Last weekend’s derby clash between Manchester City and Manchester United lived up to the hype which preceded it in recent weeks. Manchester City emerged with a 2-1 victory from a game that could have been won by either side. Here are a few points of discussion we can take from the match, the teams and the personalities involved.
Paul Pogba needs a formation that suits him.
If Jose Mourinho really means to give Paul Pogba freedom to attack he will have to adjust Manchester United’s formation. Pogba played the derby as part of a two man central midfield. His raids into City’s half often left United's defence exposed with his partner Marouane Fellaini struggling to manage by himself against the slick attacks of the boys in Blue. If Pogba is to be given a license to roam it would be better for him to be part of a three man midfield where his two partners can adequately cover the space he leaves behind. That is how he played when he was at Juventus.
Neither City nor United are better than the other…yet.
It’s too early in the season to make pronouncements about the greatness of either Manchester City or Manchester United. City played some amazing football in the first half but Manchester United had their fair share of chances and dominated the second half. Manchester City coach, Pep Guardiola, believed the game could easily have gone in United’s favour. City is still learning to play the ball out from the back and their defenders still have to prove they are world class. United’s defensive pair of Blind and Bailly was already being referred to as the best centre back partnership in the league, but City’s attack tore them to shreds. Both teams still have lots of work to do.
Rooney will remain controversial.
The debate over Wayne Rooney’s role in the team will not end any time soon. Rooney played shifting roles in the derby as Mourinho made adjustments to cope with City. Some pundits feel he failed to bring anything positive to United’s game. Others argued that his fighting spirit and energetic play helped United take the game to their opponents. The tackle he drew from Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo in the box should have earned his team a penalty. One thing is certain, as long as it is felt that Rooney has to play by virtue of his history in the team, the debate over his usefulness will continue.
Mourinho is the same old Mourinho.
Mourinho is still Mourinho and that means there is always the danger of his personality derailing his team. Following United's defeat in the game, he said that some of his players were to blame. His felt a few of them were overawed by the magnitude of the derby. Mourinho explained, however, that he was the one who picked them and the blame, therefore, was his. In the language of Mourinho that means “I am blaming the players”. How his men will react to being called out like that after one of the most hyped events of the season remains to be seen. Jose Mourinho recently lost the confidence of the dressing room when he was at Chelsea and he lost it at Real Madrid before that.
Pep can be as mischievous as Mourinho…sometimes.
Jose Mourinho is often rightly portrayed as the aggressor or mischief-maker when he clashes with other personalities in the game. In the infamous rivalry between himself and Pep Guardiola which the Spanish press referred to as "the disease", Mourinho was often portrayed as the villain. But Pep, despite his nice guy image, has a mischievous side as well. During the Manchester derby, the ball went out of bounds and Pep held on to it preventing Wayne Rooney from retrieving it. This sparked a momentary confrontation between him and Rooney after which Rooney good naturedly offered a hand in reconciliation. This is not the first time Pep has done this. He did exactly the same thing with Cristiano Ronaldo in 2012. At the time, Guardiola was coaching Barcelona and they were playing Real Madrid. The incident sparked a famous confrontation between the players of both teams.
