Liverpool CEO Peter Moores reckons Liverpool are back on their perch having been through some ‘dark times’, while also seeming to take a dig at Manchester United’s owners, the Glazers.
It was a phrase coined by Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson, who, in one of his most famous quotes, said his greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool off of their perch, referencing the challenge of overtaking their rival’s 18 league title wins.
While the Anfield outfit have not yet added a title to that tally for 30 years, they have re-established themselves among the upper echelons of European football’s elite, adding a sixth European Cup to their brimming trophy room back in June.
Speaking at the World Football Summit in Madrid, Reds CEO Peter Moore had this to say: “We are back on our perch, as we famously say.”
My greatest challenge is not what’s happening at the moment, my greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their fucking perch. And you can print that. – Sir Alex Ferguson
Moore was full of praise for the clubs American owners, the Fenway Sports Group, for investing “patiently” and building a ‘long-term strategy, while also seemingly taking a swipe at Manchester United’s owners, the Glazer family, who are widely condemned by their own supporters for leeching money out of their club without putting any of their own money in.
“What they’ve done over the past what is now nine years is nothing short, for me, of miraculous,” Moore said of FSG.
“We lived through some dark times, of a difficult ownership period, the fans stood up against those owners and said this is not what we want for the way that Liverpool Football Club should be run.
“Fenway Sports Group have sat back and invested patiently and built a long-term strategy for success, have rebuilt a major part of the stadium so we can drive revenues, have eventually got Jurgen Klopp, have invested in the backbone of the squad. I would argue we have the most exciting forward line in football.
“To the credit of those stewards, Fenway Sports Group, they’ve gone through some difficult times, up and down, yet have stayed the course, have never taken a penny out of the football club but rather have invested.”
On the field, Liverpool sit at the top of the Premier League following their 100 per cent start to the campaign, and their young side comfortably disposed of MK Dons in the Carabao Cup last night.
Read: Carabao Cup fourth round draw throws up tasty ties
See also: Five of the biggest League Cup upsets in the competition’s history
