Paul Ince fears Manchester United face a “long, hard road” back to the top that could take at least three or four years.
United were all-conquering domestically during Ince’s days at Old Trafford, as he helped Sir Alex Ferguson’s team knock their old Anfield rivals “off their f***ing perch” as Fergie put it.
Ince said: “When I played for United and we were going to Anfield, we always felt we’d win, because we thought we had the best team.
“Now it’s reversed, and United are probably going to Liverpool thinking, ‘We hope we get something out of the game’.
“That should never be the case. Every United team, home and away, should expect to win.
“That said, the result is not that important this time because we know where United are.
“I was at Old Trafford on Wednesday and I was looking at the game, the team, the players and thinking, ‘Wow, they're not bad players but are they the players who in two, three or four years’ time are going to be taking Manchester United to the Premier League title, the Champions League title, those types of trophies?’.
“I don’t see enough in that team to answer ‘yes’.
“And it’s not even just Manchester City and Liverpool. You’ve got to think Mikel Arteta will probably bring something big at Arsenal . Frankie Lampard at Chelsea , he’ll be doing something good.
“Now you’ve Jose Mourinho at Tottenham and he’s going to spend money.
“So it’s going to be a long, hard road.
“I said at the time I thought the club rushed to appoint Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but I accept he’s in the hot-seat.
“We know the vision he has got with the younger players, but these young players are not Paul Scholes, David Beckham or Ryan Giggs.
“So it’s not going to be a job in which someone’s successful in one or two years. I’m talking at least three or four years.”
