Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has boldly claimed Liverpool are now “behind” their bitter-most rivals after last season.
In a lengthy rant on the topic, the 42-year-old said the Red Devils have improved a lot over the last 12 months, citing the 2020/21 Premier League table as proof they’re now ahead of the Reds.
“I think in the league we’ve got what we wanted, which was an improvement,” he said, speaking to Goal.
“I think Man United at the end of last season finished 30-odd points behind Liverpool. Liverpool are now behind us and they’ll have their excuses and reasons why but the cold facts are that we have gained that much ground on them that we’ve gone past them this season.
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“That shows vast improvement and we’re second in the league.
“By no means are we the finished article but I think at the beginning of the season if you’d said you’d finish second in the league from where we were I think they’d have snapped your hand off.”
While Ferdinand is literally correct in saying Liverpool are behind United, given the most recent league table, he is neglecting to appreciate the absence of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip. Which is a bizarrely common thing pundits have been forgetting over the last six-to-eight months…
That being said, United have somewhat thrown the gauntlet down to Liverpool – they’ve improved a fair bit, Man City haven’t been at their best, and the Reds must go again next season and beat them both.
I am sure that we beat MUFC at Old Trafford 4-2, WITH 2CB’s that did a magnificent job by all accounts, but did an outstanding job against this “wonderful” side. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!