Unmatched rivalry and passion

Manchester United vs Liverpool games are certainly the biggest of the season in terms of rivalry and passion.

They may not be the biggest games of the season in terms of defining success, because games towards the end can be crucial in that sense, but these games can have a big impact because the confidence derived from winning is huge.

The crowd can have a massive impact today when we meet at Old Trafford. At home, it is all about creating a fever in the stadium that can drive the team on to victory. If we can get a goal in front, that will give the crowd a massive lift. But on the other hand, as the away team Liverpool will to try to use the crowd to their advantage and shut them up by taking the lead.

These games are the ones players dream about; the stakes are so high that both teams will do everything not to lose.

Today’s game is the perfect opportunity to get over last weekend’s disappointing draw with Everton. They started that game very strongly, but after they scored we dominated the next 45 minutes and could have scored four or five before we threw it away at the end.

So after last week’s result it’s important that we don’t fall too far behind Chelsea, who are already four points ahead. We need the three points today, as do Liverpool.

Scoring goals in the league has not been a problem for us so far. We scored two away at Fulham and three away at Everton, but we have been sloppy in defence, which is not like us. We need to get back our solidity in defence because Manchester United teams which defend well will always score goals and have a great chance of winning matches.

Looking at Liverpool, it’s very early days for Roy Hodgson as manager. They have signed a few new players but most of the old players are still there. There can be no doubt that a change was required and Hodgson will want to mould it into his own team as soon as possible.

If you look at the way Hodgson has managed around Europe and the way he managed Fulham for the past few seasons, he warrants huge respect in the game. But he has only been at Liverpool for a few months so you can’t say at this point in time that what is happening there is a true reflection of Hodgson; he’s going to need some time to settle in.

Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard are two outstanding players. Torres has scored a few goals against us at Old Trafford in previous seasons so, of course, we will have to watch him closely. He’s not just caused problems for us; he is a world class player who causes problems for most teams.

We’ll have to be at our best to keep him at bay because he has great pace, excellent goalscoring ability, quick feet and a good temperament, but we have defensive players who can cope with him and we have to prove that today.

People talk about the significance of Manchester United and Liverpool being level on 18 league titles each. It would be massive for us to get to 19 before them and become the outright most successful team in England; it was something that was not even thinkable for us 10 to 15 years ago.

But more than that, we want to sustain our success every year. We are certainly not driven every minute of the day by getting ahead of Liverpool; we want to win titles every year no matter how many we have and how many other teams have.

Credit to Rangers

Sir Alex Ferguson came in for some criticism for his team selection in the Champions League against Rangers last Tuesday, but if you look at the quality of players we had on the pitch it was a fantastic team.

We have 26 first team players and I think 24 of them are fit at this point in time, so the manager has to use his squad.

We had the majority of possession last Tuesday but we just couldn’t break down a very packed and well-drilled defence in the last third. That could have happened whatever 11 we had out there because their defence was so well organised.

When the manager makes changes like this there is always a chance he will be criticised if the result does not go our way, but he has been around the block and knows the game well enough to understand that it is a long season and he can’t play every player in every game.

As well as the defensive determination, in the second half Rangers also kept possession a little bit better and they demonstrated they are capable of getting results away from home. They did the same last year in the Champions League.

Their manager Walter Smith is very prepared and knows the game inside out. You have to give credit to Rangers for the way they performed, but we expect our form to improve throughout the group.

Antonio Valencia’s injury in that game was the type nobody wants to see on a football pitch; it’s always terrible when you see an injury like that. But he is a tough lad and a great professional and he will come back strong.

It is a big loss for us over the next few months but that is the reason we have 26 players, so we can cope with these very unfortunate situations.

Send your questions to Gary Neville to sunday@timesofmalta.com.