Man United 2 Man City 0
What a performance from Manchester United. I think it’s safe to say that the only problem I had with this performance from United is that they didn’t score 5 or 6 goals, whether it was tight offsides or ridiculous saves from Gianluigi Donnarumma I thought United weren’t gonna find that opener until a breakaway from a City free-kick which had United 4 on 2 on the counter were Bruno Fernandes perfectly slipped in Bryan Mbeumo who finished brilliantly in the corner to give United a well deserved lead in the 65th minute. Some of the attacking play was mesmerising at times opening City up time after time and finally seeing some attacking players on the pitch playing in their best positions which we didn’t see under Ruben Amorim. You have to give Michael Carrick credit in the way he platformed the team playing Mbeumo up front, Bruno in the 10 and having Dorgu on the left which raised a few eyebrows when the teams came out, Carrick got everything spot on today leading to one of United’s best performances in years.
Platform your players correctly. I’ve been saying on these reviews for the United games for months that Ruben Amorim wasn’t platforming his players to get the best out of them. Playing Bruno Fernandes in the pivot when he’s one of the best creators in the world is ludicrous in my opinion, playing Amad as a wing-back when he’s your best winger and struggles at times defensively doesn’t get the best out of him. Amorim also played Mbeumo as one the 10s asking him to play on the inside of the pitch limiting his creativity when he plays his best on the wing. Decisions like these cost Amorim his job were he wasn’t getting the most out of his best players, you’d think United would be more open playing a 4 at the back instead of 5 but City had very few chances throughout the 90 thanks to the work of the entire defence and midfield working hard to track back and mark Cities attack.
What was that from City? I could sit here and wax lyrical about United all day but City were dreadful for the entire 90 minutes in a Manchester Derby where they could close the gap to Arsenal again but they simply didn’t turn up. You could point to the lack of defensive options that Pep had in that he had to play a very inexperienced backline against a United attack that was well up for it on the day but the rest of the team was filled with some of the best talent in the league. The likes of Semenyo, Foden, Haaland, Rodri etc were well off the pace and never got close to really troubling Lammens in the United goal. City are gonna have to pick up the pace quickly or else they are fall miles behind Arsenal at the top of the league if they continue having performances as bad as this one.
Kobbie Mainoo’s first Premier League start of the season. I can’t really believe I’m saying that but Kobbie Mainoo was absolutely brilliant today and looked back to his best alongside Casemiro and Fernandes. Amorim told us that Fernandes and Mainoo couldn’t play together in the midfield but that was always absolute nonsense as far as I was concerned and they showed how good they are together against one of the best teams in the league. There’s been times over the last year that it’s looked like Mainoo could leave United because of the lack of playing time he was getting under Amorim, which would have been catastrophic and gone against everything this club stands letting go of one of the best academy products we’ve had for years. I’m glad Amorims gone and we can now see the best of Mainoo again in a United shirt at least until the end of the season.
There’s no reason United can’t finish in the top 4/5. The Champions League spots will probably stretch to 5th place again this season and with United having nothing else to focus on this season they have to be aiming for at least that 5th spot. The quality of the squad and the rest they get before each game has to pay off for Carrick with Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle etc all having to juggle different competitions giving United a huge advantage in their quest for Champions League football. It’ll be interesting to see if they can follow up this performance next week at the Emirates against the title favourites Arsenal who will be buoyed after City losing in the derby.