Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said he would welcome Sir Alex Ferguson addressing his Manchester United players ahead of their meeting with Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday. The Norwegian is keen for the club’s legendary former manager to share his experiences on beating the Reds with the current squad at Old Trafford.
The legendary Scot delivered 13 top-flight titles during a hugely successful period in charge of the club, successfully overtaking Liverpool’s tally of 18, with United currently on a total of 20. Indeed, Ferguson famously stated that his aim when he took over at Old Trafford back in 1986 was to “knock Liverpool right off their f*cking perch” and end the Reds’ dominance of English football at the time.
And Solskjaer, who spent 11 years playing under Ferguson and made a total of 366 appearances for the Red Devils, is keen for the 77-year-old to share his wealth of knowledge on the fixture to his current United squad. “Sir Alex Ferguson would be welcome to have his talk to the players if he wanted to, the gaffer, because we know how much it meant for him to overtake Liverpool,” he told reporters. “I think our players know what it means for everyone at Man United.”
United head into the game looking to strengthen their grip on a place in the Premier League’s top four, with Solskjaer’s side just one point ahead of both Arsenal and Chelsea in fifth and sixth respectively. The Red Devils have embarked on a superb run under the Norwegian, winning 11 of their last 13 matches across all competitions, most recently dumping Chelsea out of the FA Cup with a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge.
Another win for the Red Devils this weekend would dent their opponent’s title aspirations as Liverpool look for the win that would take them three clear of Manchester City at the summit. Solskjaer added on facing Jurgen Klopp’s men: “I played a few of these myself and know the magnitude of it for the fans everyone who works here, the staff there have been making many comments that this is the big one and it’s our job to be focusing and channeling all that energy into performance mode when we start the game on Sunday.
“It’s not about emotions, I understand emotion can be brought into it but we have to stay focused and controlled with some fight in us as well. We know we’re in for a very tough game, Liverpool have been fantastic and will know as well to come to Old Trafford it should be a different one, they pay us respect and we’ll pay them respect.”
“For them, it’s a big game, we want to be in the top four and we’re playing Liverpool, we know how big that game is for Manchester United, the staff, supporter. We’re just looking forward to another challenge for this team, we want to build this team to be worthy of Manchester United’s history and it’s another step. Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea away, it was fantastic to win those three.”