Gary Neville is a Red. He hates Scousers. It's been sung before and it will be sung again, no doubt pointedly by the Manchester United fans packed into the Anfield Road stand tomorrow morning. One of the key fixtures of the season is upon us, which means one of the chants of modern English football will be too.

Yet for the man himself, a figure usually devoid of controversy, it is only half-right. Gary Neville remains a United Red, defiantly so, but there is something about the lyric with which he is uncomfortable. "Sometimes it does cause me a little embarrassment," he said this week.

This should not be exaggerated. By no means is Neville on the verge of a blood conversion from United to Liverpool red, but he did not pen the anthem and feels its prominence is long beyond his control.

"Hate is a strong word," he said, "and I don't hate anybody. I certainly don't hate a football club. But the fans sing the song and I would never criticise the fans for singing my name because it's the greatest thrill of my life to play for Man United and for them to sing my name."

Not exactly reconciliation then, but part of an attempt at clarification. Liverpool's England contingent have played at Old Trafford; United's have been cheered at Anfield. These are changing times, with Gerard Houllier's condition adding a sober context for a game Neville described as "our biggest derby" and "a can't-lose match". Common sense seems more appropriate this weekend, though, when the first whistle blows.

That Neville is connected to Liverpool (just as the River Mersey loops Manchester) is the result of an interview given to a United fanzine some years ago in which he spelled out his annoyance at seeing Liverpool dominate his childhood. A United fanatic from the age of four, Neville's "childhood jealousy" was lifted into the mainstream by a national newspaper. Ever since, Gary Neville has been a Red who hates Scousers.

It is the sharp side of a stereotype of both Neville brothers that is rather less, dare one say, edgy. Anyone who has spent even limited time in the elder Neville's company, however, would disagree with the dull portrait.

It is nine years since Gary Neville joined the United first-team squad, six since his debut for England. His mantelpiece must have undergone a few extensions in that time - though as the butt of the chant, "if the Nevilles play for England so do I", he has endured derision too.

"Playing for England for a period of years is a cycle," he said. "You go into the team and everybody loves you because you're young, fresh. Then you go into that period after about two years when they get a bit bored of you - 'there's somebody else who has got to be as good as him', they say. Then you come out of it and they think: 'Oh, he's not that bad after all. We've got a player here.'

"Then they get bored of you again. I've seen Alan Shearer go through it. David Beckham's been through it. A year ago Michael Owen went through it. It's how you come out of the mangle, I suppose."

Neville's current international cycle is going well - see Munich - in contrast to his club one. That United conceded the least goals in their Champions League group is a statistic overshadowed by the 17 goals they have yielded in the Premiership. Serious questions are being asked of United's defence. O'Leary called it "edgy" and "nervous" after last Saturday's draw.

Neville is a fundamental part of it. He played at centre-half in the opening game against Fulham and "was at fault for the first goal". Three days later against Blackburn he was dropped for the first time in his United career. "The manager was certainly right. But I came on for 25 minutes against Blackburn and felt great. It helped me moving back to right back. I don't think switching between there and centre back had done me any favours. Even if you are experienced, it can take you seven or eight games to get that feeling of 'right, I know that position'. The type of passing, running, fitness level that you need at full back is different from centre back.

"We will get stronger as the season goes on. It is a new back four and we've got to get used to playing together. There is the odd lapse here and there and that gives people ammunition, but hopefully we can eradicate those. Then we can turn round and say that all we needed was a little bit of time.

"It's just we cannot seem to get a 0-0. I was thinking that in the last 10 minutes against Olympiakos. We scored and I thought: 'It'd be nice to win 1-0, then people will say we had a solid look about us.' But we score three and people start talking about the forwards again. We just don't win 1-0; we just don't draw 0-0. It's just the way we are.

"I remember in the Champions League group the year we won it, we conceded 11 goals in the group - three at home to Barcelona, three away, two away in Munich, one at home. We conceded two in Brondby. Then in the semi-final we conceded two at Juventus. And people think we've always been keeping clean sheets.

"We had a period about five years ago when \ Cantona was playing when we won five or six games 1-0. But we were a completely different side then, a lot more solid and nowhere near as adventurous. This is a far more adventurous team, a far better team, far more exciting. You can't have Giggs, Beckham, Scholes, Keane, Veron, van Nistelrooy, Cole, Solskjaer in your team and expect us to go out and defend."

Neville did say: "There is definitely some justification for the criticism we've had." But he would have preferred not to have heard it from the Leeds United manager last week. "I do feel David O'Leary took a cheap shot by saying we were edgy and nervous. I don't think nerves were part of our performance, but nerves were definitely part of their first half.

"I'd say less if we were slicing the ball up in the air or looking nervous. But he was more nervous, relating instructions every three minutes past me. I thought he was going to start asking me to pick people up and do different things. It was a cheap shot and I was surprised by it. He jumped on the bandwagon."

Leeds had also given it a push beforehand, said Neville. "Danny Mills was quoted as saying we're not the dominant force we were. Well, 10 games into a season is a bit early to start saying those sorts of things. If they're lifting the championship, then they can say that."

It was an aggressive message, but not a prediction. According to Neville, Old Trafford for the moment is living Alex Ferguson's final season. "Everyone in that dressing room owes the manager an awful lot. There's no thought of next season. We've got six months left with the greatest manager this club has ever had and one of the greatest managers the game has ever had. So we're enjoying these moments. The manager often says to us: 'These are the best times of your life.' And he's right."

Liverpool v Manchester United

Sky Sports 1, (Kick-off 12 p.m. tomorrow)