Ian Cheeseman: Forever Blue

I can’t remember a Manchester Derby where City fans were as confident going into a game against United as this one, or where Reds were as pessimistic about the outcome.

I can’t deny that warmed my heart. I’m old enough to have endured matches between the Blues and the Reds where it was the other way around. I’ve attended just under 90 games between the Manchester rivals and the Reds have still won more of those games than the Blues, but the gap is closing.

I saw a group of colourless, angry young United fans taunting City fans on Sunday afternoon, chanting abuse in their all-black attire. It felt like a throw back to the terrible days of the sixties, seventies and eighties when attending football matches wasn’t as attractive as it is now. By the end of the game, those same “fans” had skulked away while the City fans celebrated another dominant victory. It’s called Karma.

On the pitch, City have fully embraced the next phase of the beautiful game where possession is king and it’s all about pass and move, creation and team work. When I was at school, I never really enjoyed playing the game I loved so much, because the ball spent so much time in the air and it was all about physical strength. I can’t imagine Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva or Nathan Ake enjoying those days either.

A combination of rule changes, improved playing surfaces and modern coaching styles has changed the game beyond recognition. Spanish football seemed to be at the forefront of how the game was progressing, with Johan Cruyff’s total football leading the way. As a disciple of Cruyff, Pep Guardiola has taken it to the next level and accelerated the change to English football, that has always had a more aggressive, physical character.

The key players of Pep’s City teams are usually the smaller, craftier players like David Silva, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva, with Philipp Lahm at Bayern Munich. At Barcelona, it was Iniesta, Messi and Xavi. The other key ingredient is a team ethic. There can be no slackers in a Pep team, so when Leroy Sane and Joao Cancelo didn’t fit the template, they were moved on.

When I look across at United, I see a club stuck in the past. Off the field they have stubbornly stuck with Old Trafford, a tired stadium in need of repair. They haven’t been prepared to rename it, using a sponsor name so they’ve missed out on lucrative sponsorship income. Their Carrington training base lags behind the state-of-the-art facilities at City’s CFA, which is right next to the Etihad Stadium.

The Blues have their own mini-stadium for their Women’s team, reserves and youth. In the immediate area, which already has the Connell Sixth Form College and will soon have the impressive Co-op Live Arena everything is on the up. United have stood still and live off their past.

On the field, the Reds looked outdated at the Etihad Stadium. Various managers have assembled a squad that cost more than City’s and feels disjointed and full of individuals. On Sunday their plan seemed to be to defend in numbers and hope that they could catch City on the counterattack. They do have one or two decent players and Marcus Rashford’s goal was a quality strike, but City relentlessly continued their pass and move style, from man to man and dominating possession. Pep’s mantra is that his coaching will help his team get to the final third but after that the talented individuals can work their magic, which is exactly what Phil Foden, in this instance, did.

Manchester City are streets ahead of United, on and off the pitch and even if the Reds get their act together, it’ll still take them years to catch up, so as a Blue I’m going to enjoy every minute of the current balance of power for as long as it lasts. Mind the Gap Man United, It’s Great to be a Blue!