Manchester United v Liverpool: Old Trafford manager Sir Alex Ferguson wants to prolong Merseysiders' agony But he also knows that the gap, however daunting it seems, can be closed, although he accepts the task may have become more difficult with the influx of Champions League money as well as the financial muscle that United have built along with Manchester City and Chelsea. "It took me 3½ years," Ferguson recalled - selectively - of how long before he broke Liverpool's dominance. Despite winning the 1990 FA Cup, the year Liverpool won their last title, it was a little longer, 1993, before United were champions. That was seven years after Ferguson was appointed although his dominance since then has been unprecedented. "I had to get rid of a lot of players to create the position to buy players," he said. In 88-89 we got rid of eight or nine players so we could buy Pallister, Ince, Phelan, Wallace and Webb. We knew fine well where we were going all right. I said to the chairman the season before, when we were second to Liverpool, this team could never win the league. Rodgers is also facing such hard decisions and, in fairness, is acting quickly to strip and rebuild the team he inherited from Kenny Dalglish. It is a long way back to that period of dominance, however, before Ferguson arrived. "They had fantastic teams, they had a good management structure, two great managers in a row," he said. Bill Shankly created it and Bob Paisley carried it on. It was a tragedy for Bill to quit, then they go and win three European titles with Bob. Shankly deserved one of those. That period of great teams, great players, they were the dominant team, no question. Not that there is any room for sentiment. As much as Ferguson clearly admires Gerrard and places him behind only Graeme Souness as Liverpool's greatest midfielder - "he's a fully mature player, capable of scoring, long range passes" - he does not feel sympathy that the title has eluded him. "I don't think it's a pity," he said. You're joking.