De Bruyne shows just how far City are ahead of Reds on and off pitch
CITY’S 2-0 win against United was the work of a decade condensed into 90 minutes.
The Blues were efficient, organised, well-coached and easy on the eye, superior in every department, United were none of those things. The ease of their victory also illustrated the stark difference in the ways the two clubs have been managed away from the field.
City are run with the future in mind, always one step ahead, United lurch from one crisis to the next.
Kevin de Bruyne – whose postmatch admittance that Pep Guardiola plotted United’s downfall in less than 10 minutes further accentuated City’s superiority – has this week shone a light on two of the things that are keeping City far ahead of their cross-town rivals.
In a recent interview with France Football, De Bruyne lifted the lid on just how dedicated the Blues boss is to his playing principles.
“With Guardiola, if you send back the image of a guy who doesn’t want to run because you’re that creative guy or whatever, you don’t play. It’s pretty simple, actually”, the Belgium international said.
He’s not joking - we’ve seen plenty of City stars sit out games until their pressing and dedication to attack, defend and work for the team was up to Guardiola’s standards. Just ask Sergio Aguero and Leroy Sane.
“Here (at City), everyone attacks, everyone defends, everyone runs. Football has evolved, and so have I.”
Now, cast your minds over
recent events at Old Trafford. Would those words or similar ever come out of a United player’s mouth? Unlikely.
We’ve all seen the half-hearted attempts at pressing of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side. Paraphrasing what Ralph Rangnick recently said at a Coaches’ Voice event, being a pressing team is like being pregnant – you either are or you aren’t, there is no in-between.
City are an infinitely better team than United because they are one.
Pep Guardiola has a system - if a player doesn’t buy into it (that rarely happens) then they don’t play.
Solskjaer likely wants to instill his own system, but does he have the bottle to drop Cristiano Ronaldo or Paul Pogba if they don’t buy into it?
That feeds into De Bruyne’s second point – City’s advantage over United goes far beyond what happens on the training ground.
“The recruitment team looks for the best players, but they also learn about your personal life, about the way you behave with others,” he said. “They know how to create a group.”
That approach seems a sensible one to take, but it doesn’t appear to be one United have adopted.
The running joke is that City dictates the transfer policy of their hated rivals - Alexis Sanchez, Fred, Harry Maguire and Ronaldo have all moved to Old Trafford after the Blues initially showed interest.
More worryingly for United, though, is that their strategy appears to solely consists of signing the best players available.
As City and most other well-run clubs know, footballers are human beings. Just because they are good does not mean that their personality, needs or lifestyles will fit in with the rest of the group.
“There is little or no very big character(s), which is very important,” De Bruyne said of City.
“When you have too many characters, it quickly causes problems. No one here likes to be on the bench, but everyone wants the best for City.”
Judging by United’s performances this season, there are plenty of ‘big characters’ in the Old Trafford dressing room who don’t necessarily want the best for the Reds.
These may seem like inconsequential details, but in elite football, these are the kind of oversights that can hold a team back.
Perhaps without meaning to, De Bruyne has shown what marks City so far ahead of United.