Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BLUE MOON RISING
Zabaleta: We knew we’d rule Manchester after 2011 FA Cup semi-final win
IN Norman Whiteside’s first Manchester derby, the Irishman tackled a City rival with such ferocity that the player ended up in Sir Matt Busby’s lap.
He reckons Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United team will have to show the same kind of desire if they are to return from the Etihad with their 21-game unbeaten away record still intact.
Whiteside, the Old
Trafford legend who broke into Ron
Atkinson’s team at 16 and is still the youngest player in World Cup history, was never on the losing side in a battle between the Reds and Blues.
He still remembers with pride scoring the goal that gave Sir Alex Ferguson victory in his first FA Cup tie as United boss in January 1987.
But it was as a schoolboy playing in a youth five-a-side tournament when he first came to realise what the Manchester derby means.
“I was about 13 or 14 when United brought me over from Belfast to play in a tournament at Stretford Leisure Centre,” recalled Whiteside.
“Sir Matt Busby came to watch – and we were all told in no uncertain terms what was expected of us.
“We were there to win. I remember lamping one City player so hard that he went flying over the barrier at the side of the pitch and ended up on Sir Matt’s knee!
“Sir Matt (below) loved it. He said to me, ‘You’ll do for us’.
“Every time I spoke to him about it afterwards he always reminded me of it.
“It’s a different game these days, of course, but United will have to find a way to get in City’s faces on Sunday because there is a massive gap between the two teams.” Whiteside was a warrior and a winner. He lifted the FA Cup twice with United by the age of 20 – scoring in the 4-0 replay win over Brighton and firing in a brilliant extra-time winner against Everton two years later.
He said: “The Cup was good to me – and scoring against City not long after Fergie arrived at Old Trafford is another great memory.
“It was a big game for him back then and he took us away to the Lake District to get away from Manchester.
“I was carrying an injury. I was probably only 80 per cent fit and Fergie asked me if I could do him a favour and play in the game.
“I was never going to say no – and I cracked home the winner at the Stretford End and the place went mad.
“I didn’t play in many derbies because City were a bit of a yo-yo club back then.
“But I think Ole has got his work cut out getting a result on Sunday because the gap between the two teams is massive.”
Whiteside, now 55, believes Solskjaer needs to bring some silverware back to Old Trafford by the time his contract ends in the summer of 2022 – or face the consequences.
He added: “Ole has brought back the stability the club has been looking for since Sir Alex retired, but he now has to become a winner.
“He has lost four semi-finals. There are just too many peaks and troughs with United at the moment.
“And on the other side of town, Pep Guardiola has got City winning every week, playing a style of football that Ole hasn’t been able to match.
“United have shown they can beat City in a one-off game, but in terms of consistency they are nowhere near.
“Ole has got another season after this one left on his contract and he needs a trophy.
“If he doesn’t deliver, then I think
United will be looking elsewhere.”
Ole has brought back the stability the club has been looking for since Sir Alex retired, to but he now has become a winner
TRADITION TO BE GREAT AGAIN
that the club’s debts have risen to almost £500million after revenues dropped by £118m during the pandemic.
And Solskjaer warned fans earlier in the week that there is unlikely to be a huge transfer spend in the summer. But he refuses to accept that the gap to City cannot be bridged with the right kind of planning.
He said: “I know Pep and all the managers say it all boils down to players. It’s all about having the quality out there on the pitch. We’re working as hard as we can every day – and that is everyone at Man United, from the scouts to the cleaning ladies and the people in the kitchens.
“I know our fans are impatient for success, but everyone is working to get us to where we belong – and that’s the top.”
MANCHESTER UNITED manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insists Pep Guardiola has not reinvented football – and is backing Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson’s philosophy to make the Old Trafford giants great again. Solskjaer has seen City storm clear at the top of the Premier League on the back of a 21-game winning run that has put Guardiola in the hunt for a unique Quadruple. But while Guardiola is
being heralded as a genius, Solskjaer refuses to copy his methods.
Solskjaer said: “No one has invented any style by themselves. Every manager builds a team around a club’s culture – and we have a culture at Man United that we want to stick to. Traditions – built by Sir Matt and Sir Alex – of pace, power and quick attacks.
“I have taken a lot of my football philosophy from the time I was here at Man United and, to be honest, in Norway. I feel we are improving and getting closer to winning things.”
United go into today’s 185th derby trailing the Blues by 14 points – and are set to finish below City for an eighth successive season. Solskjaer added: “I have always believed in my way of playing football.
“Sometimes you look at other managers and think you’ll adopt one little thing from his way of playing or one little thing from another.
“I was the same as a player. I couldn’t be the same as David Beckham, but I always wanted to cross the ball as well as Becks.
“I couldn’t be the same player as Ryan Giggs, but I liked to dribble as good as Giggsy and be on the front foot.”
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