Peter Schmeichel revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson had initially ordered his Manchester United side to keep Steve McManaman out of the game in their FA Cup final meeting with Liverpool in 1996 for fear of the Englishman before changing his mind.
The Old Trafford-based outfit did go on to secure a 1-0 victory against their bitter rivals with Eric Cantona netting the sole effort.
“McManaman was the only opposing player he ever paid attention to in the Premier League,” the former Red Devil wrote in his autobiography One (via Sport Bible).
“I mean, he would mention Alan Shearer and other major opposing players in team talks but never with any fear. However, McManaman always had him in a sweat.
“And, to be fair, Steve was a fantastic footballer. Fergie’s thinking was always that if you took McManaman out of the game, you took Liverpool out.”
Prior to his switch to Real Madrid, the former winger was a force to be reckoned with on Merseyside, registering 152 goal contributions in 364 games (across all competitions).
It’s not entirely surprising that the legendary United boss was somewhat wary when it came to the threat posed by McManaman.
That being said, one can only wonder at how fearful Ferguson might have been when it comes to the attacking prowess of our front-three – as the Red Devils recently experienced on home soil in a comprehensive 5-0 battering.
We’ve come a long way since the infamous appearance of the cream suit-clad Spice Boys, with Jurgen Klopp having helped build a Liverpool side to be more than proud of as a fan and an outfit to be feared and respected in equal measure by our rivals.
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