The Manchester v Trafford Derby

Derby games are usually difficult to read at the best of times but trying to guage one directly after an international break?! Huh…wish me luck.

v Manyoo

Etihad Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 9/11).

Fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3:

____________________Haaland____________________

 

 

Grealish__________________________________Foden

_____________________________De Bruyne________

____________Silva______________________________

 

_____________________Rodri_____________________

Cancelo__________________________________Walker

___________Akanji______________Dias_____________

 

 

____________________Ederson____________________

Subs: Ortega, Gomez, Lewis, Wilson-Esbrand, Ake, Gundogan, Palmer, Mahrez, Alvarez.

Ederson remains ‘first pick’ on the team sheet.

Injuries practically dictate what the back-4 will look like, both in terms of those currently ‘out with’ and those who have recently ‘returned from’, and that is likely to be Joao, Manuel, Ruben & Kyle.

Rodders is the ever-present defensive midfielder, while ahead of the Spaniard is an attacking quartet of Jack, Bernardo, Kevin & Phil.

Erling ‘tops the lot’ as our one & only striker in ‘the 11’.

Stefan provides goalkeeping insurance; Sergio, Rico, Josh & Nathan are the defenders ready to ‘enter the fray’ on the side if / when needed. Ilkay, Cole & Riyad make up the midfielders & wingers in ‘the 9’. Julian is the back-up striker.

Notable absences:

-       Benjamin Mendy – Suspended by the club until further notice.

-       Aymeric Laporte – Apparently, the French born, Spanish international has been training really well both alone and with his teammates. I’m guessing, however, that he won’t be risked just yet even on the bench – I can’t imagine him being tested even as a substitute in a derby match so, for me, he sits this one out.

-       John Stones – Pulled up with a hamstring issue playing for England last Monday and his manager is hopeful of a return in 10-days to 2 weeks; he doesn’t think he’ll be missing for 4-to-6 weeks, as is often the case with ‘a hammy’. It could be, therefore, somewhere in-between, I suppose.

-       Kalvin Phillips – That problem shoulder of his has now resulted in Kalvin having-had surgery in order to stabilise the joint. Seemingly, the surgery has gone really well but we won’t be seeing the England international before the World Cup break and depending on how he progresses over the coming weeks will dictate whether or not he’ll travel to Qatar with his international colleagues.

Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?

Almost but…no. Despite his good 7/10 performance and goal against Wolves the other week, you need to put out your best team in a derby, in particular, and for me that doesn’t include Jack Grealish.

Who then instead of the England international? I’d stick either Ilkay or Julian ‘in there’ and shuffle that midfield pack accordingly.

Result? As we all come back from an international break, we face a side at the Etihad Stadium that’s in good form following defeats in their opening two league games. They’ve most-notably tightened a defence that conceded 6 times in those 2, early-season defeats; letting in just 2 more in their following 4 league games, which all ended in victories for The Red Devils.

When you’re in such good form, professional footballers and managers are likely to tell you that you don’t want a break in fixtures and although our visitors have had to endure a break in domestic football just like the rest of us; a further two-postponed matches has resulted in them having only played 1 game in 24 days by the time we kick off tomorrow afternoon (2:00pm KO BST). That’s similar to what you’d expect in a close season!

Will they, therefore, feel ‘rested and raring to go again’, or ‘rusty and irritated’ at-having the brakes slammed on their good run? I hope it’s the latter, of course…

I think it’s safe to say that we shook off a sloppy performance at Villa and a less-than-convincing display despite the win against Dortmund with a far better showing away at Wolves in our last outing. I thought our passing was more crisp & accurate; while the defence kept disciplined as a plucky, 10-man Wolves came at us for a good spell in the second half.

It might seem strange for you to hear me say this being, as we are, 2^nd in the league; just 1 point off the top and with a goal difference way better than the rest…but I still don’t think we’re at our best, as yet.

Don’t get me wrong, I think certain individuals are doing very well, generally speaking; even if some of them haven’t necessarily been consistently good in the 9 fixtures we’ve played so far. I’m thinking…Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri & Erling Haaland. Phil Foden has certainly improved in the last few games after a very quiet start from the 22-year-old; Ruben Dias is most-certainly ‘getting there’ too after a below-par start to his season and I’ve got John Stones, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake and Julian Alvarez all on 7s at the moment. The rest, I’m sorry to say, I have down anywhere between 4.5 & 6.5/10 and that’s what I think is making us look like we’re not quite ‘at it’ some of the time - the usual suspect performers are carrying the rest of the team, in some ways.

Those thoughts now have me wondering whether or not WE’LL benefit from the 2-week break that we’ve just had...

Manyoo made 6 new signings in the summer - 1 loan, 1 freebie and 4 player-purchases costing a total of £214.22M! Wow. I’ve already said that they’ve managed to tighten up at the back and their incoming players do include a central defender (all 5’ 9” of him – have fun with Haaland mate), a left back (all 5’ 7” of him) and a defensive midfielder. But they’ve also added creativity and attacking threat in the form of veteran midfielder Christian Eriksen and winger, Tony (said with a Manc accent of course). Apparently, some of their long-standing midfielders & forwards have shown signs of improvement too in recent outings under their new manager.

It's a local derby - there’s more often than not extra effort being put into these games by both sets of players but taking what I’ve said into consideration about our Sunday opponents; it’s definitely going to be a test for us and one especially, I’m keen to add, for our largely underperforming / often confused-looking wing-backs.

But I just look at our league record so far that reads, P7 W5 D2 L0 – F23 A6 and a Champions League campaign so far that reads, P2 W2 D0 L0 – F6 A1 and IF the right personnel are selected to play in the right positions; IF we don’t go all silly and try this 2-7-1, inverted wing-back system against a side with pace on the wings and a counter-attacking nature and IF the players apply themselves in a professional & determined manner; then I just can’t envisage anything other than a Manchester City win. As much as it’s even-more difficult to read how a game might ‘pan out’ immediately-following an international break; that’s what I’m going for – it’s 3 points to The Blues.

Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…

Prediction: Win

Result: Won

(Pre-match blog posting from that game)

Expected weather conditions during the game: After the Etihad pitch was pounded with heavy rain for hours on Friday and then periodically ‘topped up’ throughout Saturday morning with showers, FINALLY the rain will cease in time for ‘match day’. I can’t see much need to use the sprinklers prior to KO, although my understanding is that we have a top-quality surface that drains very well. Waterlogging won’t be an issue but the grass should, instead, be ‘nice ‘n’ zippy’ for some fast, crisp passing. As the game kicks off, the temperature is forecasted to be at a reasonable [for October] 15C with sunny intervals. I’d still take a jacket though – that forecast comes with a bit of a westerly breeze, which is likely to make that 15C feel more like 11 or 12C, especially in shaded areas. Near-perfect for the players though, I would suggest, so there should be no excuses ‘elements wise’ at least.

Little observation about our up & coming fixtures…

Does anyone else remember the days where, generally speaking not always of course, we played one game at home followed by one away…and then repeat? Well, I’ve had a quick look ahead up until the World Cup break and…

-       Our next 3 games are all at home (including this one)

-       After that, we have 5 more games in the month of October…4 of which are away (it would have been 6 games with 5 away from home if the Arsenal match hadn’t-have been postponed!)

-       In November? 4 games…all of which are at home.

Crazy. No wonder some fans get irritated by scheduling – it’s ‘feast or famine’ for the dedicated follower!

Solidarity