Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
If City can go to Old stuff United, it will whole dynamic of and the rivalry between the two clubs SAYS RODNEY MARSH ( )
FOR Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho, the stakes could not be higher going into tomorrow’s Manchester derby.
A win for Guardiola’s City, at the home of their rivals, would see them open up an 11-point lead over United and turn the title race a victory procession for the blue half of Manchester.
Victory for United would cut the gap to five, reignite the title race and re-establish Mourinho as a coach for the here and now, dismissing the notion of him as a coaching relic alongside Guardiola.
Against that backdrop, former City forward Rodney Marsh has hailed the contest as the biggest Manchester derby for years and a pivotal encounter, given what hinges on the outcome for both clubs.
“On Sunday night we’ll know a hell of a lot more about the sides,” said Marsh. “It’s a huge game.
“I don’t think there’s been a Manchester derby this big for years, in terms of what the residual outcome could be.
“If City can go to Old Trafford and stuff United, that changes the whole dynamic of the league and the rivalry between them.
“And if City then go on to win the title and United end up second or third, I think that puts enormous pressure on Jose.
“City are breaking new ground. I don’t think the Premier League has seen anything like this City side.
“They go out, home and away, with the intention of scoring as many goals as they can – and are doing it. Other teams have tried to play that way over the years, but City are doing it consistently.
“They’re the best team in England and many are saying possibly the best in Europe.
“When you’re nine points clear – people keep saying it’s eight, but it’s nine because of the goal difference – it means City would have to lose three and United would have to be perfect. City could lose three, but United aren’t going to win every game.”
City, who are chasing a record 14th straight Premier League win, have been revered for their stylish play and hailed as potentially the best English side of all time.
They have scored 46 goals from 15 games and are well on course to eclipse Chelsea’s record of 103, set in 2009-10, as well as their points record of 95, set in 2004-05 under Mourinho.
City also remain unbeaten in the Premier League and can match Arsenal’s Invincibles of 2003-04, who created history by going through the season without losing.
“They are on course to score the most goals in a Premier League season, and the most wins,” said Marsh, now working as a pundit in the US.
“And there’s a real belief they could go all the way in the Champions League.
“I don’t think the English top-flight has seen a coach like Guardiola since Malcolm Allison, one of his predecessors at City. Malcolm was ridiculously innovative, he tried all sorts of different things and was successful, winning five trophies in six years with Joe Mercer.
“We’re seeing Pep possibly overtaking Malcolm in terms of improvisation and doing things people wouldn’t dream of doing. One of those things is reinventing Fabian Delph, who has never played there before, into a left-back.
“I was also very sceptical when Pep started getting the keeper to play out from the back, but that’s working.
“Pep’s breaking new ground with this team and, with the incredible start they’ve made, it is City’s title to lose.” PEP GUARDIOLA has been warned he risks derailing
Manchester City’s title bid if he signs Alexis Sanchez next month.
City failed with a
£60million deadline-day bid for Sanchez, but are poised to go back in for the Arsenal forward next month.
But Rodney Marsh, whose mid-season move to City in 1972 cost them the title, said Guardiola would be taking a big gamble doing the same with Sanchez. The Spaniard goes into tomorrow’s Manchester derby with his team eight points clear at the top of the table. “Having lived through that myself, I wouldn’t make that decision if I was Manchester City,” said Marsh. “They’ve a great unit of players, a great core of 16 players. I think you could play any 11 from that 16.
“They’re winning games home and away, in Europe too, so to make a change to upset the balance of that, I think would be a mistake.” City were four points clear and on course for the title when they signed Marsh for £200,000 from QPR in March 1972, only for their hopes to unravel upon his arrival, eventually finishing fourth.
“You have to be true to yourself and, if they hadn’t signed me, City would have won the league that season,” said Marsh. “The problem was I completely upset the balance of the team. I knew that, everybody knew that.
“So for City to make that mistake again now, when they don’t need to change it, that would be a mistake in my view.”
Marsh believes Sanchez (above) arriving midway through the season could upset the squad. “The player whose place Sanchez takes and who gets left out is going to have the hump,” he said.
“I lived through that at City and the players who got left out were Mike Doyle and Wyn Davies. I remember Mike getting substituted for me at Old Trafford and he had a face that could have stopped a battleship.”