With a two-week-long layoff and a few injuries, it was always going to be a big ask to get something from this game… but I was hoping (and expecting) a lot more than that.
Perhaps I’m being too pessimistic and perhaps I’m in the minority, but I would’ve accepted a loss to these lot as long as we showed some fight and played a bit of our own football. They’re much the better side at the moment; Guardiola’s into his seventh season at City now – Ten Hag is barely into his seventh week.
But we showed absolutely nothing. The 6-3 score line flatters us in all honesty and it could, and should, have been more.
Men vs boys
These sorts of fixtures can sometimes be quite cagey in the opening exchanges as both sides look to work their way into the game and calm the nerves – none of that from City though, as we strolled about the place like it was us without a point to prove.
Jack Grealish, who has been nothing more than a meretricious much of a muchness in his time at City so far, had the beating of Dalot all afternoon it felt like. It took all of about 90 seconds for the Portuguese to get himself booked after swiping Grealish down on the touchline.
A move that pretty much set the tone for the rest of the game…
Eriksen leaving Foden unattended in the box was the mistake that opened the floodgates but, in all honesty, it was always coming. It was one of those games where it felt like City just had more players on the pitch. We were second to everything, weak in the 50/50s, even Eriksen was giving it away, and since we all know Bruno needs at least five attempts at his signature Hollywood passes, we weren’t getting anything on the counterattack either.
City were purring and before you knew it the Cerberus-like combination of De Bruyne, Foden and Haaland had already put the game to bed. 4-0. At halftime. Again. Game over. The rest was irrelevant.
Difficult conversations
Starting from the top: Rashford and Sancho, the former especially, had fairly woeful displays for the most part – misplaced passes, bad decision-making and low intensity, they were both very disappointing. In fairness to Marcus, we know he’s not a No.9, that much was established under Mourinho, but he still offered very little in the way of intensity and work rate – the basics in a derby. With both he and Sancho quite poor and Martial almost certainly slotting straight back in up front, one of this front three is going to have to miss out in the long run. And it’s not going to be the bloke we’ve just spent £100m on.
Speaking of Antony, his goal, whilst very good, was ultimately pointless and nothing more than a consolation. I was more impressed with his work rate in the second half and his reaction to adversity. His United career is still very young but the early signs are looking very good in my opinion.
The bottom line is though, Martial can’t get back to full fitness soon enough.
Midfield changes?
We all know what Eriksen brings to this United team: vision, composure, experience. What he does not bring is defensive prowess. That’s why it’s no surprise he was found wanting for City’s first goal. If you’re going to play Bruno and Eriksen against City; you have to play Casemiro as well to balance the midfield out and give them the cover they need.
McTominay has played well recently but him keeping a player like Casemiro on the bench just doesn’t sit right with me. The Brazilian has done it on the biggest stage against the best players; he needs to be starting for us because of that alone, never mind the £70 million we paid for him.
With the insane fixture pile-up this month, rotation is going to play a key part regardless of who you are, but I’d expect that midfield to be changed quite frequently – Bruno, Eriksen, Casemiro, Fred, McTominay and Donny van de Beek are all good options. Let’s use them.
Raphael Varane
It feels cruel to see Varane successfully navigate the dreaded international break without picking up an injury, only for him to do his ankle blocking a speculative Phil Foden shot from about 30 yards out.
It wasn’t his greatest performance no, but Varane getting injured is a disaster for us – even if it was probably inevitable. Varane and Martinez’s skillsets compliment each other quite nicely, much more so that any of our other possible pairings, and with Maguire already out injured, it’s going to have to be Martinez and Lindelof – a partnership I’m not sure I trust.
With games coming thick and fast though, it is a big chance for Lindelof to lay his claim down for a regular place in the team. Competition is always healthy, let’s see what happens.
Erik ten Hag
Overall, I’m not sure you can ask the manager too many questions here – leaving out Ronaldo, whilst controversial to many, was the right call. In this type of game Ronaldo offers nothing more than a desperate roll of the dice 20 minutes from time.
The main worry I have is the manner of the defeat. I’d hoped we’d got these types of performances out of our system after the whole Brentford debacle, but apparently not. City are no question the best team in the country and arguably the best team in the world as well, but that’s been the case for years now and it’s not stopped us getting a result against them before.
Regardless of the opponent, the manager always has to shoulder at least some of the blame when you ship six in a big game, though the players take more of it in my opinion. It’s too early in his tenure for bloodthirsty inquests so I’d say chalk this one up as a very bad day at the office, but we can’t afford to have too many more of them.
We’ve got 12 games coming up before the World Cup. 12 games that we have to play in a little more than a month. Momentum is going to be key so it’s imperative we dust ourselves down, stick together and bounce back against Omonia and Everton. The World Cup run-in could be make or break for our season.