Pep Guardiola has revived Barcelona spirit to boost City's title chances | city of manchester
METERManchester City, brilliant but strangely vulnerable; Manchester United, a disaster but with the occasional spark. It was, in the end, a The Manchester derby that confirmed what we already knew. And the result is that the title race comes to Anfield on Sunday and, after four consecutive wins each in the league, a potentially seismic clash between City and Liverpool.
By that time, Arsenal will have played Brentford at the Emirates next Saturday. Of which there are two things to say: first, that after next weekend there will be 10 games left and there have not been three teams so tight at the top at this point since 2010 (when after 28 games, Chelsea led United by one point with Arsenal two further behind). And second, if this is going to be a classic matchup, it needs the best teams to score unexpected points, so that there are twists and turns, rather than the kind of procession of victories for the main contenders that characterized 2018. 19.
United, meanwhile, are six points off fifth place and while they may have been ahead at half-time, the gulf between them and City is huge. Given their injuries, it may not be entirely fair to judge them on this match, but it is reasonable to ask more generally why, having had more time than Unai Emery at Aston Villa or Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham and having spent much more money . , Erik ten Hag has had much less success in forging a team with a coherent structure and identity. Recruiting has historically been bad and he has due sympathy for that, but, equally, it was he who looked at Antony and saw a £90m footballer.
Ten Hag's setup was a return to Ole Gunnar Solskjær's days of a midfield diamond with split forwards, which made sense: the Norwegian's record against City, against all the big teams, was comparatively good; It was when it came to building attacks against teams that were very far away from United that he had problems. Deploying the pace of Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho against a City backline that has let more goals through on quick counterattacks this season than any other. first division A team other than Crystal Palace was probably how United were able to get to City.
To the extent that brought the opening goal – a majestic long pass from André Onana, Bruno Fernandes playing the goal role with unexpected aplomb and Rashford curling a shot into the top corner – it worked. But thereafter Rashford was terrible, while United's unfamiliarity with the form was evident in his doubts. Gradually they were forced to sink deeper and deeper, unable to get out, unable to mount the kind of counterattack that could have threatened a second or stemmed the tide of the City.
City may not have equalized until the 56th minute or taken the lead until the 80th, but there was never a real sense that United would get their way.
Was two moments of brilliance from Phil Foden that decided the game, but with him in exceptional form, plus Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne, there is always the feeling that, as well as being a relentless machine that overwhelms teams with its pressure and control of possession, City It has people who can convert games.
after newsletter promotion
In that sense, they are, at least in spirit, a little more similar to the Barcelona of Pep Guardiola's beginnings than to some of the teams with which they won the title at City. There is also a feeling that, due to the increasing tendency to play directly against Haaland, which adds a new dimension to their attacking game, they may not have as much control as in previous versions. Guardiola once talked about how his teams needed 15 passes after regaining possession to be able to defend against a counterattack; That layer of protection has apparently been lost as they have become more threatening in the transition, hence the vulnerability to rapid ruptures.
And that perhaps explains the feeling in recent months, even though City have won 15 of their last 16 games, that they are not at their best, that they are not as intimidatingly relentless as in previous seasons. It has also been acknowledged that the match schedule has been unusually quiet. Sunday was the first time since losing to Villa three months ago that they have played a team that started the day in the top eight of the Premier League.
The derby was supposed to be the start of a difficult month that would define their season. Maybe so, but United are no match for City at the moment. Liverpool, Arsenal and Villa in the next four weeks will represent much tougher tests.
This is an excerpt from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, Guardian US' weekly look at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Do you have any questions for Jonathan? Email footballwithjw@theguardian.comand will answer the best in a future edition.
