Erik ten Hag was not impressed by Jamie Carragher's comments Photo: Oli Scarff/AFP
Manchester United can forget about knocking out Manchester City from the position, and Pep Guardiola remains in English football.
United could change owners, find the best CEO and sporting director in the world, revamp their recruitment department, rebuild Old Trafford and appoint the best managers since Sir Alex Ferguson. It does not matter. As long as Guardiola is around, City will not lose sleep.
United will never become the dominant club in their city, let alone the rest of the country, until City starts hiring a new manager.
United will never become the dominant club in their city, let alone the rest of the country, until City starts hiring a new manager.
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This is how great football eras work. Legendary, world-class managers never surpass their contemporaries while they are at the peak of their careers, and we are still at the center of City's dominance.
It is clear that United can, should and probably will improve significantly once Sir Jim Ratcliffe's partial takeover brings about the necessary changes. But whether United or anyone else leads English and European football depends on more than just what they do. They need not only a radical change in their own standards, but also a worsening situation from competitors.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos will improve Manchester United, but Guardiola is too good to allow City to be usurped. Photo: Robbie Jay Barratt/Getty Images
The source of hope is that Guardiola will not be around forever. Everyone outside the Etihad is praying he doesn't extend his contract until 2025. Once he's had his fill, things could change, just as Jurgen Klopp's imminent departure from Liverpool raises the possibility of his club rejoining the pack. Champagne corks will pop out of the Ineos offices on the day Guardiola leaves because it will shorten the time frame in which United's ambitions can realistically be realized.
The most transformative moments in English football are often the direct result of the departure of elite managers. United may recognize this more than any other club, having felt the negative impact of the departure of Sir Matt Busby in 1969 and then Ferguson again in 2013. What rivals have done to fill the void is only half the story. It was United who failed to implement a successful succession plan, leading to the barren years.
City have always remained the force they have since the Abu Dhabi buyout, but Ferguson's departure is the single biggest reason. why United fell from their “height” in the first place.
Despite the popularity of Ferguson's famous quote, I'm not sure any dominant manager has ever been «knocked down.» United, like Liverpool when Kenny Dalglish left in 1991, contributed to their own downfall because their legendary manager left and the replacements weren't as good. This made things easier for everyone else.
While Ferguson was at the helm, United were guaranteed to compete for top honors. Yes, he has been challenged and beaten at various times by Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho, among others, but during his reign he has never been dethroned as the Premier League's best manager. At the start of every season, everyone knew that if you finished above United you were likely to become champions. This now applies to those facing City as well. They are the standard by which all others are judged.
For 20 years, starting in 1993, you knew that if you finish above Sir Alex, you'll almost certainly win the title. Photo: Jon Peters/Getty Images
Guardiola's presence ensures that won't change. Like Ferguson, he is too good to be constantly overtaken.
Mourinho was ridiculed when he said finishing second to Peps City in 2018 was “one of his biggest achievements in football”. Looking back, you can see where he was coming from.
Over the past few days I have paid tribute to Klopp, calling him the new Bill Shankly. There is a possibility that his bid for another Premier League title will also be denied by the brilliant talent of Guardiola and his team. We see one of the greatest managers of all time at his finest.
As we head into this weekend's Manchester Derby, don't neglect to state that this match is not currently a heavyweight bout. This is in terms of the status of the participating clubs. United's story continues to eclipse City's. But when assessing the quality of teams, they are in a different class.
United can only win by playing “underdog football”
As has been the case for the past few years, United are the underdogs. They can win the game, but only by playing «underdog football» with players sitting deep behind the ball and hoping to counter-attack. Nine times out of ten it's not good enough against a team like City. There is always a chance that the strategy will work in a one-time game. We need a shock result.
United fans heading to the Etihad understand with trepidation that the situation is unacceptable and a team can only be said to be moving in the right direction when they are able to go toe-to-toe with the title challengers by imposing fast football. They are still a long way from that.
My analysis of Sky's Monday Night Football last week was intended to demonstrate why United have been so inconsistent. Manager Erik ten Hag criticized what he considered to be unfair criticism. He felt that I was critical from day one. It was actually in the second game when his United team lost to Brentford — but it was directed at the players rather than the manager.
But fair play to him for saying what he did. I have nothing but respect and admiration for managers who stand up for themselves and their teams. If creating a siege mentality at United leads to positive results and improved play, then this is the ideal answer.
However, there is no greater challenge in football than facing Guardiola's City. As always, champions purr at the right moment, so it would be foolish to write off the possibility of another treble.
The reunion of Haaland and De Bruyne scares everyone else
Like Ferguson, Guardiola is a master of fine-tuning his players for break-in, and the reunion of Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne scares everyone else. De Bruyne is the best player in the Premier League and has barely played all season. His fitness and fitness will boost confidence that City can win it all again. Only a few teams are able to stop them.
United have a long way to go but it's not all bad news. It will be much easier for Ratcliffe to make an immediate impact and demonstrate a rate of improvement amid another season of failure. United were third last season with an impressive 75 points. If they had built on that with better signings last summer, they would have made significant strides forward rather than limping back. Getting back to where they were a year ago as a platform for growth shouldn't be difficult for a club of this size and with these resources.
Whether United have a good day on Sunday or not , catching up and overtaking the City can only be a long-term ambition. In the short term, the best United can hope for is steady improvement and becoming an increasingly frustrating problem at the top of the Premier League table and big rewards.
Before United can even think about restoration despite the previous position on their “nozzle”, they need to become “noisy neighbors”, giving their supporters the opportunity to shout.
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