The Premier League always seems to always feature a big rivalry between two teams. Today, Manchester City and Liverpool battle it out for the title each year. Before that, there was Chelsea and Manchester United; Manchester United and Arsenal were the teams to beat around the Millennium. But nineties football fans will tell you the fiercest rivalry of all was Manchester United vs Liverpool.
While Liverpool produced some of the country's top talents across the decade – including Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard and Steve McManaman – United under Ferguson always seemed to have the upper hand. Across the decade, United won five Premier League titles, four FA Cups, a Champions League and a Cup Winners' Cup, while Liverpool claimed an FA Cup and League Cup.
Many feel the Reds could have won a lot more were it not for their Spice Boy image and party antics, but Steve McManaman tells FFT there was a far greater reason for their lack of titles in the 1990s.
"There's always teams that will go, 'Oh yeah, we could have won more', but that’s just the way of the world – that's football," McManaman tells the Players Lounge section of FourFourTwo – order the latest issue here. "I thought we were the best team in the 1995/96 season actually. We beat Manchester United a couple of times in the league and then played them again in the FA Cup final. We lost in the dying minutes but that could have gone either way."
While Macca admits they could have won more, he believes not enough credit is given to Sir Alex Ferguson's relentless winners.
"Maybe if we’d have brought in a couple of different players around that time we might have won a title. But that actually overlooks just how good Manchester United were at that time. They were one of the best teams in history."
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