Xiaoba Translator | Wandering Manchester City and the Lost Manchester United, Derby Day s Manchester Trouble

Before this round of Premier League focus match "Manchester City Derby", The Athletic author Oliver Kay talked about the recent troubles between Manchester City and Manchester United, and believed that the upcoming derby will be an unfamiliar game for both Manchester United fans and Manchester City fans.

In September 2016, before the first Manchester derby, someone drew a cake with Guardiola: your grudges and revenge with Mourinho will definitely make the Premier League take off! This drama is comparable to Ali's duel against Fraser, Borg's match against McEnroe, Prost and Senna!

To be honest, I did feel this way at the beginning. Every showdown is the "box office guarantee" of Premier League games. Guardiola and Mourinho fought in the coach's seat, De Bruyne played against Pogba on the green field, and Aguero fought against Ibrahimovic. Sparks on the field are lightning, and the off-field is more exciting. After a fierce battle in 2017, just as Mourinho and his players were sang the celebration song "Miracle" in Manchester City's locker room, the Old Trafford Channel directly staged a full martial arts show: pushing and shoving, milk boxes flying around, and having sex with red and colorful things!

But who would have thought that Manchester City under Guardiola took off directly without long, completely kicking the balance of Manchester City's two heroes. In the past, they could fight each other, but now they have completely become one-sided. Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Tenhamhe all secretly won from Manchester City, but the championship honors? Don't even think about it! Mourinho and Solskjaer led Manchester United to win the Premier League second in 2018 and 2021 respectively, but to talk about winning the championship? It's just overthinking.

In the past decade, Manchester City has been the dominant force in the Premier League. As for Manchester United? They have always been the dominant force in Premier League traffic. As for the boast of "Manchester is the center of the football universe" (such as the "21st Century Global Football Capital" shouted by Mayor Burnham at the beginning of this year) it has never been realized at all. Under the management of the Glazer family, Manchester United lost themselves first, so what else can we talk about?

Two years ago, Guardiola talked about this gap. At that time, he led the team to win the Champions League for the first time. He was so energetic that he won six championships in seven seasons in the Premier League. He said: "I don't know what Manchester United has done, after all, I'm not there. But to be honest, when I first came, there were Mourinho, Ibrahimovic (at Manchester United forward), and top player Lukaku (joined in 2017), and I really didn't expect this situation to happen. ”

He attributed the gap to a clear and unified vision, which was set since Manchester City was poaching him at Bayern. The club had long hired two former Barcelona executives Soriano and Begilistan. This also became the basis for Guardiola to successfully take over the Etihad Stadium.

As for Manchester United next door, the situation is very different, so after Ratcliff acquired 27.7% of Manchester United's shares last year, the first thing he made was to dig out the corner of Manchester City, and invited CEO Berrada to rely on the European atmosphere with a "clear vision".

However, Manchester United's operation has not yet been obvious. Although there are changes, there are many words about "cultural reset" and "focusing on the core", and the problematic players have also cleared up, but Manchester United in the Ratcliff era is no essential difference from the one that was crushed by Manchester City in the past ten years.

The derby is not without highlights: Manchester City often cut melons and vegetables, and occasionally was counter-killed by the old empire (for example, 2024 FA Cup Final). But when Guamu competed, and earlier when Manchester City changed its boss and broke free from Manchester United's shadow, Ferguson and Mancini were fighting, the stimulation of the needle-to-headed thrilling of the wheat could not continue.

The heart-wrenching fact is: Manchester's top game in recent years was when Liverpool and Arsenal came to face Manchester City recently.

Last Manchester City Derby? Do you remember? Last April, Old Trafford was purely a fishing game, and Zero was so bored that after the Sky Sports game, he could only talk about "the two sides were as gentle as in love". Manchester United legend Neville directly started to swear: "The players of the two teams had to make an appointment to go barbecue at the end of the game. They fought each other gently for 90 minutes, and everyone was happy after the end? ”

To a certain extent, this feels like a modern Premier League - for many people, it is simply too gentle and friendly! But Manchester City has been fond of Arsenal in the past few years. Even if Liverpool is not so choking, at least it is full of skills. Even when Amorin first took office in December last year, Manchester United won a dramatic 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium, but it did not cause much storm.

The first Manchester City derby of the season held at Etihad Stadium this Sunday seems to be a bit hasty. In September 2016, Guardiola and Mourinho both won three consecutive Premier League games; what about this time? Both teams are At the beginning of the season, I was looking for states: Manchester United is old and Manchester City is counting on being able to stand up after playing badly last year.

Manchester City lost two games in the Premier League last time, and it was still the old calendar of the 2004/05 season. The coach was Kevin Keegan, and the heavy signings in the summer window were Danny Mills and Ben Thatcher. After Manchester City swept Wolves in the first round of the season, they first defeated Tottenham Hotspurs at home, and then led 1-0 and were taught by Brighton away.

Former Manchester City defender Mika Richards complained this week: "It's just... it's not good. I thought the pit last season was filled. But it was exposed directly to Tottenham, and it was too easy to give Brighton. Think it's repaired? Not! I guess I still have to endure it. ”

This is the first time since December 2020, Manchester City has fallen behind next door in the former derby rankings, and Manchester United has saved four points in three games. Compared with Manchester City, it is also the existence of the ferry dragon and phoenix chick.

However, Manchester United's performance has highlights. New players Cunya and Mbermo have injected scarce sparks into the front line, but Amorin's team still has too many problems; after losing to Grimsby Town in the League Cup, the coach directly sprayed the face, saying that the players' performance "has loudly declared what they want and what they don't want."

What Amorin wants? It's unambiguous. Since he arrived in Manchester in November last year, his tactical vision has been welded to death. Believers praised this as the coach's determination, and doubters criticized this as rigidity. A system that only scores 31 points in 30 Premier League games is worth it? Both sides can't figure it out: Manchester United spent 200 million pounds in the summer window to replace the blood, but it didn't make up for the long-term shortcomings of the midfield - even if there is a ball or no ball, it will leak!

Please say who proves that he has fought a desperate game in the Premier League and slapped the questioners in the face, Guardiola is the first to be hit. His Manchester City Derby debut allowed Bravo to replace England's goalkeeper Joe Hart because of his better skills. This operation was almost sprayed into a sieve by the critics in 2016 (in the Premier League, which still advocates muscle jungle, it was also sprayed).

Guardiola's belief in his football philosophy later made a lot of money for Manchester City. But in 2025, is his vision still clear? The coach who once taught us that "goalkeepers cannot make a living by saving just" just signed Donarumma. He fell out of favor in Paris because coach Louis Enrique thought he couldn't live under his feet!

Donnarumma may make his debut against Manchester United. The controversy caused by signing this recognized world-class goalkeeper is almost the same as Hart was replaced by Bravo (and later, Ederson). Guardiola's subversive power to English football culture is evident.

Before the game against Brighton, the reporter hinted that his tactical concepts had changed. Guardiola directly sarcastic: "Yes, after winning 18 championships, I decided to change my plan. This is a must! After four consecutive Premier League championships, I plan to overturn my beliefs? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

But his routine has indeed changed. In the past, goalkeepers and multi-function centers were Guardiola's bottom line, and he even scolded Aguero for being "invisible when organizing the offense." What about now? Goalkeeper Donnarumma is completely different from Valdes or Ederson; center Haaland does score a lot of goals, but sometimes it makes people feel that he suspects that he will be fined when touching the ball outside the penalty area.

In recent years, Guardiola's operations have become more and more slutty: the central defender plays as fullback, and the signings have begun to target those midfielders (Kovacic, Nunes) and wingers (Galish, Doku) who seem to lack some "Guazi" qualities.

Guardiola himself said that he had to adapt to the new trend of the Premier League - "Modern football is no longer a position game, it must dance with the rhythm" - but Manchester City, after the personnel reshuffle in the past 12 months, has obviously danced with bumps. In the second half of the away game against Brighton two weeks ago, Brighton coach Hulzeller changed his pace, and Guardiola and the team were stunned.

Without a coach, you can keep winning without looking at the version update, but what is outrageous is that Paris's routine of dominating Europe last season was more like Guardiola's current Manchester City than Guardiola's current Manchester City!

Let’s talk about the energy problem. Guardiola renewed his contract last year until June 2027, but no one can tell what happened after the end of this season. The top coach is exhausting, especially for the king of Guardiola. The high-intensity championship competition every week is exhausting, but it is even more desperate to find the answer to the problem.

Amorin must understand. Like Guardiola, every setback seems to torture him, and in the first ten months of coaching Manchester United, there were not too many setbacks.

Sunday derby is a good opportunity to recover for both coaches. No matter how difficult it is at the beginning of the season, you can change your mood immediately after winning the derby.

On the contrary, losing means overwhelming negative emotions. At 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, Manchester City or Manchester United (or both teams tied) will leave with a record of only one win in the first four Premier League games. And the more miserable one may be in the future: Will Arsenal and Chelsea beat Arsenal and Chelsea respectively next weekend?

All of this have put another light on the Manchester City Derby. It is precisely because both companies are now shrouding in low pressure that the bets appear higher. This is the norm for Manchester United, but for Manchester City, at least for Guardiola and the group of happy young fans, this strange and anxious taste is really fresh.