Ok ahead of tonights Manchester Derby, some logic and an attempt to be unbiased by me. Firstly an argument why City might find it tough. 1. David Moyes. Surprisingly, David Moyes may be the reason why City might find tonights match tough. My reasoning - How often did City go to Everton with a superior team and win in the past when Moyes was in charge of the Toffees? I remember one 2-0 win a few years back. I remember plenty of defeats too. Moyes knows how to play at home against us. It is all a matter of whether his knowledge will translate to his current squad. Some will say, but we hammered United in September. Yes we did, before Moyes barely had his feet under the table. He now has had a further 6 months to get United playing the way he wants. Granted their results have not been great but their results in their last two matches could not have come at a better time for their morale heading into this match. 2. Wayne Rooney. He is not having his best season by any means but can any City fan realistically rule him out of the Danger category? For me ignoring the threat posed by Rooney is to be in dereliction of our duties. He is a superb player who has the potential to single-handedly win any match. 3. The referee. Michael Oliver is young and inexperienced in such matches, and tonight he will officiate in a cauldron. Old Trafford will be even more savage tonight BECAUSE of Uniteds failures this season. Their fans will be even more vocal. His every anti-United decision will be met with fanatical derision. He will have to remain very strong. 4. The Old Trafford effect. Strange decisions happen at Old Trafford. As they do at The Bernabeu, The Nou Camp, The Allianz Arena, The San Siro.... This is an unfortunate but true phenomenon in football. Now an argument why United might find City tough.. 1. To counter the argument above about David Moyes, City have Manuel Pelligrini. He has never played against Everton under Moyes at Goodison Park. He has managed City this season to some superb wins. City made Everton look like amateurs in October. So perhaps in the past Citys difficulties against the Toffees was more to do Citys tactics than Moyes. 2. Playing staff. City have a superior player in almost every area of the pitch. On paper. In goal De Gea has come on by leaps and bounds and could arguably be Joe Harts equal. Pablo Zabaleta is the better right back of the two squads. Vincent Kompany is the best defender on the field. Yaya Toure is arguably the best Midfielder in the English Premier League. David Silva is miles better than Mata. Samir Nasri has come on a lot and is now a superb probing midfielder. Fernandinho is getting stronger in every match and he is one of the best DMs in England now. Up front I believe Pelli will start with Edin Dzeko. On his day he is a good goal getter. But he needs to improve. 3. Confidence. City can go behind tonight and they will not fold. They have shown in recent years that they do not go down without a fight. They were 0-2 down to United in that ill fated Etihad match in December 2012. They came back to 2-2. They were 0-2 down to FC Bayern this season, in Munich, and they rallied to win. And all the media could do was whine that they didnt win 4-2, missing the major point altogether - City had rallied from 0-2 down in Munich to win against the European Champions! (With a mostly reserve team). If United concede tonight, in their current mind frame, it will be interesting to see if they have the mental fortitude to come back. 4. The Cup Final mind set. Citys management and players have said in recent weeks that they must treat every game like a Cup Final now. Well... If they have nothing else from recent years City do have immense experience of Cup Finals. They are no strangers to the atmosphere and pressure generated in such an arena. No matter how vociferous the Old Trafford faithful are tonight, it will have absolutely no effect on the boys in blue. They can slaughter 10,000 goats and drink their blood in the stand and it will not affect the very experienced City players. So this mindset within the City team will be of great importance. Old Trafford is no longer a scary place for blues. So in summation, some people will agree and some will disagree with what I have written here. I am aware that I have most likely missed a whole load of reasons why either team could win. But having thought about nothing other than this match for three days now, I have to sum up that Citys strengths are way superior to Uniteds right now and as a result I have to plump for a City win tonight.... Well what did you expect like?
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 09:39:18 +0000
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