😈 Trick or Treat?
A scary and spooky Manchester derby, but for who Chris Kamara?
It’s SPoOKy SEaSON! This week, we explore what colour looks best on Manchester, another hattrick for an English striker, and why can’t people just play nicely? 🥺 Don’t say we don’t tackle the big topics in this newsletter.
Happy Halloween and welcome to Andrew’s Weekly Football Bulletin #9.
Game of the Weekend 🙌
Manchester United vs Manchester City
Let’s start positive. Manchester City ran riot without ever feeling their scintillating best. City’s manager Pep Guardiola is a tactical mastermind, the best manager of the 21st century and a relentless winner.
When the Cityzens rock up, it’s never going to be easy. They’re the reigning league, cup and continental champions, and have the second best player in the world (confirmed at the Ballon D’Or ceremony last night). In theory then, it’s not surprising City walked off the pitch victorious on Sunday evening.
It’s true that City were a purring machine at points in this game. One second half move was particularly sexy in its fluidity; intricate passing around the edge of the box, a glorious leave through the legs and an emphatic whack that should’ve been the icing on the cake. They were the better team. But, United did nothing to help themselves. 1-0 down at halftime, Ten Hag took off his one defensive midfielder. Sofyan Amrabat was brought in this season to offer more solidity in the middle of the park. So who came on in his place? (United and Chelsea fans are already beginning to groan).
Players can be flexible, of course, but they have preferred positions. Mason Mount, Amrabat’s replacement, likes to attack and thrives in the final third. The problem is, so do all of the United’s other midfielders. Ten Hag sent four players out after the break who play the same position, none of whom are defensive minded.
How did City go 2-0 up, a mere four minutes after the break? By overrunning the opposition in midfield, forcing defenders to cover hapless, confused midfielders who are covering defensively in unfamiliar positions, and leaving the world’s top finisher unmarked at the back post.
I spoke literally last week about how City’s W-M formation looked to overload the midfield. Surprise surprise, that’s what they did. It wasn’t hard to predict. If an armchair tactician like myself can foresee a problem, you’d hope an elite coaching team would take steps to mitigate against it, rather than doing the opposite with the excuse of ‘in-game adaptation’.
United manager Erik Ten Hag claimed it was an errant referee decision to award the first half penalty that changed the game. It wasn’t. It was tactical naivety, and as we’re about to explore, shocking recruitment that has left a gulf in class between the two clubs.
Tactical Trends 📊
(Un)Valued Assets
An often overlooked caveat to City’s recent success is their nearly unlimited funds, given to them by their effectively nation state owners in Abu Dhabi. They’ve assembled a squad of superstars, and while it’s not so much forgotten – it remains an elephant in the room - it’s conveniently ignored by pundits.
City aren’t the only ones to spend big. Newcastle and Chelsea have owners more than willing to splash the cash, but perhaps surprisingly it’s Manchester United who have spent most in the last decade. As they’ve found, deep pockets alone aren’t enough to guarantee success. Analysis of comparable recent signings between the Manchester clubs is pretty upsetting for United fans, and highlights the troubles behind the scenes at Carrington.
Let’s start up top. City signed Norwegian Erling Haaland in the summer of 2022 for around £52m. In his prior career, he’d scored 86 goals in 89 league appearances for European heavyweight Borussia Dortmund, and had set records in Europe’s premier continental competition by netting 23 times in just 19 games. He went on to set an all-time league record in his first season in England, scoring 35 goals. United, also in need of a striker, turned this summer to Rasmus Hojlund, paying £64m. His record before signing? 15 goals in 66 games for Italian side Atalanta. Any guesses which of these players scored twice at the weekend? Spoiler: it’s the one that had scored more goals in the past, and the one that was £10m cheaper.
It gets worse. City broke the bank to sign cheeky, cheerful Jack Grealish, the £100m tricky winger that became instrumental in City’s treble win and a grew to be a vibrant heart of their dressing room. Grealish was one of England’s brightest talents, and arrived at the Etihad having been Aston Villa’s best player and captain for years. Compare that to the £100m spent by United on Antony, a Brazilian winger with raw talent but limited success at the top level. Instead of being a match winner for United, the highlight of his first season at Old Trafford was getting rightly ridiculed for an embarrassing display of showboating, where at 0-0 he whipped out an irrelevant spin before immediately passing the ball off the pitch (watch that linked video, it’s incredibly funny).
Rodri, the best defensive midfielder in the world, signed in 2019 for City. He was 23, and cost around £60m. His influence on even this mighty City team is so great that they win 75% of matches when he plays. United last year instead spent a similar amount, £60m let’s not forget, on once legendary 30-year-old Casemiro, an ex-Real Madrid defensive midfielder. He started strongly but after just a season at the club, looks on the verge of retirement from injury.
The difference in recruitment is staggering. Even in modern football, where ‘value’ is an ethereal concept, it’s still clear one club is getting more bang for its buck. Sadly for Manchester United, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Despite the billions spent, there’s no clear identity, no structure, and, despite what the manager says, fundamentally no gameplan. Ten Hag must be worrying for his job.
Hunting for Red in October
The Rugby World Cup Final on Saturday saw 3 yellow cards, one of which was upgraded to a red. It was the first ever sending off in a RWC final, and ultimately, New Zealand’s loss might be attributed to this imbalance – they valiantly contested the majority of the game with one fewer player than the South Africans. Notably though, even if players disagreed with the decisions, unwavering respect was offered to the officiating team. Decisions were calmly explained to the respective captains and questions answered politely. No screaming, no arguing, how things should be.
Compare that to the consistent, exhausting and frankly embarrassing whining across the Premier League. Players are dissenting as there’s no deterrent. They can do and say what they want because at some point, it was decided that it was culturally acceptable in the sport to complain at any opportunity, without retribution.
United’s Antony and Bruno Fernandes were the worst offenders this week. Antony scythed down Jeremy Doku in thinly veiled anger, proceeded to slap him, and then professed his innocence to referee Paul Tierney. Bruno, perennial whiner and generally dislikeable bloke, tried to cheaply take out John Stones, miscalculated, hurt himself, and then decided the best course of action was to scream at the officiating team.
Both players should’ve been off the pitch. Early in the season there was genuine outrage that talking back to the referee resulted in an instant booking. That policy, perhaps as a result of subsequent refereeing errors, seems to have fallen by the wayside, and individuals are getting away with disturbingly poor behaviour. I don’t understand why referees can’t be mic-ed up like in rugby, to force players to take ownership and set a better example. It needs to change, and quickly.
Did both Manchester United and Chelsea win this week? 🏆
🥳 NO 🥳
Not only were United walked over by City, Chelsea also managed to lose to Brentford, at home, again.
Season tally: Yes 2 - 8 No.
Stat Attack 👩💻
Player of the Week 🎖
Eddie Nketiah
Arsenal’s first choice forward, Brazilian Gabriel Jesus, sparkled in midweek against Sevilla but came off injured, raising concerns about the Gunners’ future potency in front of goal.
His replacement Eddie Nketiah quashed any such fears with an imperious performance up front. The third goal in particular, a rocket strike from 25+ yards past the diving Wes Foderingham, isn’t an archetypal Nketiah finish – he often is most effective inside the box. To take on the shot, let alone finish it so emphatically, emphasises Nketiah’s confidence. To have an inform striker is like gold dust, and so it’d be great for a competitive title race if the England international can carry this forward.
Even if it’s ‘only’ Sheffield (bottom of the league with only one point from ten games), it’s worth noting too how Mikel Arteta was successfully able to rotate his squad for this match. Kai Havertz, Jakub Kiwior, Emile Smith-Rowe all got minutes in their legs and a comfortable victory under their belt. If Arsenal are to avoid last year’s end of season form dip, these squad players will need to play their part – getting them match practice now cannot be undervalued.
An unintentionally Manchester United heavy newsletter this week, and possibly a window into my fury at the team I ‘support’. Thanks then for making it all the way through, next week I won’t mention them once. Promise.
If you’re enjoying my newsletter, please do drop a comment below and share with friends - it’s great to have so many people here, and always keen to start some conversations and welcome new people into the growing community.
Stay spooky out there! 🎃
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