United legend Lou Macari made more than 400 appearances for the Reds between 1972 and 1984, scoring 95 goals. With these credentials, he's perfect for the role of ManUtd.com's columnist, The Player...
Every time you play Liverpool is a great memory. You're only here a short time, and you realise what it means to the supporters and you realise that it's in comparison to Celtic and Rangers. They want you to beat them, as they're your biggest enemy. In the 1977 Cup Final, we went there, beat them and stopped them winning the Treble - which I think highlighted how good a side they were.
I don't care what any footballer says, games like this are different to normal games because they're something special. The build up to the game is different, you realise what it means to the supporters and the atmosphere on the day is different as well. Old Trafford can have a great atmosphere from week to week, but that atmosphere on a derby day or just against somebody who the fans are desperate to beat is a lot better I can assure you. As soon as you walk out of the tunnel the roar of the fans and the noise throughout the stadium is different to any other league match you play in.
Liverpool's Plight
Liverpool's current situation is similar to when I joined United. We couldn't get going and that's why there was changes. The last couple of years Liverpool have been the same. It's like that at all clubs. No matter how big you are, you go through periods where that's going to be the case. If it wasn't like that then every club would guarantee success to their fans season after season and it would get a little bit boring. Liverpool are finding it a bit difficult at the moment.
Where Has It Gone Wrong?
They've brought in a lot of players, I never think that's a good idea to do it all at once, because most of the players that are offered to you are offered for the wrong reasons - perhaps other clubs want rid of them because their attitudes aren't that good. If you find one or two players each season who can come and serve your club well and serve you for a number of years then you've cracked it. But to go out and find six or seven is very difficult and you're asking for trouble. We did the same here by bringing in five players. Without going through them individually, I think it would be fair to say that most people would regard one or two as being successful and the others as still finding their feet. I think that's a problem you have when you go into the market and bring in a number of players.
Living Up To Standards
It's a massive problem for any manager that goes to Liverpool, that the team of the 70's and 80's was a team that was fantastic. Dalglish, Souness, Rush, Lawrenson (and I could go on) were all fantastic players, and when you look at the present Liverpool side and compare them to those players then they're going to be disappointed. It was a problem for me when I came to United. A lot of people had watched the Busby Babes, and then Denis Law, Pat Crerand, George Best and Brian Kidd. Then myself and a bunch of others came along. We couldn't play to a standard that they had come up to, it was impossible. I thought it took a number of years to understand that.
When you're watching people like Best and the others, you're watching special players. They don't come along every season. That's the case at Liverpool. You hear people saying 'well he isn't as good as him' but they're never going to be as good as the ex-players who were unbelievable, great players. The word 'great' gets used with too many players now. There is greatness, but then there are players who are just good players, and I think the current Liverpool team has a lot of good players, but not many great players.
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