Liverpool hero Phil Thompson has opened up on Man Utd rivalry (Image: GETTY)
Liverpool legend Phil Thompson has recalled when he, Gerard Houllier and Reds players were mocked by Manchester United fans at Manchester airport.
Thompson spent 13 years in the Liverpool first team in the 1970s and 1980s, winning the First Division title on seven occasions while also lifting the Champions League, formerly known as the European Cup, three times.
After his career at Liverpool was over, Thompson returned to Anfield to be No 2 to Houllier.
And he's now recalled a time where he and fellow Liverpool figures were mocked by United fans at Manchester airport.
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Thompson also admits that Liverpool struggled to catch Manchester United during he and Houllier's time in charge.
“We turned more corners than Lewis Hamilton,” he added.
“When I was assistant manager with Gerard, we did really well for a couple of years and we won trophies.
"We progressed — like Roy (Evans) did, like Rafa (Benitez) did, like Brendan (Rodgers) did — and then we stood still. Or we regressed.
"The hard thing was always taking that next step. We kept getting to that point, where we finished runners-up, and not quite being able to push on.
“We just maybe lacked the plan to make the next step. We weren’t quite clever enough to do that.
"We always had a number of very good players but, looking back, I’m not sure we ever quite reached the point where we had the team or the squad where you thought, ‘Yeah, this is going to be our time now.'”
Liverpool and United played out a 1-1 draw in their Premier League showdown over the weekend.
United looked on course to take all three points after Marcus Rashford's opener, with Adam Lallana then levelling for the Reds late on.