Thoughts Ahead of the Manchester Derby
18 Mar
This is a guest post from Andrew Moody.
The time has almost arrived for the latest Manchester derby and neither club will be feeling too confident ahead of Sunday’s encounter. Both managers are feeling the heat, both squads are underperforming dramatically and both sets of supporters are fearing the worst.
The staggering stat that City have failed to beat any of the top eight in the Premier League this season will no doubt be weighing heavily on Manuel Pellegrini’s mind. He will need to inspire his players to produce a display which they are capable of, but they have not sparkled this season with any regularity and have surely fallen too far behind in the title race. City have the ability to string together a series of victories, but bearing in mind their form over the past few months, it would require a miracle for them to overhaul Leicester, Spurs and Arsenal at this stage.
As for the visitors to the Etihad Stadium, they have received lots of criticism for their dour football during Louis Van Gaal’s reign in Manchester. They may be more solid at the back these days, but a lack of invention going forward and a habit of passing the ball sideways with no purpose has driven their fans to frustration.
For both clubs, the derby has taken on extra significance in recent years, now that City have firmly established themselves as one of the best sides in the country. And despite the fact that neither side has truly competed for the Premier League title this season, this fixture remains a big deal. Talking of deals, check out some great offers here at UK Soccer Shop.
Much of City’s hopes for Sunday rest on the shoulders of Sergio Aguero, who has an outstanding goalscoring record in derby matches and will be looking to continue in that vein. Behind him, David Silva has been going through a tough patch recently as he battles a persistent ankle injury, but if the Spanish midfielder is on form then he could prove the difference between the sides.
It may not be the most eagerly awaited content between these opponents in recent years, but a derby is always special and who knows, maybe the lack of pressure in terms of a title charge may free up the players to relax and showcase their talent.
One thing the media studiously avoid mentioning is that our four best players, indeed, perhaps the four best, at their best, in their positions in the Prem, Vince, Yaya, David S and Sergio have started together I think less than one in five of our games this season.
I’d like to see how other clubs would have coped with this. We’ve not been up to scratch, but what I note has caused us most of our problems. Id the Fab Four had been fit all season, I am damn sure we’d have won the league by now.
Worse, all bar Yaya got their injuries on international duty, with Vince and Sergio played when they should not have been
and Silva played in a meaningless game against L’burg when a Spanish B team would have sufficed.
I dread international breaks, as we always get one player at least back crocked