only once did paul ince pause for breath in dublin 8 on thursday nothing else fazed 'the guv'nor' on a carlsberg gig in the shadow of st patrick's cathedral not roy keane's managerial qualities, his relationship with fergie, ryan giggs' role at old trafford, where wayne rooney should play, or manuel pellegrini's future no the only question which caused him to puff his cheeks and buy time, was a simple one: are liverpool a better team with steven gerrard, or without? paul ince is pictured in dublin on thursday as he spoke about liverpool vs manchester united  with manchester united docking at anfield on sunday, and gerrard – or stevie g as ince called him   available after injury, the query was relevant and ince knew it 'i think any liverpool team with stevie g is going to be better, not just from a footballing point of view but a leadership point of view,' he said 'stevie g is like a comfort blanket when he is in your team you feel comfortable, you think 'oh good, stevie g is there' 'when stevie g is not in the liverpool team, players worry but when they see him leading them out, they feel alright, 'we've got our leader here' 'they've won without him, done well, but sunday is one of those games where you need your men, your warriors, and that's what stevie g is' whether liverpool manager brendan rodgers feels the same remains to be seen but ince is adamant gerrard should play 'if i was manager, i'd pick him,' he said with or without gerrard, ince feels liverpool have a slight edge steven gerrard (right) puts in a tackle on swansea's bafetimbi gomis at the liberty on monday night  'if you'd asked me a couple of weeks ago i'd have said a comfortable win for liverpool, now, i think there's a bit more to it as united were more like the old united against tottenham 'liverpool are flying and are really strong at home, and i think they will win' not that a swallow will make a summer for a club without a championship since 1990 'the only way liverpool will overtake man united is to start winning titles again,' acknowledged ince ince is out of management since blackpool showed him the door 14 months ago, but 45 minutes in his company left the impression he could do a decent job for any number of clubs open, engaging, informative, ince covered almost as much ground as he did in a distinguished playing career which spanned 20 seasons, eight of which he spent at united, where he won plenty, and liverpool, where he won nothing at that time, ince reckoned everyone wanted to play for those two clubs, but now they 'ain't the big giants anymore' 'we're not talking about two teams fighting for the title, we're talking about two teams fighting for champions league football that says it all' ince feels that liverpool are a better team with gerrard as he looked ahead to sunday's match at anfield  'if chelsea were playing man city the same day we'd be talking about those two giants instead' while building up roy keane as a contender to manage man united in the future, he doesn't believe ryan giggs can succeed louis van gaal 'absolutely no chance,' he said 'giggsy's my mate and he enjoyed last year, he loved it and now under van gaal he's learning but i said to giggsy, 'you gotta go to a club to get experience go manage a league one side or league two side or because you're ryan giggs you might get a championship team' 'you can't just throw him into man utd, one of the biggest clubs in the world and say 'there ya go giggsy' he's not ready for that' 'why would you put giggs in a situation where if he doesn't succeed you have to sack him? 'learn from van gaal and then go out and find your own feet then come back and say 'i've done five or six years' that's how i see the road for giggsy' manchester united assistant manager ryan giggs (left) speaks with wayne rooney during the fa cup sixth round match against arsenal last week  ince took that route, starting off at macclesfield and working his way to the premier league in just two years at blackburn, where he became the first black manager in the top flight he hasn't made it back there again, and been out of work grates 'you can't just say 'i'm roy keane' or 'i'm paul ince' and wait for someone to come it doesn't work like that you're soon forgotten you've got to put your cv in 'i don't want to go to a firefighting job i want a three year project, where you can build and try to be successful' ince retains the coltish enthusiasm of the tearaway teenager who broke through at west ham under john lyall in the late 80s where he played beside liam brady – for so long ireland's comfort blanket ince (left) is pictured speaking to son tom during his days in charge of blackpool in september 2013  'i was watching chippy last night on tv and i couldn't believe i played with him am i that old? surely not, but what a player,' he smiled 'liam wasn't quick anyway and he was even slower at west ham but he had a wonderful, cultured left foot and his mind was so far in front of anyone else' 'i was only 18 19 and thinking 'move over, old man i'm taking over' but he would flick the ball around the corners and get it back he taught me a lesson' then, just like today, the top flight of english football had room for outstanding 34 year olds it's still a place for old men, like stevie g
paul ince liverpool steven gerrard manchester united the premier league sunday ince
paul ince says liverpool are a better team with steven gerrard . liverpool host manchester united in the premier league on sunday . former midfielder ince played for both clubs during his career 