Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher give the lowdown on Liverpool vs Man Utd
FEW players know the pressures, tensions and history that surrounds clashes between Manchester United and Liverpool better than Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher.
Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher have played in the Man Utd vs Liverpool fixture more than anyone
Both of them played for only one club in their careers – Neville clocked up 602 games for United; Carragher 737 for Liverpool – and appeared many times in the fixture many still regard as the biggest of the Premier League season.
Ahead of Saturday’s clash between the two giants at Anfield, the two Sky pundits talked about what it is like to play in the games and some of the players they faced. RICHARD TANNER listened in...
Sir Alex Ferguson’s rivalry with Liverpool
Neville: “He could not stand losing at Anfield and if we won there – it didn’t matter how we played, it was like the best thing in the world. It was a night-out job.
“But if we lost, he’d sit there unmoving and seething in the dressing room at the end of the game while everyone was getting showered.
“Once, when I was a kid just travelling with the squad, I remember him having a massive row with Peter Schmeichel and Paul Ince in the changing room. It was unbelievable, just proper going for each other.
“We always knew as well that the Liverpool players could hear everything that was being said, probably laughing on the other side of the wall.”
Gary Neville: Sir Alex Ferguson punished me for swearing
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Gerard Houllier had a knack of getting results against Manchester United for Liverpool
Gerard Houllier’s good record against United
Carragher: “As soon as Gerard came in, we found a way of playing against United that seemed to work for so long. We had a scout, a Scottish fellow called Alex Miller, who knew Ferguson quite well.
"United’s threat was always from the wingers but they came up with the plan of a very tight midfield to get on top of United and stop them from getting the ball out to the flanks.
“Even when Gerard was in hospital [recovering from heart bypass surgery] he was still picking the team. Phil Thompson was giving the team talks but the messages were coming from Gerard. He would watch all the games in hospital and ring us – he was an absolute football-nut.”
Playing at Anfield
Neville: “The first few times I remember walking out and thinking, ‘Phew, this is an unbelievable atmosphere!’ I found it difficult because, emotionally, it probably meant too much for me. I had given two or three goals away in that run when Liverpool beat us five or six times on the spin.
“I always had this feeling if we were playing at Anfield in March and April and we beat Liverpool, we were worthy of winning the League because it was the toughest place to go.”
If we lost, he’d sit there unmoving and seething
Ex-Man Utd star Gary Neville
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Fernando Torres
Neville: “Sir Alex was never complimentary about him which usually means he might have tried to sign him! He was a big part of our team talks – the message was, ‘Cut the channel off’.
“The first time I played against him was for England when we played Spain in the Bernabeu and I thought, ‘Wow, what a player!’ But I always felt there was something missing, something not quite right.
"He had that unbelievable partnership with Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso passing balls through to him but by 2010 people had worked him out in terms of how to stop him.”
Carragher: “You used to say you’d love to sign him but Ferguson was never convinced. I don’t think his head was right as soon as Alonso left [in 2009]. Technically he was quite poor, but in 2008-09 he was devastating – probably the best striker in the world.”
Wayne Rooney
Carragher: “Rooney always had a problem coming to Anfield and Goodison. And I think Fergie always felt that as well.
“In terms of actually causing you a problem one v one you knew he didn’t have blistering pace but he had fantastic talent with the ball coming into his feet so you just got as tight and aggressive as you could be.”
Neville said: “It was an emotional thing for him. Going back to Merseyside – and especially Everton – was a big thing for him and his family. It built up a lot in his mind."
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Wayne Rooney struggled at Anfield for Manchester United
Cesc Fabregas admits to throwing pizza at Sir Alex Ferguson
Rafa Benitez’s “facts” rant
Neville: “I remember seeing it on TV and thinking, ‘What has he done?’ The fans started chanting, ‘Rafa’s cracking up’. And it did feel like the pressures were getting to him. You could imagine Sir Alex being thinking, ‘I’ve got him’. If you are going to call it on like that, you’ve got to make sure you win.”
Carragher: “I don’t know why he did it. I can only think we were going for the title, we hadn’t won it for a long time, United had won it loads of times, and he was calling it on. People say it affected us and we went off the rails but it didn’t. United were a great side and just pipped us to the title.”
Michael Owen
Carragher: “I don’t think he got enough credit the season he won the Ballon D’Or in 2001 – he’s the last British player to win it. There are quick players then there are players who can turn on the turbo and just go away from you. That was Michael.”
Neville: “I was always told get close to the right centre-back to cut off that channel Michael loved. I don’t think we got it right until he left in 2004!”
Neville and Carragher were talking on ‘Gary Neville’s Soccerbox’ on Sky Sports.
