Quantcast
View from the Kop

Are Man Utd Really That Much Better Than Us?

|
Image for Are Man Utd Really That Much Better Than Us?

IT’S been over a year now since I wrote an article stating my belief that Liverpool’s squad was as strong as Manchester United’s, based solely ‘man-for-man’, of course. As a team unit, they were still quite a way apart last season but I believe that we had players of equal – or better – quality, they just weren’t coming together as well.

But, then again, Ferguson’s great ability has always been getting team performances out of 11 average players.

A few weeks back, during the Liverpool v Man Utd game, I noticed a lot of comments from their fans along the lines ‘how are we being outplayed by a poor team?’, etc. and it got me thinking again: are Manchester United really so much better than us? I mean, sure, they still have that uncanny ability to pull wins out of…well, seemingly nothing but that’s all to do with Ferguson’s pact with the Devil.

When you get down to the finer details, you’ll see a group of very average players, ably assisted by one or two great. I’ve discussed this many times since the season started, with friends and family, and we all agree: Man Utd will struggle to keep up this year, perhaps even having to settle for a place in the Europa next season!

Already, they are 4 points behind a very consistently strong-looking Chelsea side, and I believe that City, Arsenal and Spurs are all much stronger this year and if they slip behind before Christmas, I can’t see them catching up. Sure, they’re in second now, but have they actually faced anybody decent besides ourselves and Tottenham yet? No, and they lost to Everton and Southampton also ran them pretty close.

So when I look over their squad and see players like Smalling, Jones, De Gea, Kagawa, Nani, Anderson and Young (all expensive and yet to convince) and stalwarts that are clearly past it like Scholes, Ferdinand and Giggs, I smile to think of the much smaller fees we paid for much higher quality players such as Skrtel, Agger, Reina, Allen, Sterling, Lucas and Shelvey, and the experienced veterans that we can still call upon such as Carragher and Gerrard.
[ad_pod id=”unruly-video” align=”center”]
As always, there is still the same element of respect and fear surrounding the club and that is something which, over the past 25 years, Ferguson has cultivated to perfection. Clubs still relinquish points and wins to Man Utd purely out of fear; they believe the game is lost before they even turn up and this psychological element probably gives them as many points per season as the somewhat dodgy refereeing decisions we all complain about with regularity provides them with. We saw this against Howard Webb and Manchester United on Sunday evening, but many teams will overcome the 12-men of Manchester Utd this season, of that I’m sure.

The result against Tottenham last week showed me something I saw – even against 10 men – when they were at Anfield a few weeks ago: huge vulnerabilities all over the park. We just didn’t have the capabilities to take advantage of them, but I believe many others (ourselves included) will, as the season progresses.

It may sound a bit rich to say this, particularly given our current league position (and our inability to win at home!), but I really don’t see anything about Man Utd, at present, that we should be concerned about. They’re above us in the league, of course, but it’s very early days and 9 points can be made up easily at this point.

As always, this is just conjecture and only my opinion, but at present there are only two things I am envious of Utd for: Van Persie and their current league position. In terms of our squads, ours is the better equipped – for both this season, but particularly future ones – and once we hit form, we should chase them down pretty quickly.

I’m almost certain that some will disagree, and everybody is entitled to their own opinions, but if we can pick up a solid, 15-20 goal-per-season striker in January and continue going from strength-to-strength prior to that, we are superbly equipped to have a better season, and maybe even aid Ferguson into early retirement in the process.
[ad_pod id=’DFP-MPU’ align=’right’]
Live4Liverpool is recruiting columnists. For further info contact the site editor at live4liverpool@snack-media.com

Follow us on Twitter here: @live4Liverpool and ‘Like’ us on Facebook

Share this article

I'm a 32 year old Liverpool fan, living in the heart of the City Centre. I've supported the club since the day I was born and have been writing articles for L4L for over 3 years, writing close over 350 articles in that time. My favorite player of the past generation is Sami Hyypia.

I am the current editor for L4L, with my day job being in R&D for the NHS.

97 comments

  • Rayed says:

    firstly, i really want to know who is the writer?? a professional writer doesnt write an article like this. secondly we all know how liverpool is performing nowadays.they are or should i say were a fantastic team with some really good players, but do you really think liverpool can or has the potential to atleast vie for top 5 or 6???atleast i dont think so and the reasons quite obvious and clear.this particular wrtiter dont even watch man utd games properly…if you really want to compare in a professional manner then please do study about both the teams properly!! man utd play with 12 men and liverpool will send Sir Alex into early retirement!!that’s the funniest part of the entire article!!get a life man!!and try admiring the other 19 teams in the EPL not only Liverpool!!

    • ManU4ever says:

      And yet the ‘average’ united won the title at a canter meanwhile Liverpool were 24 points behind

  • TheBuckToothDiver says:

    I stopped reading at Shelvey to be fair. I tried to stop earlier but the sheer comedy gold spurred me on to atempt the rest but Shelvey as a better player, Shelvey. Too much

  • YellowToothedBrendan says:

    “In terms of our squads, ours is the better equipped – for both this season, but particularly future ones”

    If only I had a shiny Great British pound coin for every dipper that’s typed, said or wrote next season…….

  • brenwils says:

    Crap article but gotta give you some credit coz you’ve wound up the manc scum with this ha ha never have i seen so many scum comments on a LFC blog love it !! YNWA

  • Wezmond says:

    BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. BWAAAAHAAAHAAAAHAAA. This must be a wind-up, right? Said without any irony: “So when I look over their squad and see players like Smalling, Jones, De Gea, Kagawa, Nani, Anderson and Young (all expensive and yet to convince) and stalwarts that are clearly past it like Scholes, Ferdinand and Giggs, I smile to think of the much smaller fees we paid for much higher quality players such as Skrtel, Agger, Reina, Allen, Sterling, Lucas and Shelvey, and the experienced veterans that we can still call upon such as Carragher and Gerrard.”

  • Rohit says:

    Deluded is a minor word for the la-la land stuff this writer has come up with…Skrtel, Reina, Lucas, Shelvey all better than comparable players like Smalling, De Gea, Anderson, and Kagawa ?? Experienced veterans such as Carragher ?? He’s more a drunken ox than a defender these days…if he was all that good all this time, how come he could never displace Ferdinand from the England setup ? Let’s face it, for Liverpool, the match against United is the Cup final, so they play like it…for us, its a match against a mid-table team which steps up everytime they play us…if your players are so darn good, then 1- Why can’t they play well as a team ? and 2- How come they have never challenged for the title except in 2008-09, and fell away even then ?

    Until now, living in history was considered delusional for Liverpool fans, looks like warped reality is the new delusion they have found to continue to live in…not even worthy of Thursday, Channel 5…

  • fr says:

    wow..so deluded

  • Gorse Hill Red says:

    Man Utd will struggle this season? That’s completely bit you back!! Yet another delusional Scouser filling their pages with the same old nonsense they hear down in the pub from other Scousers thinking the year is 1988.

  • Sparkz says:

    Well….this turned out to be oh so correct didn’t it?…..

Comments are closed.