'Such a talent': Nicky Butt admits Liverpool used to have a player he simply 'couldn't get near' for Man United
Today at 02:00 PM
Liverpool and Manchester United have had very different starts to the season.
With both bitter rivals now employing Dutch coaches to lead them, there is a certain symmetry to the two clubs.
But while Erik ten Hag does not look any closer to figuring out the formula at Old Trafford, Arne Slot has hit the ground running at Anfield.
With a huge win against United under his belt, Slot looks like leading Liverpool to a better season than the Manchester club already.
Of course, it has not always been the case that Liverpool can expect to finish higher than United in the league table. Back in the days of academy graduate Nicky Butt, Sir Alex Ferguson’s team regularly got the better of their North West adversaries.
Still, Liverpool often managed to cause Butt and his famed ‘class of 92’ problems. And looking back on those days, the former midfielder has singled out one Reds star who he hated playing against.
Nicky Butt recalls John Barnes nightmare
Butt is not one of the most storied players of Man United’s legendary team of the 1990’s and 2000’s.
Nevertheless, he was a very capable midfielder who went on to play almost 400 times for them. During that period, Butt encountered Liverpool many, many times.
So, it’s no surprise that when looking back on the biggest rivals of their careers for the Football’s Greatest podcast, both Butt and former teammate Paul Scholes talk about Liverpool a lot,.
Both players name Anfield as the most hostile stadium of their playing days and when asked by Scholes to name a Liverpool player he really hated to play against, Butt recalled an experience facing John Barnes.
READ MORE: Jamie Carragher predicts how Steven Gerrard has reacted to Arne Slot’s time at Liverpool so far
“I hated playing against John Barnes,” admitted the 49-year-old.
“I played against him once on here [Old Trafford] and I hated it because he was so experienced and such a talent anyway, put all that together and I couldn’t get near him. I couldn’t get near him at all.”
“John Barnes was good,” Scholes agreed. “He was coming to the end of his career, but what a player.”
Steven Gerrard gets his mention
Barnes is a true Liverpool legend. The silky winger was an idol for a whole generation of Reds supporters.
When Butt played against the former England international in 1997, he was already 33-years-old. But Barnes still rang rings around him.
Unsurprisingly, after naming Barnes as his worst Liverpool opponent, Butt also gives an obligatory mention to the great Steven Gerrard.
“Steven Gerrard, every time I played against him he was phenomenal,” raved the United legend. “Like a top, top, top, top player. I played against him once or twice for United but it was always Newcastle towards the end of my career I played against Steven.”
Ask United’s players of the current day the same question and they’ll likely have a list as long as your arm.
