Liverpool FC has always been in stark contrast to that of our own. What I like to refer to as the philosophy of the Liver Bird - an unwritten etiquette to remain focused on matters our side of the fence, to ensure that first and foremost our own house is in order, to sort out our own problems, and refrain from getting too drawn into the affairs of other clubs at the expense of our own, to essentially remain true to the Liverpool cause.
This is especially prevalent to how we perceive and react to Manchester United, differing to them, we prefer instead to keep one eye on our Lancashire neighbours, observing from afar.
With United’s all-star team being head and shoulders above their Liverpool counterparts during this past ten years, their supporters have maintained an unhealthy interest in our affairs. But why? Do they envy the whole Liverpool ethos, the style? Do they know, deep down, subconsciously even, that Liverpool FC is and always has been the better club? It would certainly explain their attraction towards us, as they themselves enjoyed almost unrivaled success.
If the inferno of this very obsession was this rampant while they had a dominating side, it is obvious it will increase to an even greater intensity as they fall slowly but surely from grace.
As the deserning football follower, the Liverpool fan, when talking footy, displays wit, intellect and grace (the majority of the time) equipped with a long since acquired degree in ‘The Knowledge’ forged from an LFC cherished childhood.
We recognise a worthy team when we see one, and the best Man Utd side of the nineties, we will accept was a formidable outfit. (It wasn’t in the same league as the best Liverpool sides of the seventies and eighties, but then what is?) We give credit where credit’s due, we speak sense, we speak football.
The biggest reinforcement of this to me is, if you peruse the LFC Online forum you will soon discover a number of regular Man U posters. Now, they will never admit it but this is solely because they know they will receive intelligent feedback (albeit with some abuse). The fact that many Mancs fans are willing to do this speaks volumes. After all, with Liverpool and Man Utd sliding towards different ends of the footballing spectrum they can no longer be there to gloat.
We have our gripes, yes. We are envious of their recent success. We hate the contempt that United fans seem to have for almost every other club. Their manager is disliked to the extreme and their captain is a bigoted thug.
We will also never forget, or indeed be allowed to forget, when the phrase ‘most glamorous club’ was coined for Man Utd by the establishment simply because a seemingly closet Man U worshipping media couldn’t refer to the Red Devils as the most ‘successful club’. That honour, as we are well aware, landed firmly in front of the Shankly Gates.
With the big stand-off on Sunday fast approaching, regardless of what happens at Anfield that day, we need only keep in mind that Manchester United’s golden era is over. They have enjoyed their march to better our impressive trophy haul, I do so hope they enjoyed it while they had the chance because this is where it stops.
What has happened to Man United, the crumbling of an empire, brings echoing back, dark memories of when it was our own footballing institution falling apart. It is indeed a lesson for us all.