England’s Greatest Football Club

I am a Liverpool fan. I have been a supporter since I was 12 when Kenny Dalglish was still a player. I must admit Liverpool was not the first English league team I supported; that honour goes to Tottenham Hotspurs. Supporting Spurs had nothing to do with their playing style, players or history; as a ten year old, the name ‘Spurs’ was kinda cool plus they had a cool looking Steve Archibald playing for them and that was enough reason to be a fan.

The 70s and 80s belonged to Liverpool. Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Everton and Arsenal managed to sneak a title or two in between Liverpool’s run of championships but there was never a single club that constantly challenged the Reds’ dominance.

In 1991, Dalglish left the club. His successors failed where he succeeded the most – winning.

In 1990, Alex Ferguson broke his four year trophy duck. He’s won everything ever since.

Well, almost everything; Dalglish took Blackburn Rovers to the title in 1995 and pushed United all the way with Newcastle a few years later but no other team really bugged United during the 90s. Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal won the double in 1998 and a few titles and FA cups in between but other than that, it was all MU.

Then came Roman and Jose. Abramovich’s money and Mourinho’s tactical brilliance gave Ferguson and MU a big fight. Chelsea is now a serious challenger and the noughties is theirs as much as the 90s were United’s. Chelsea however can only claim to be a great team of the moment, they have yet to acquire the right to be in the same group as the greatest team of all time.

I am a hard core Liverpool fan. But I’ll humbly admit that the greatest English football club is no longer the Reds of Merseyside, it is now the Reds of somewhere near Moss Side. It is without doubt Alex Ferguson is the most successful manager of all time in the English league. Shankly, Clough, Busby, Paisley and Robson were great managers but Ferguson brought continuous success to MU, year after year, without major downswings.

All this wouldn’t have happened if the United Board hadn’t given Ferguson time. If there was a good decision, retaining Ferguson despite his horrible record during the first 3 years was definitely the best.

All of MU’s success is attributed to Ferguson. He is ruthless, rude, arrogant, vengeful and scores of other bad things. I can’t think of anything nice about him. He plays football on the field as well in the mind. His confrontations with Keegan and Wenger are well documented. His contempt for match officials is a well known fact. Despite the many negatives, Ferguson knows how to win games. He knows how to buy players. He often gets who he wants (the United brand does play a part too).

I’m still a Liverpool fan and will be for a long time but I’ll take my hats off to Manchester United and Alex Ferguson. They have earned the title of the greatest club in England and the most successful manager ever in English football.

Having said that, King Kenny is back. The glory days are coming back to Merseyside and United’s 20 year reign may soon come to an end.