I was stunned by the levels set at Man United when I watched them while at Liverpool

Danny Murphy has confessed that despite a fiery rivalry, he admired the Manchester United players during his time at Liverpool.

The former midfielder, who rose through the ranks at Crewe Alexandra before making his way to Merseyside in 1997, enjoyed a successful seven-year stint at Anfield under managers Roy Evans and Gerard Houliier. Murphy made a significant impact with 44 goals from midfield across 249 games, clinching an FA Cup, a League Cup, and a Charity Shield.

Despite being part of a strong Liverpool side featuring Jamie Carragher, Michael Owen, and Steven Gerrard, Murphy acknowledged that they were not on par with United's iconic class of '92, which boasted talents like David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, and Paul Scholes.

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On talkSPORT, alongside Nicky Butt, Simon Jordan questioned Murphy about Liverpool's view of United's golden generation, to which, the former pro replied: "Well, we ended up with a little group ourselves. It was Carra, Me, Michael, Stevie, David Tommo. And we looked up to them [Manchester United], even though we didn't like them.

"We looked up to them because we put them on a pedestal, and the reason we did it because of partly the reason you said - you were good players. But they were winning everything and they had a squad that was full of quality in class, and we wanted to emulate them.

"So I remember English squads early, not so much with Stevie - he came a bit later - but with Carra and Michael, and we were walking away from there and going 'Oh my god'. Like the levels they sat