Liverpool owner John W Henry has described Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson as a "genius", but claims he is happy that his gamble on Kenny Dalglish has paid off.

United face Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday in one of the biggest games of the season and it will pitch old rivals Daglish and Ferguson against each other. United are six points clear of the Reds after a fine start to the season, but Henry feels Liverpool are on the right path under Dalglish.

Henry's Fenway Sports Group took control of Liverpool 12 months ago and the "blueprint" was, following the departure of Roy Hodgson, to bring in a younger manager. But the American has admitted that while Dalglish was seen as a stop-gap appointment, it quickly became apparent that he was the right man for the job.

"Initially the blueprint was for a younger manager," Henry told the Daily Telegraph. "You want to have long-term stability in as much as the staff as possible.

"I had been talking with Kenny about philosophy and initially he was brought aboard just for the remainder of last season. But it became obvious that he was the right man to lead the club.

"I wasn't convinced when we arrived that Kenny should be back managing and I wanted things to work with the manager we inherited. But the fans knew much more than I did. It took me a while to get up to speed.

"Then Ian Ayre was a catalyst. Damien [Comolli] was a gamble. Kenny was a gamble. But they were both calculated gambles."

The clash at Anfield on Saturday lunchtime will be a gauge as to where Liverpool stand in the Premier League pecking order, but Henry feels they are still lagging behind United.

"We are still a long way behind them," Henry said. "They were well set up going into this year and then were able to insert great, young players. Mr Ferguson is a genius.

"By the time we made the purchase we were aware of a lot of bad contracts and the fact that it could take years to get the club back where it needed to be.

"Overall there has been progress. But there is still a lot of work to be done."

I'm more than happy with the result. Don't get me wrong. But to say that Fergie got it wrong for not fielding Anderson, Nani and Rooney is a bit debatable.

De Gea is a good GK despite all of those stupid remarks made by media early of the season. He's young and learning. To have him as our best player last night, says a lot about the team's ability in containing the ball and move forward. Which at times, very disappointing, especially for someone whom has played for loooonnnnggg time, Ryan Giggs.

Dude, it's ok to be biased but it was very apparent that Smalling had them two in their pockets.

Except for spurs, all the big guns are still competing, not going to be easy. I'm gonna hope others get City and knock them out, they're just too strong at the moment.

I rather we play City. I am really curious as to how we'll contain them.

The amount of money we have spent should produce results against teams like City and the rest if we want to challenge to get back into the UCL this year. No point in hoping someone else knocks them out.

It's another team and Liverpool FC should face up to any teams on any levels of threat.

if put Carroll up front, opponents defender will mark him at least 2 players right? maybe give chances for Suarez to score..

anyway let see how we perform without Suarez against West Brom plus he's injured right? 

hoping Carroll will score tonight..

Uhmm is there something wrong with me giving credits to Torres? I don't think I did anything wrong by crediting him. He's proven himself in Liverpool. I remember it took him less than a month to get his first hat-trick for the club. He cost like what, 20 million when we bought him? So am I wrong to give credits to Torres? Really?
I still don't get why most of the Liverpool fans are angry by him leaving the club. Players come and go all the time; and given that Torres was not a local lad like Gerrard and Carra, it was to be expected.

And as for being harsh, everyone is entitled to his own opinion. If you don't like it, then you always have the option to ignore it. If you get angry by my criticism, then you are partly angry because there are some truth in it. If you feel it's harsh, then write a proper reply as to why you disagree with me. Not a one-liner.....