David Moyes bristles when he’s reminded that his record at Anfield as Everton manager didn’t include a single win.
And he dismisses the statistics that show seven draws and five defeats as irrelevant as he prepares to take Manchester United to Liverpool for the first time today.
“I’m going there with the Champions of England,” he says. “I’ve never done that before.
“I’d love to have a much better record than I do but there were mitigating circumstances.
“When I was at Everton I was competing against really good Liverpool sides. They had a far greater budget than I had. It was never a level playing field.
“They had people like Xabi Alonso, Steven Gerrard, FernandoTorres, Javier Mascherano. They won the Champions League.
“We couldn’t compete with players they had at their disposal so we had to find different ways to beat them, and we did that a few times at Goodison.
“At their place, we got some good draws at times but never that win.
“We tried to hang on to their shirt tails over the years and in the last couple of seasons we were able to overtake them and finish higher in the League, but it was a long process.
“I know I’ve not got a good record at Anfield and it’s something I need to address as Manchester United manager.
“The main thing is that I go there now with a different group of players.
“I’m realising that in this job every game we play is built up as the biggest game ever.
“We had Chelsea last week, now I’m being told how big it is for United to go to Liverpool.
“We have Manchester City in a couple of weeks, so I’ve had an awful lot of big occasions to deal with very quickly here.”
Moyes expects a hot reception from the Kop, given his background as long-time city rival and United’s status as enemy No.1.
“No doubt I’ll take some stick,” he smiles. “I’ve had it whenever I’ve been there as a manager but they’ve also applauded me when I’ve attended some of the Hillsborough events.
“We all know who we are supporting on the day so I won’t worry about that.”
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