Sir Alex Ferguson might be infamous with Kopites for his line about “knocking Liverpool off their f****** perch”.
But Manchester United’s most-successful manager has opened up about his great respect for his biggest rivals when it came to making his own team the best in the land.
Back when Liverpool secured their last First Division title in 1990, they led old foes United 18-7 in the League Championship stakes but by the time Ferguson retired in 2013, he steered them to 13 Premier League titles without a single reply from Anfield.
The Scot’s notorious quote about the Reds has undergone plenty of embellishment over the years but despite a popular urban legend that Ferguson uttered the words in a bold vow when first taking his new job, coming down from Aberdeen to Old Trafford back in 1986, in truth he didn’t utter the words until 2002, declaring: “My greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their f****** perch. And you can print that.”
Now, almost another two decades further on, Ferguson, who is set to celebrate his 80 th birthday on New Year’s Eve, has discussed the nature of his rivalry with Liverpool in an interview with one of his former players, Gary Neville.
The Daily Star quote him as saying: “It’s my respect of Liverpool.
"When I was the manager of St Mirren, I went down to Liverpool’s training for a week and I saw the intensity of their training, the consistency they had, so when I came to United, they were winning all the titles.
"It’s like when I was at Aberdeen, there’s only two teams you need to beat in Scotland to win everything, that’s Rangers and Celtic.
“When I came to United, there was only one team you needed to beat to win the league and that’s Liverpool. That was my intention.
"I put everything into producing a team to beat them, not necessarily beat them every game but beat them throughout the weeks.
"I knew if we beat Liverpool, we’re on the right path."
