Manchester Derby 9.10.16
The derby that lived up to the hype.
When there are intensely anticipated games, like this year’s first Manchester Derby, they often fall short of expectation. Derby’s can fall short of the intense, powerfully efficient games we wish to see. The players are a bit sloppy or the game remains hamstrung by the fear of losing.
The first Manchester Derby this season didn’t disappoint. Pep vs Jose was just as good as we expected. The starts shone bright, and the play was snappy and provided so much to observe. I took some notes during the game, and here they are.
- Early great passes from Otamendi from the backline toward the forwards. You can call Pep is molding Stones to be a midfield pushing CB, but today Otamendi’s defensive reactions and ability to pass out of defense to transition to the counterattack was top-notch.
- United’s big names kept pursuing 1v3 opportunities near the box instead of making the extra pass early.
- City’s extra pass defined the early part of the game and kept them on the front-foot of the attack.
- The midfield of City was so focused on spacing and finding gaps between Fellaini and Pogba, successfully so.
- De Bruyne was the best player in the game. His opening goal was brilliant. His passes from side to side were brilliant. The space he picked out in front of United’s backline was brilliant. His turn in the box to hit the post, which setup City’s second goal was brilliant.
- Ibrahimović looked slow and out of pace. His touch was a bit slow and he kept missing midfield runners amidst holdup play. His first half goal did nothing to take away from his awful overall holdup play. But man was it a great finish, and that finish would be the only bright spot for the Swedish striker.
- City’s spread back four, five with sweeper Claudio Bravo, was killing United. They had a lack of ball runners early and the spacing of the back five had so much space to get the ball out early. In the second half United did a much better job of building a solid high press.
- Playing Fellani and Pogba together is good in theory. Pogba can transition from defense to offense with ease and is great in holdup play. But both of them are crap at marking an attacking midfielder. De Bruyne was in space the entire first half until Herrera came on to man mark him.
- There has been much made of Wayne Rooney’s future in Jose’s United, he had played a great season so far in terms of his ability to cross the ball in dangerous spaced. That isn’t the only aspect of the role of the midfielder obviously, but when he’s on the ball out wide he knows his job is to deliver a great cross for Pogba, Ibra, or whomever is in the box for United’s attack. That one role has been the only thing keeping Rooney on the field, besides the name on the back of the jersey.
- Rashford’s second half introduction immediately made an impact. His poised ability to break players down and deliver a devastating cross or shot is incredible for such a young player.
- I was really impressed with Luke Shaw. He’s looked great so far in the season, but this was the first game he would face a great winger. His first half against Sterling was impressive, and then when new City man Sané came on, he was impressive as well. Great strength and ball handling in tight situations.
- United ended up bringing on Martial for the last 15 minutes or so. They went to a back three and looked to attack for the tying goal. Surprisingly, they looked limp with a back three and hardly controlled the ball. They had a couple of chances to bring the score level, but once the last 10 minutes were played, they felt lackluster in attacking prowess.
Rarely do big games end up being as extraordinary as expected. The end of the game may be fascinating, but the play can be sloppy. The first Manchester Derby of this Premier League season was fantastic. Both managers set their sides up at different points of the game to immense success. Pep ruled the first half, and Jose the second half. Each of the great managers attacked weaknesses and set their players up to succeed. Pep’s men did so with a bit more success, and yet certainly still have improvements to make on their victory. United had sparkling moments as well, but have areas of improvement to focus on. United and City are both fun teams to watch, and today was no different. Bravo to the Manchester Derby, and even greater anticipation is now placed on round two later this season.
