Manchester United’s empire has collapsed and Liverpool are set to bounce on the rubble

The empire that once was Manchester United has well and truly crumbled.

And waiting to dance on the rubble this weekend will be United’s most bitter enemy. Because when United travel to Liverpool on Sunday, it will feel like the gulf between two of world football’s most historic institutions hasn’t been this wide since United’s relegation more than 50 years ago.

Liverpool are riding high at the top of the Premier League table and look certain to win more trophies this season. United couldn’t win a raffle if they were the only ones holding a ticket, so pitiful has been their long and destructive demise.

Both on and off the pitch, the English giants have become broken and small time. Ruben Amorim has inherited a team of incompetent millionaires who don’t seem to care.

United finished 2024 in 14th place and facing a relegation battle, following five league defeats in December alone. Marcus Rashford, born and raised in Manchester, wants to turn his back on his hometown club. And he isn’t alone.

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Andre Onana is getting beaten from corners and Casemiro earns £400,000-a-week but sends shots into the stands. Those with genuine pedigree and world class talent at other teams don’t want to come to United.

The team is rotten from back to front. Amorim has made the worst start of any United manager in 103 years, and insists the club is now in a relegation battle.

The unthinkable has happened. The words ‘United’ and ‘relegation’ have appeared in the same sentence. The stadium is starting to look and feel like a relic.

The roof in the press room is leakier than Amorim’s defence, ticket prices have been raised, staff have been made redundant and those who survived were not even allowed to hold a Christmas party. There might be little or nothing to celebrate, but that’s not the point.

There was even an infestation of mice that left United turning to Rentokil.

Even the great Sir Alex Ferguson, who along with Sir Matt Busby helped turn United into a sporting icon, has been told his services as an ambassador are no longer required, while Dan Ashworth was appointed sporting director at a cost of around £6m in compensation to Newcastle, but was sacked after just five months.

And just when you thought things couldn’t stoop any lower, loyal but long-suffering supporters have turned on each other. There was fighting in sections of the stadium during Monday’s 2-0 home defeat to Newcastle, when United produced one of the worst performances in the post-Fergie era.

Fans were divided over Amorim’s decision to haul off hapless forward Joshua Zirkzee inside just 31 minutes. It was a decision which resulted in cheers from the crowd, and tears for the Dutchman as he headed to the dressing room, inconsolable.

One fan took to social media to insist he had to leave the stadium and walk home at half time, before arguments with those friends around him turned violent. I have no affiliation to United, but it’s nigh-on impossible not to feel some degree of pity towards them.

How has it all come to this? The answer is simple. The wrong people have been appointed to the most powerful positions, resulting in a catalogue of failure from top to bottom.

2024 was United’s annus horribilis. So roll on 2025, because things can only get better.