United need to evoke the spirit of late eighties

We'd already met the Merseysiders just a few months before, in early September 1988, losing 1-0 to a Jan Molby penalty at Anfield in our second game of the season, following a goalless home draw with QPR on the opening day.

Things were not good. Three successive wins had then increased morale, but the reality was, come the new year, Alex Ferguson's side had only won twice since then in Division One, drawing six games on the trot at one point.

Welcoming the reigning champions, and our fiercest rivals, may not have been the ideal way to start the final year of a decade that had been unsuccessful on the league front for the club. 

I must admit I feared the worst when John Barnes broke the deadlock after 70 minutes. I think everyone did.

But what happened next was such a galvanising experience and one that I strongly believe somehow had a bigger impact than merely securing the three points in a contest with our biggest adversaries.

Within a minute, we were level – courtesy of an acrobatic cracker from Brian McClair. Mark Hughes bulldozed his way onto Steve Nicol's errant clearance to smash in a second and the impish Russell Beardsmore capped a fine performance with the third, volleying past Mike Hooper. All in the space of seven crazy minutes.

Old Trafford went wild. This is what Ferguson's Manchester United were truly capable of and the visitors' veneer of invincibility started to fade. 

It wasn't firm evidence of the Reds' rising and Liverpool starting to fall from their perch, but it was a sign. A pointer that what was to follow in the 1990s might actually begin be possible.

And those at the stadium lapped it up. The show of strength in adversity, blowing Kenny Dalglish's men away in that short space of time, augured well. I am not ashamed to admit I watched the game over and over and over again on video.

It should have provided the required boost but didn't have any immediate effect. We lost to Middlesbrough the very next day and would finish the campaign in absolutely wretched form, which led to an 11th-placed finish. High hopes of lifting the FA Cup were extinguished in controversial fashion by Nottingham Forest, who instead met Liverpool in the tragic semi-final at Hillsborough.

Yet the seeds had been sown. Liverpool, inexplicably, surrendered the title on the final day when conceding a famous last-minute goal to Michael Thomas, which handed Arsenal the two-goal victory required to take top spot.

The following season, a crazy 4-3 defeat to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup semi-final provided another major indication that the Merseysiders might be on the slide. 

As for United, it still took time for Ferguson to work his magic. But there were one-off games where everything clicked, like big wins against Arsenal in Division One and the League Cup, even before that first major trophy was secured against the Eagles in the 1990 FA Cup final replay.

What Reds fans crave on Monday is a sign that we can turn the tide again and get back to where we belong. There are few bigger tests than the one Liverpool are likely to provide, but this is where the team needs to rise to the challenge, show their mettle and provide the hope that better times are ahead. The fact we could do that – responding so outrageously to going a goal down at that point of the 1989 contest – was all the evidence I needed at the time. It injected the faith that change was coming.

After all the criticism we have faced in the wake of the opening two defeats, this is the opportunity to display that same spirit and do likewise in 2022.

The opinions in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Manchester United Football Club.