Although Man City has not suffered any defeat at the Etihad, coach Pep Guardiola and his team cannot be subjective before this weekend’s derby. Because, it is Man United that holds the advantage on the away field.
Difficult, but not impossible
Since taking charge in the summer of 2016, coach Pep Guardiola has accompanied Man City through 21 Manchester derbies in all competitions. In particular, The Citizens won 11 wins, two draws but also lost eight matches. This shows that Man United is not too much behind, even though its rival from the same city has become a dominant force in English football.
Even the history of confrontation between the two teams at Etihad Stadium is still in favor of the away team. Man United won five wins and had one draw in the last 10 encounters.
To realize their ambition of extending a string of impressive achievements on the field, Man United needs to organize their defense properly, because The Citizens always face many difficulties against deep-lying defenders.
Take Man City’s latest 1-1 draw against Chelsea as an example. London players covered and supported each other well to minimize Man City’s attacks. If the strikers take advantage of better opportunities from counter-attacks, Sterling and his teammates are completely capable of defeating the defending champions right at Etihad Stadium.
Casemiro helps Man United have more flexible options in both attack and defense. (Photo: South African)
Looking at the last three Manchester derbies in all competitions, the strong defense – quick counter-attack style of play was also used skillfully by Man United. In particular, the Red Devils really need the good coordination of the duo Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo.
Since returning from injury at the end of January, the Brazilian midfielder immediately made a positive impact on the overall gameplay. Together with his junior Mainoo, Casemiro helped the Old Trafford team win four consecutive matches in the Premier League. His latest goal directly extended the title hopes for the Red Devils in the FA Cup arena.
In the match against Aston Villa on February 11, the midfielder born in 1992 won 12 duels. He also successfully completed nine tackles, three clearances, five dribbles and four successful passes.
The 32-year-old player also has experience dealing with Erling Haaland. In the 2-1 win at Old Trafford last season, he completely blocked the Norwegian striker, causing the young striker to only have two shots and only 20 touches of the ball.
But Man City does not only have Erling Haaland as a threat to the goal. Man United still has to calculate options to lock down the “legs” of the top ball provider, Kevin De Bruyne.
If this responsibility belonged to Fred before, it will now be assumed by Kobbie Mainoo. The midfielder born in 2005 is considered the brightest young talent of the Old Trafford team.
Kobbie Mainoo (right) is a bright talent for Man United. (Photo: ESPN)
The opportunity to play alongside Casemiro helps Mainoo comprehensively hone his football skills. In addition to defense, he also possesses a creative ball distribution mindset to quickly find ways to deploy the ball to the forward line.
Mainoo also possesses the technical ability to perform escape dribbles. In the match against Aston Villa in February, midfielder No. 37, despite being close, still successfully passed two opposing players before releasing it neatly to allow Diogo Dalot to assist Mctominay to score the goal to set the score 2-1. .
When Man United organizes a quick counterattack, Mainoo’s ingenuity will contribute to causing difficulties for Man City defenders, especially Kyle Walker. Because, signs of age mean that players born in 1990 are no longer as agile as before. It was this defender who let Sterling loose, helping the Chelsea striker score the opening goal, also from a speedy counterattack.
Man City’s weakness
In the current top three teams in the Premier League, Man City has the worst scoring form recently. After the last three matches in the Premier League, the Blue half of Manchester scored only three goals after launching a total of 71 shots. Meanwhile, The Citizens’ direct opponents, Liverpool and Arsenal, both scored 15 and 11 goals, respectively.
Man City increasingly revealed more space before quick counter-attacks. (Photo: TheSun)
Not only that, the Etihad home team is ranked 19th in the 2023-2024 Premier League season, conceding six goals from counterattacks. Notably, this number is more than the number of goals they conceded in all seasons under Coach Pep Guardiola. Previously, Man City only conceded four goals in the 2016-2017 season, when the Spanish coach first took charge.
“Of course, I don’t like quick counterattacks or transitions. But this cannot be completely controlled. Because, opponents are really good at converting and they always try to exploit that hole,” coach Pep Guardiola shared.
However, not only are they helpless against quick counter-attacks or accelerations from the opposing striker, Man City players also often play without concentration, leading to many silly mistakes. Typically, Kyle Walker’s loose defense situation. Not to mention the loss against Chelsea, this defender showed slowness when he could not keep up with Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon. He made a mistake that led to two goals for The Citizens.
Signs of age gradually affect Kyle Walker. (Photo: Esteemed Kompany)
Coach Pep Guardiola still owns top attacking players such as Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva or Phil Foden… However, the lack of effectiveness in counter-attacking makes coach Pep Guardiola Many times I had to hang my head in frustration outside the yard.
In last season’s victory at Old Trafford, the Red Devils’ two goals both came from quick counter-attacks. And Man United can take advantage of this loophole against their city rivals.
The scorers for Man United in that match were Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes. In the context that key striker Rasmus Hojlund has not recovered from his injury, the two names above need to quickly regain confidence to bring an honorable victory to coach Ten Hag and his team.
The Red Devils need more resilience
Previously, Man United was known as a team that never gave up. They always fight until the last moment. In the last six matches in all competitions, Coach Erik Ten Hag’s team won three hard-fought victories in the final minutes of the match.
As a guest at Nottingham’s City Ground in the last 5th round of the FA Cup, Casemiro tried to score in the 89th minute. The powerful header also made him bleed because of the collision with the opponent.
However, the Brazilian star is still determined to fight until the last minute to ensure the next ticket for the Red Devils. That spirit is no different from that of a warrior and has inspired the surrounding teammates.
Casemiro scored a header to seal a 1-0 victory over Nottingham. (Photo: The Athletic)
“It was great to get a late goal to progress to the next round. Casemiro is very good in important moments. He is a smart player and has done that many times in his career,” defender Victor Lindelof proudly said.
In addition to Casemiro, Man United’s last-minute scorers include two juniors: Scott Mctominay and Kobbie Mainoo. Among them, Mctominay is the one who does this most often.
His goals brought 12 points to the Red half of Manchester. Without the Scottish player’s goals, Man United would have dropped to the bottom half of the Premier League rankings this season.
In particular, Mctominay’s achievements also rank above top attacking players such as Son Heung Min, Dominic Solanke, Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah, Bukayo Saka and Richarlison.
Mctominay and Hojlund are the two most “shooting” players for Man United this season. (Photo: The Irish Sun)
This season, coach Erik Ten Hag often plays midfielder No. 39 from the bench. However, he and Hojlund are Man United’s top scorers, with seven goals.
At Wolverhampton’s Molineux field, he entered the field in the 73rd minute and scored with his first touch of the ball. The player born in 1997 continued to score to help Man United defeat Aston Villa 2-1 away from home, even though he only played in the final 17 minutes of the match.
“Mctominay is an example for many other players. He always tries his best in every match and practice session. He is always ready to play and contribute. It’s great to have such a player in the squad,” coach Erik Ten Hag praised.
Similar to his senior, Kobbie Mainoo also always shows the spirit of fighting to the end for the team. The most typical is the goal that sealed the 4-3 victory over Wolves in the last minute of injury time.
Mainoo’s goal helped Man United defeat Wolves in the final minutes. (Photo: ESPN)
While his teammates continuously passed the ball to a deadlock and finished superficially towards the goal, the midfielder born in 2005 still maintained surprising composure. The 18-year-old player dribbled straight into the opponent’s penalty area and curled in a goal, after more than 100 minutes of tireless fighting.
Facing the Blue half of Manchester, which is in full swing, Man United players need to fight more resiliently than ever. No matter how superior the opponent in the same city is, the spirit of not giving up will certainly add strength to help fans firmly believe in an attractive derby match next Sunday.
