MANCHESTER DOMINATION
Van der Sar: United and City will rule for years
EDWIN VAN DER SAR has warned the rest of the Premier League that Manchester United and Manchester City will be the dominant forces in English football this year – and for years to come.
The former United No.1, now chief executive at Ajax, still keeps a close check on English football.
And he has been blown away by the start both teams have made at home and in Europe.
He was particularly impressed by the demolition job Pep Guardiola’s City side did on Feyenoord earlier this month, which saw his compatriots spanked 4-0 on their home turf.
Van der Sar (right) said: “City and United have both taken the lead in the Premier League, they are dominating.
“Because of my past, I am always looking at what is going on in football in Manchester and, obviously, I have more to do with the Reds than the Blues.
“But I recently saw what Pep’s team is capable of at European level, when he played in the Netherlands.
“They have both made enormous investments again and that makes the difference.
“With one club, the investments are being done on a commercial basis, the other club have had a bit of help in different ways.”
United comfortably beat Basel 3-0 in their Champions League opener and the two clubs are sitting pretty at the top of the domestic table on 16 points, after wins yesterday.
That is hardly surprising given the fact that both Guardiola and Jose Mourinho spent big once again during the summer transfer window.
And Van der Sar believes not just the Manchester clubs, but the top six are getting into a position where only the best players in the world could get into their teams. All across Europe, players dream of joining clubs such as United, City and Chelsea, in particular, but the former Old Trafford hero knows the level will be too high for most of them now.
He added: “We saw Davy Klaassen leave my club this summer. He was the most fantastic player at our club.
“He came through our academy, made it at a young age in the first team, became an established Dutch international and was finally captain of Ajax, winning trophy after trophy. He was symbolising the way we produce talent and help them develop to a top level in this country. “When they are ready and have won everything here, they go and make the big step to the Premier League. “And yet Klaassen is having a tough time at Everton. “He is lucky that he has a Dutch manager with Ronald Koeman. That makes it a little easier for him to adapt. “I have spoken to him and he still thinks everything in England and the Premier League is fantastic.
“But it is important that he gets plenty of minutes in the first team.
“Davy knows it is tough and he knows he needs to produce toplevel performances to survive.”
Like Klaassen, Everton boss Koeman is feeling the pressure of the Premier League, but Van der Sar is backing him to get it right.
He said: “When you look at their fixture list, it is clear that they were not lucky with all the big games, having to play City and United away so early, as well as Tottenham in between.’’