Two giants that see-saw in and out of the shadows

There's a yin and yang to Liverpool and Manchester United.

England's two most successful clubs very rarely peak at the same time; just as the fortunes of one improves, the other plummets into an existential crisis.

In The Men In White Suits, Simon Hughes' excellent book chronicling Liverpool in the 1990s, John Scales recalls walking into a club obsessed with the old days.

The Reds had been a winning machine through the 70s and 80s but after Graeme Souness’ turbulent reign at the beginning of the decade, they turned to one of the old Boot Room Boys - Roy Evans - to steady the ship.

He instinctively leaned on the methods he’d learned under the tutelage of Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan.

But times had changed.

"The wooden target boards were still used and they were rotting away," remembered Scales. "There was no tactical or technical analysis."

With Liverpool fixated on the past, their more forward-thinking rivals raced away. Scales deduced that the club’s strong socialist principles, ingrained by the messianic Shankly, cost them during a decade of hyper capitalism in the game.

United in particular embraced the spectacular commercial boom that arrived after the establishment of the Premier League. They were two steps ahead of almost everyone else off the pitch, expanding Old Trafford and maximising commercial returns just as their team was entering a long period of consistent success. It was a potent mix.

Liverpool looked twee and provincial compared to the behemoth 32 miles down the M62.

It took the Merseysiders until the noughties to start catching up - and even then progress slow. In 2005, the day after their miraculous Champions League final win against AC Milan, fans flocked to Anfield to get their hands on some