05/10/2011 11:30 - ManUtd.com, Adam Marshall
Reds must be up for Liverpool
Sir Alex has challenged his United stars to match Liverpool's*desire at Anfield in the champions' next Barclays Premier League outing.
The boss is upset that the Merseysiders have managed to outfight and outmanoeuvre his team in recent seasons during three consecutive defeats in front of The Kop.
Recognising the importance of the fixture to the Liverpool fans, he admits that, while the bigger picture concerns retaining the title, it always hurts to lose to our fierce rivals.
"We’ve been poor there of late," Sir Alex*conceded in his exclusive interview with Inside United.*"Our record hasn’t been great. On a couple of occasions we’ve been outfought by them, which has been disappointing.
"The atmosphere always plays a part. Of course, every time we go there it’s as if it’s the biggest game of the century. But we need to be better than we have been in recent seasons, and this team can do that."
When asked why he feels the Reds have struggled, since winning 1-0 twice at Anfield in 2007, the boss replied:*"I think it’s related to the rivalry between the clubs. It’s an important contest that’s been going on for a long time. But even when Liverpool were in their pomp – in the 1980s – United would regularly beat them there.
"If you look at what was happening then, Liverpool were winning league titles but United were winning the matches between us and them. It’s been the other way around in the last few years. Anfield’s a tough place to go – the supporters make a fantastic noise and you really have to work hard to handle that and cope with it.
"My thinking, though, is that I’d rather be winning the league come May than worry too much about dropping three points at Anfield.
"Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m okay with losing the game. Far from it - it’s never nice to be beaten by Liverpool. But at the end of the day, I’d prefer to win the Premier League."
