sport news The derby has been far too easy for Manchester City recently... but this one ... trends now
There was a feeling around the Manchester derby last season that, in many ways, was relatively new for those who follow City.
United had it when they began to dominate English football in the 1990s, the knowledge that they effectively just had to turn up and play properly to beat City.
The roles were reversed 12 months ago, however, and never at any stage did anything other than two Blue victories seem likely. So it proved: 2-0 at Old Trafford with 68 per cent possession, 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium with 70 per cent possession.
Manchester City strolled past Manchester United both home and away last season
Over the three hours of action, United were only level for 18 minutes — the gulf between the teams was colossal. City were brilliant, United’s prime task was keeping the score down.
If I’m honest, I can’t say I enjoyed it. The Manchester derby should never be a formality, it should be the hardest six points in the calendar for both teams and, if you are on the right side of the final score, the buzz should stay with you for weeks.
What I’m delighted to say ahead of this latest showdown is that I don’t know which side will be celebrating on Sunday — and, for that, we have to acknowledge the impact Erik ten Hag has had in reviving the Red Devils.
It feels like United are fresh again and, certainly before the international break, the players who needed to step up — Bruno Fernandes, Christian Eriksen, Marcus Rashford, Lisandro Martinez, Jadon Sancho — all did so. The confidence is returning and that makes them dangerous.
But United have looked like a new team in recent games under Erik ten Hag
I can’t sit here and say I want to see Manchester United doing well but last season it reached the stage where you were watching events across town with your hands over your eyes, wondering where the fall they were experiencing was going to leave them.
Rock bottom, arguably, arrived at Brentford in the second game of the current campaign. I’m sure plenty had Ten Hag written off that night and I suspect there would have even been some wondering about him within the dressing room. It makes what happened the following day even more significant.
With United having run eight miles fewer than Brentford, Ten Hag decided that the squad would make up the distance the following day. It was a big call to make and could have led to difficulties for him going forward. Crucially, Ten Hag said he would do the run also.
Ten Hag is not the first manager to do this. I saw Stuart Pearce do something similar, early in 2007.
Stuart Pearce put City players through their paces following a difficult run of form in 2007
That Manchester City side I played in had experienced a terrible run at home and we had gone two months without scoring in front of our fans. Stuart was furious about how we had been playing and one day he got us together at our training ground in Carrington. He spelled out a few home truths. ‘I’m over 40,’ he said. ‘I’ve got bad knees. I want you to run through brick walls for me, so I’m going to run through the pain barrier for you.’
That is exactly what he did. He made us go on a long, demanding run but he ran every step of the way alongside us. It was a gesture to show that we were all in it together and there was a lift at the end of March, as we beat Middlesbrough and Newcastle. Such actions go a long way.
