When you search for "Liverpool against Manchester United 1988" on YouTube, you'll find Norman Whiteside's crunching cameo, which rivals Steve McMahon's rasper and Gordon Strachan's smoking cigar celebration as the game's high point.

United were trailing 3-1 at the time of Whiteside's introduction, and they were shortly reduced to ten men with the dismissal of Colin Gibson. Despite the fact that Whiteside once scored the winning goal at Anfield, his elbowing of John Barnes and maiming of McMahon are both remembered more fondly.

While ignorant to the screams of 'United' coming from the Anfield Road End, the commentator John Motson made the following observation: "All it appears to be doing is galvanizing the Liverpool supporters." United battled back to earn a 3-3 tie.

In comparison, Hannibal Mejbri, the most recent United player to be thrown into the Anfield bear pit on Tuesday night, was four years older than Whiteside. When the 18-year-old came on in the 84th minute, seasoned viewers of the United junior teams would have guessed there was plenty of time for him to pick up his first professional booking.

Mejbri's first victim was Jordan Henderson, and his second victim was Naby Keita. Two fouls, one yellow card, and one lucky boy resulted in the game. Because of the outcome of the game, Mejbri was mercifully spared a red card.

Since last season, WyScout has tracked Mejbri for 86 fouls in 22 games and found him to be as unruly with officials as Bruno Fernandes. As expected, United fans applauded Mejbri's tribute to Whiteside.

"To be honest, it takes a young kid to come on and demonstrate to the rest of the team how to race to the ball and put a challenge in front of it. Because of his accomplishments, I'm proud of him "On the co-commentary, Gary Neville stated. '

Perhaps he feels uncomfortable with the prospect of Liverpool passing around him; I hope the other players had same sentiment. Neville acknowledged that his observation was unprofessional, but he was speaking on behalf of a large number of Manchester United supporters.

Two years ago, the travelling supporters chanted's—t Sideshow Bob' towards Mejbri during the FA Youth Cup fifth round match against Leeds at Old Trafford. Immediately following the 1-0 victory, Mejbri posted an image of Bart Simpson's scourge to Instagram with the caption, "I admit that there is a slight resemblance."

Mejbri came at Anfield

When it came to Liverpool, Mejbri had more intensity than the other 11 starts put together, and he was also the only one who felt comfortable posting on social media. "It is always a privilege to put on this jersey. The badge is something I'm always willing to battle for "Mejbri shared his thoughts on social media.

Mejbri was the only player on this team who showed concern, and he stood out amongst the most heartless group of United guys. It was a slap in the face to the supporters. Despite the fact that they had verbally terminated his United contract before it was set to be destroyed, Paul Pogba started and, whatever the extent of his calf pain, he did not play through the humiliation.

Pogba has a tainted history at Anfield, dating back to his red card in the 2011 Youth Cup quarter-final as an 18-year-old. The No.10 was anonymous in the goalless draw in 2016, injured the following season, unused in Jose Mourinho's final season in 2018, unavailable for another injury 13 months later, and squandered a matchwinning opportunity in last year's goalless draw in front of a capacity crowd.

Mejbri's effort rate is diametrically opposed to that of Pogba, and he should have started against Norwich, despite the fact that it was never a realistic expectation.

Before the game, Ralf Rangnick stated, "I believe it is beneficial for Hannibal or Alejandro to train with us over the last couple of days and weeks, but we will not be playing any friendly games or any games in which we believe it would be appropriate to give a young player the opportunity to play." Rather than worrying about it, we're concentrating on fielding the best possible formation and lineup that we believe will allow us to win the game.

At United, the phrase "best possible" is no longer applicable. For the last stretch, attitude takes precedence over talent, and Mejbri possesses both. After joining for €10 million from Monaco in 2019, the youngster was escorted around Oslo by John Murtough for a friendly, where he saw the first team, before his contract was officially confirmed.

David Beckham, on the other side, was similarly grateful to United. It had to be something exceptional, said Steve Bruce, about the youngster with spiky hair he kept seeing at London away games, that he was getting such particular care from Alex Ferguson. Beckham warmed up with Manchester United teammates Bryan Robson and Gordon Strachan at West Ham's Boleyn Ground in October 1987 before sneaking into a row behind the team's bench the following week. On Match of the Day, Beckham could be seen sitting behind a yelling Ferguson when Clayton Blackmore was introduced.

Similarly to Beckham, Mejbri was discovered by Manchester United at a young age. Mathieu Seckinger, the club's longtime French youth scout, spotted Mejbri while he was playing for Paris FC's Under-13s, having previously observed him at his previous club Nancy.

In addition to Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City, Barcelona and Bayern Munich were also interested in making offers. Recruiting from the United States' youth ranks has improved under Nick Cox, who succeeded Nicky Butt in 2016. Mejbri has previously represented Tunisia at the international level.

Mejbri had to wait even longer than Beckham to get close to the first team, since he didn't make it across to Carrington until April of last year. Before coming on against Liverpool, he has been used as a substitute on six occasions this season.

The Reds did not play like they were playing a friendly in the final week of the season, but they played as if they were until Mejbri came on. He is deserving of more than just a cameo appearance.