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• United manager makes no reference to Evra-Suárez affair
• Improved behaviour ensured bigger ticket allocation in FA Cup

Sir Alex Ferguson has urged Manchester United’s supporters to behave themselves at Liverpool on Saturday – and ensure they back his team in the correct manner.

Improved behaviour by United fans at this season’s Premier League encounter between the north-west giants has led to a large increase in the percentage of their ticket allocation being released for Saturday’s FA Cup fourth-round tie at Anfield.

However, there are fears of problems as it will also be the first meeting between the teams since the race row exploded between Patrice Evra and Luis Suárez that ended with the Liverpool striker being hit by an eight-match suspension.

In a letter to supporters who have tickets for the game, Ferguson makes no reference to Evra or Suárez, or the row he has continually stressed would have no impact on relations between the two clubs. However, he has pleaded for “positive, witty and loud” support as his side attempt to reach the last 16.

“I wrote to fans attending the away match in October urging them to co-operate with stewards and officials at Liverpool so we can make a strong case for restoring our allocation for future United games at Anfield,” said the letter from Ferguson.

“The fans did almost everything asked of them that day and as a result, we have a much improved allocation for this important FA Cup tie.

“Please do everything you can to continue that good work and protect next season’s allocation by:

• Going to the seat that you’ve bought

• Not blocking aisles and gangways

• Respecting the stewards

• Following the ground regulations

“FA Cup ties are tense affairs at the best of times,” he added. “Add in the fact that Manchester United against Liverpool is the biggest game around and it becomes even more so.

“Your support is vital to the team and down the years that has been especially true at Anfield.

“But please put the emphasis on getting us into the next round and giving the sort of support you are famous for – positive, witty and loud.”

It had previously been suggested peace talks would take place between Liverpool and United officials over the bad blood that was spilled during the Evra-Suárez row.

Ferguson claimed he did not see the need for that and though there have been discussions, it is believed they centred around the game itself and were no more significant than they would be for any other match between the two clubs in recent years.

When the teams last met in the FA Cup at Anfield, in February 2006, there were widespread claims of mistreatment by the United fans, which it is hoped a massive police and stewarding presence will avoid on this occasion.

The visitors lost that time as well, and their hopes of victory this time around will not be helped by the injuries Nani and Phil Jones suffered at Arsenal on Sunday, although there have been suggestions the latter player’s ankle knock, which Ferguson suggested could keep him out for a number of weeks, might not be as serious as first suggested.

Manchester UnitedSir Alex FergusonLiverpoolFA Cup 2011-12FA Cup
guardian.co.uk

• Liverpool manager wades into debate on two-footed tackles
• ‘He hasn’t come in from behind so I don’t see the problem’

Kenny Dalglish has defended Glen Johnson’s challenge that led to a row between Steven Gerrard and Roberto Mancini at Manchester City and believes referees should be allowed the freedom to protect football as a contact sport.

The City manager and the Liverpool captain argued at the end of Wednesday’s Carling Cup semi-final first leg over Mancini’s insistence that Johnson’s two-footed challenge on Joleon Lescott was worse than Vincent Kompany’s tackle on Nani in the FA Cup defeat by Manchester United which left the City defender serving a four-match ban.

Dalglish insisted at the time that he had not seen the incident but, following a review, believes Johnson dived to intercept a pass to Lescott rather than challenge the England centre-half and has been wrongly dragged into the furore over two-footed tackles.

“Glen’s tackle is not a problem for us because there was no one directly in front of him. He hasn’t come in from behind, so I don’t see the problem,” the Liverpool manager said.

“There’s always an interpretation of what the tackle is but I would have thought that, if it’s a tackle, then there has got to be a challenge. If I’m sliding in to clear the ball and there’s no challenge, then it’s not a tackle, is it? If someone is straight in front of me and I’m sliding in, then that’s a tackle as someone is trying to challenge me. If you come in from behind and there’s someone between you and the ball, then it’s the same thing. But if there’s a clear pitch in front of you and you can reach the ball, then reach it. People say he was showing his studs but you always have to show studs when you slide in.”

Dalglish believes the controversy over the Kompany and Johnson challenges could have been avoided had referees been left the freedom to interpret the intent behind tackles rather than impose the letter of the law. “I hope tackling is not being outlawed because it’s necessary,” he added. “Obviously it’s a difficult thing as well to prove the intent of someone. In a lot of these tackles I don’t think there’s any intent to hurt anyone.

“It’s not gone 100% but the tackle which was a deliberate, over-the-top attempt to hurt someone is the one most people wanted outlawed. To be fair they have done a decent job with that, but they can’t go completely the other way and get rid of any contact and any tackles. At the same time you have to be mindful about how you tackle.

“Referees have to have an opinion as well. It keeps coming back to intent and it’s very difficult to prove someone’s intent. “Like wee Jay [Spearing], at Fulham. His only intent was to play the ball. He was totally focused on the ball but because he made contact with the player with his trailing leg he got a three-game ban. I think you get spats of things like this and then it phases away. I think this one will be phased out.”

Dalglish, meanwhile, has revealed Liverpool intend to offer an ambassadorial role to Jamie Carragher when his playing career at Anfield ends. Gerrard signed a contract extension on Thursday that included a position as club ambassador when his playing days are over and Carragher will be offered a similar post in recognition of his service and success at Liverpool. “If they want to stay here then we should do what we can to accommodate them,” said Dalglish. “They are fantastic assets to this football club and it is something we should develop.”

Kenny DalglishLiverpoolManchester CityPremier League 2011-12Premier LeagueGlen JohnsonAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

• Manager wants captain to play into late 30s
• Gerrard says he will only ever play for Liverpool

The Liverpool manager, Kenny Dalglish, has said that the club’s captain, Steven Gerrard, could continue playing well into his late 30s. The England midfielder, who will be 32 in May, signed an extension to his existing deal on Thursday and has said that he wants to play beyond his current contract.

Gerrard has recently been dogged by a groin problem, which required surgery, and then an ankle infection. Dalglish said: “You have to wait and see how they get through injuries. Ryan Giggs is 38, isn’t he? That’s seven years down the line – that’s a long time to predict – but if he’s fit there’s no reason why not. I’ve not got a crystal ball. I’m just delighted he’s done what he’s done and we have got him here.”

Dalglish is widely thought to have been Liverpool’s greatest player but he said Gerrard should come into the reckoning.

“I wouldn’t disagree, he has certainly made a huge contribution to the club but he wouldn’t be far away from being mentioned as the best player,” Dalglish said. “It is not just what he does in and around the first team, it is what he stands for the football club as well – which is more important. His standing within the community is fantastic and the way he does other work happily is a great testimony to himself as well.”

Gerrard refused to sign a new contract until he had returned to playing and could prove his problems were behind him.

“I was down in the dumps at the time and for them to offer me the contract extension was the boost I needed,” he told the Liverpool Echo. “Everyone at the club supported me so well. I agreed the extension a long time ago, I was always going to sign it, but I told them I wanted to wait until I had proved my fitness. I didn’t think it was right to sign when I was out injured. I wanted to wait until I was back out there and had shown people that the injuries were all behind me.”

Gerrard continued: “I can only see myself playing for Liverpool Football Club now. I’m very flattered that the club have offered me the chance to stay on after my playing days. Hopefully I can stay involved with the club and set the right example for youngsters coming through but that ambassadorial role may have to wait for a while. There’s still a great deal I want to achieve as a player.”

Gerrard will lead the team out at home to Stoke on Saturday. Asked what he had learned from two matches against Tony Pulis’s this season, Dalglish said: “If you don’t score any goals, you don’t get any points if you lose one at the other end.

“Every team brings a different problem and we have to deal with the problems we anticipate they’ll bring. But they’ve also got to deal with our strengths and we’ve got a lot of them.”

After Gerrard and the Manchester City manager, Roberto Mancini, confronted each other about a Glen Johnson tackle in midweek, Dalglish said he was looking for consistency from referees.

“The discussion is not about one person’s tackle against the other, it is about consistency and interpretation of tackles,” he said. “There are always going to be inconsistencies and human error but there are laws within the game which are as clear as mud.”

Kenny DalglishSteven GerrardLiverpoolguardian.co.uk