Tonny Barret Previews Of New Season
The banner hung over the away end at Ibrox may have been tongue in cheek but it certainly provided a window into the souls of the Liverpool fans.
"Thank you Rangers for your efforts in destroying Manchester," it read, much to the amusement of just about everyone in the ground for Liverpool's pre-season walk in the park against Scotland's second best team.
It was a joke and a decent one at that but it also offered an insight into the mindset of the hordes in red and white who follow their team all over Europe in massive numbers - they know full well that Manchester must be destroyed, in a sporting sense, if Liverpool's wait for a league title is not to reach 20 years.
The most chastening of all thoughts is that this could be the season when it is the Stretford End and not the Kop which takes great pride in bellowing "18 times" to belittle their greatest rivals.
Since 1990, that chant has been the shield which has protected Reds fans even when their team has not lived up to the glorious standards set by their illustrious predecessors.
Glorifying the past because the future had dried up was their crutch and they were going to hold on to it even as United - and Chelsea and Arsenal to a lesser extent - voraciously vacuumed up league title after league title.
But this season Liverpool's past could come back to haunt them. All of a sudden, the combination of history and basic mathematics which has given them a comfort blanket to hold on to for so long may not be enough to protect them.
United are just one Championship trophy away from drawing level and if that isn't enough to inspire that long awaited title challenge from Anfield then God only knows what is.
There is now no escaping the challenge which faces Liverpool. Their rivals from the wrong end of the M62 have thrown down the gauntlet and unless the Reds do something about it there is a major possibility that they will lose their cherished title as England's most successful club come next May.
Sharing is not the Liverpool way as anyone foolishly peddling the ridiculous idea of a shared stadium with Everton has found out to their cost in recent years.
Liverpool set the standards for others to follow and the idea of no longer being singularly known as England's finest is one of the few things in life more depressing than a DVD of last season's European Cup Final.
The positive thing is Liverpool's fate remains in their own hands and they have it within their gift to retain their status as the nation's history boys.
They can also count on their strongest squad of players since Alan Hansen last lifted the league championship trophy above his head back in May 1990.
And they have a manager who has proven with Valencia that he has what it takes to defeat the biggest of boys and who has grown in confidence with every passing year he has spent in this country.
Rafa Benitez knows that the time has come for a genuine title challenge and not one which flatters to deceive or fizzles out when the business end of the season comes around.
Liverpool have to be in the mix next Easter. They must go into Alex Ferguson's infamous "squeaky bum" time with their buttocks clenched and handle anything that comes their way.
The platform has been built for them to spring from over the last four seasons and the big question now is has enough been done during the summer transfer window to see their status change from also rans to competitors?
Fans of Robbie Keane will tell you it has and that the acquisition of Ireland's record goalscorer can be the final piece of the seemingly never ending jigsaw which Liverpool have been putting together for oh so long.
Even at £20m the former Spurs man still has the potential to provide value for money and should Keane perform with the kind of élan and skill which is his trademark then no-one will complain about his price tag.
The arrival of Keane has only served to strengthen the spine of the Liverpool team which was already one of the best around.
Right down the middle of Benitez's side there is a quality that makes others envious and which gives Kopites hope.
Just putting the names down on paper is an exercise in belief building - Reina, Carragher, Agger, Skrtel, Hyypia, Gerrard, Alonso, Mascherano, Torres and now Keane are all undoubtedly good enough to be part of a title winning side.
The arrival of Andrea Dossena and Philipp Degen proved that Benitez was in agreement with the majority of fans who follow his team that Liverpool were crying out for attacking full backs.
It is still far too early to say whether either or both have the necessary talent to take the Reds to the next level but at least a weakness has been addressed and if all Dossena does is not score a calamitous own goal in the last minute of a European Cup semi-final progress will have been made.
In all likelihood, it will be the usual suspects who will have the biggest say in whether or not Liverpool can end their ongoing title drought.
At times, the importance of Gerrard and Carragher to this Liverpool side is easy to underestimate because they have been around for so long and because the high standards they set are sometimes taken for granted.
But make no mistake about it, if a challenge is to emerge at Anfield it will be the long serving local pair who will be at the heart of it.
Their leadership and their top class talent will be needed as much as it ever has been and should the standards they set be reached by others around them it could just be enough to light the fuse on a very special season.
Torres has already proven that he can live with the best and should Spain's Euro 2008 hero enjoy another goal-laden campaign Liverpool will certainly not be wanting when it comes to firepower.
If anything, the addition of Keane only adds to Torres' potential and their partnership has all the ingredients that any manager would be looking for in a dream team attacking pair.
Pace, flair, imagination, creativity, bravery, power, ingenuity, strength, aerial ability, finishing prowess - you name it, the Torres and Keane pairing has it.
They are at the attacking edge of a Liverpool team which is undoubtedly packed with quality but now they have to take the next step.
Should they do so, then legendary status will be assured, not to mention the not so trivial matter of ensuring Liverpool retain their status as England's most decorated domestic club.
Knocking United off their perch may be the tallest of orders but it can be done and should history made then the Liverpool fans will be thanking their team for "destroying Manchester."
