Champions League Final: The Pefect Goodbye for Sir Alex Ferguson?

He has become synonymous with the club since his arrival in 1986, but will tomorrow's Champions League final be Sir Alex Ferguson's last game in charge of his Red Devils?

As a Liverpool fan, I hope so. As a football fan, I hope not.

Ferguson has established himself as one of the all-time greats in management. You don't last 22 years at one of the best teams in the world without being something special.

He has equalled and, in my opinion, eclipsed Sir Matt Busby to become United's greatest manager ever.

Busby had to rebuild his "Busby Babes" after the tragic Munich air crash, but Sir Alex has also built his own team and moulded them exactly how he wants them.

Busby was in management for 25 years (all with United) while Ferguson has been in management for 34 years to date (22 years with United).

Fergie took a struggling United side and made them into world-beaters, managing an all-star list of names including the likes of Brain McClair, Paul Ince, Gordon Strachan, Paul McGrath, Steve Bruce, Viv Anderson, Jim Leighton, Norman Whiteside, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, Andy Cole, Mark Hughes, Andrei Kanchelskis, Teddy Sheringham, Dwight Yorke, Jaap Stam, Peter Schmeichel, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Fabien Barthez, Laurent Blanc, Juan Sebastian Veron, Rio Ferdinand, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Edwin van der Sar, and many, many more.

He also proved himself to be able to let budding young prospects flower to their full potential.

The likes of Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes  and Nicky Butt all came through the United youth system and all became successes at Old Trafford, forming the core of the United team.

Three of those men are still there, and are increasingly rare examples of exceptional loyalty to one club.

Ferguson is the greatest manager the EPL has ever seen, far outdoing his nearest rival Arsene Wenger, and is the most successful manager in the history of English football.

He has won 38 trophies as a manager (major and minor), has been awarded "Premier League Manager of the Month" a record 21 times, and "Manager of the Year" eight times.

That's half the years that the EPL has been running for.

He has won numerous other awards from numerous other companies, including a "Manager of the Decade" award for the 1990s and a Lifetime Achievement award, not to mention being knighted by the Queen.

He has a win percentage of over 58 at United, which, in over a thousand games in charge, is phenomenal, and is also better than Matt Busby's win percentage of 52.

I don't think he is the greatest manager ever. Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, and a few others may lay a claim to that; but he is certainly up there.

A win tomorrow in Moscow, and the inevitable statue of him outside Old Trafford may just become a little bigger than Busby's.

So, United fans, would you rather a win tomorrow, and Sir Alex leave on a high, or a loss tomorrow, and Ferguson to stay on for a few more years?