Cole: Anfield win is overdue
Manchester United legend Andy Cole believes the Reds’ league win over Arsenal points the way to FA Cup glory at Anfield this weekend.
The former striker feels the current players should be confident after beating the Gunners 2-1 in their own backyard and is willing Sir Alex Ferguson’s men to extend the winning streak at Liverpool’s expense.
“Look at the way we performed against Arsenal – if we go to Anfield and play like that, then we’ve got to be confident,” Cole told ManUtd.com. “Liverpool have been struggling for form recently, and if we play like we did at Arsenal then I can’t see why we can’t get a very positive result.”
Cole was speaking before Liverpool completed a two-legged win over Man City in the Carling Cup semi-final. All square on the night means the Manchester clubs’ three trips to Anfield so far this term have all ended evenly – City, like United, drew 1-1 there in the league. In fact, the Reds haven't beaten Liverpool away in four years. Cole feels it’s time for his old club to buck that trend and book a place in the next round of the Cup.
“We’re long overdue a good result at Anfield,” Cole told us. “I thought we played well there earlier this season and Liverpool aren’t scoring too many goals at the moment. I think we can go there with a real sense of belief.”
Even though United will have more supporters inside the ground than usual - due to a greater away-ticket allocation for FA Cup ties - Cole still feels the partisan home fans present a challenge.
“Even if you’ve got five or six thousand away fans there, you’ve still got to silence the thirty-odd thousand Liverpool fans by keeping the ball and playing the way that United play,” he advised. “Liverpool will be very worried about us because they can see we're in good form. But we need to silence their crowd.”
Cole is a past master at quietening The Kop, having bagged a few goals there for United.
“When I was in the team I used to love playing at Anfield,” he reminisced. “I was very fortunate that the manager always used to play me against Liverpool because I always seemed to get myself a goal there. I don’t know what it was. It’s a special arena that always used to bring the best out of me.”
The former number nine did his personal damage in league visits to Liverpool, but he also has experience of helping to beat United’s arch-rivals in the FA Cup – in the 1996 final at Wembley and later at Old Trafford, during a daunting run to the 1999 final.
“That year we were in the ascendancy, we feared no-one,” said Cole, reflecting on '99. “We always believed that whoever we played against, we could always knock them over. Even if we were a goal behind going into the last few minutes, we’d still beat teams. That’s how it was when we beat Liverpool in the Cup that year. We were knocking on the door for 85 minutes and then finally the goals came and we won the game.
“If you’re going to win the Cup then you’re going to have to knock over the tough teams. If you do that in the earlier rounds, hopefully it won’t be as tough if you reach the final.”
manutd.com
