SANCHO CAN OUT OF

City’s CL final distraction is United’s opportunity

would not be criticising Kenny this week for going head to head with Liverpool.

But I believe it is a mistake not to include Shane Duffy (below), who not so long ago was captaining Ireland and is still only 31-years-old.

And he is a defender who has already scored a very decent tally of seven goals for his country.

One of the masterstrokes of Big Jack was his ability to nurse the players who were struggling at club level.

He stood by them so long as they performed in a green shirt.

And I just think right now that any Irish dressing room is a better one with Shane Duffy in it.

THIS one means everything — but only for one team in today’s FA Cup final.

And that is the problem for Manchester City.

The thing that will define this season for Pep Guardiola is the big game in seven days time at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium, not the one today at Wembley.

In spite of the fact this is the first ever Manchester derby in an FA Cup final, today’s result for City means more in terms of it being part of a possible treble, than on its own merits.

Guardiola did not come to Manchester to win the FA Cup.

He came to dominate the Premier League, which he has achieved, and also to conquer Europe, which he did twice with Barcelona.

But what Guardiola has not been able to do, after inheriting the European champion winning side at Bayern Munich, was add a third European Cup to his CV.

Start

To put the Spaniard’s priorities into context, the fact Stefan Ortega rather than Ederson, is going to start in goal, tells you everything.

Make no mistake, opportunity is knocking for United.

The fact City are not prepared to start with their best team tells you that winning the FA Cup is secondary to their Champions League ambitions.

This final will come down to whether Ten Hag can make his United players believe that they have actually been insulted by Guardiola’s choice to not play his strongest team.

United, if they have the courage, can win this game.

While Ten Hag has stabilised the club, ending the Ronaldo pantomime, bringing back a feel-good factor to Old Trafford, this is the most important game of his tenure by a mile.

With the uncertainty about new ownership coming into the club, all the plaudits for a decent trophy-winning season will not last long because Ten Hag knows that new owners always want to bring in new faces, on and off the pitch.

Just ask Todd Boehly.

It is hard to believe that in a Premier League season which Manchester City will reflect on with great satisfaction, United fought back from 1-0 down to get an epic win. Against City.

ANNUS MIRABILIS: Alex Ferguson with the Premier League trophy, the FA Cup and the European Cup back in 1999 (above) rival bosses today Erik ten Hag and Pep Guardiola

But can they do it on a day when this matters so much to the giants of the club who this week were valued at €5.6bn by Forbes, making them the richest club in the Premier League?

When you consider that

Alex Ferguson’s United team are the only English side to complete the historic treble of league, FA Cup and Champions League glory, losing to City must be unthinkable in the minds of those United players at Wembley this afternoon.

They have shown, as recently as January, they can beat

City, but let’s also remember that in October, City embarrassed them, with Phil Foden and Erling Haaland scoring two each to put City 4-0 up at half-time.

Both players then completed their hat-tricks.

Those two late goals from Anthony Martial served to merely upgrade the scoreline from United’s perspective, from a humiliation to an embarrassment.

If United are to do it, then Ten Hag needs to get his players to win this game in their own heads firstly, then on the pitch.

This is not just about the pride of the red and blue halves of Manchester.

This is also about making sure that come this evening, the legendary Alex Ferguson will remain the only one who can claim to be the mastermind of an historic treble.

Fergie is considered to be the greatest manager in Premier League history.

But if Guardiola completes the Treble then he will suddenly be touted as the best manager of all time.

United have to control the emotion but also make this personal — because can you imagine how Fergie will feel if his United crumble to City on a day when Guardiola has the arrogance to not even put out his regular goalkeeper?

Some people have criticised Ten Hag for being too defensive in his approach, too reliant on his counter-attacking strategy, but this game will be decided by which goalkeeper has the better day, which side dominates the middle of the park, and which players make a difference in the final third.

Alive

Nothing new in that.

But the big advantage United have is City want to keep their treble dream alive and then move on. Whereas for United, this game is not part of a trilogy, this is their BIG day.

For their supporters, they annoyingly and hurtfully remain in the shadow of a club Fergie dismissed as ‘noisy neighbours’.

Raphael Varane needs a big performance and to find a way to stop Haaland.

And surely it is time, on this perfect stage, for the mesmerisingly talented Jadon Sancho to show exactly why Manchester United paid so much money for him.

It is not about ability from the 23-year-old. He is so gifted. But he badly needs a big day. He was brought to Old Trafford to be the main man — but he has been overshadowed by Marcus Rashford this season.

So Ten Hag’s job is to get Super Sancho to step up and show he can be the new king.

Some have interestingly commented that City have lost momentum.

Why? Just because they didn’t win their last two Premier League games?

Guardiola knows those two matches against Brighton and Brentford were not decisive. His next two games are.

So, United need to do two things: first to weather the storm, then to surprise Guardiola tactically, but staying higher up the pitch than they normally do and then disorientating the Stones/Rodri defensive partnership.

Bruno Fernandes has to ghost into the space in between the lines and supply quality passes to Sancho. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if Sancho delivered?

Casemiro has to dominate physically; Rashford has to find his moment but for me, Sancho has to build on that last day of the season performance against Fulham when he scored an equalising goal.

In tandem with Fernandes, who got the winner against the Cottagers, this can be their day.

Ten Hag has to be tactically brave. The great managers are able to sniff out a weakness that others don’t see.

This game has been a priority for United since the semi-final.

Ten Hag must remind his players that it is an insult to Ferguson, to United, to the club’s traditions, for their Treble to be given away.

The only way they can silence City is by delivering a Treble-Crushing-Win.

Deep down my heart says United, my head says City.

But we are going to find out a lot more about Ten Hag today. He will take a penalty shootout win right now.

Next week we will discover whether it is Fergie or Guardiola who is the best manager of all time.