Jose’s moans are music to rivals’ ears
Manchester United and Jose Mourinho don’t like playing second fiddle to anybody.
But that’s exactly what they were forced to do last season as Manchester City racked up 100 points on the way to winning the Premier League by a massive 19 points.
Mourinho could point to taking the team from sixth to second and their highest league finish for five years.
But when your neighbours from across the city are breaking records left, right and centre, it counts for very little.
Now the Portuguese manager has to somehow finding a way of plugging that gap, or – as United fans demand – of overturning it.
Mourinho’s dark mood ever since he returned to lead pre-season training for United has not hinted at someone who thinks that is possible.
The signing of Brazilian Fred for £52m in midfield should bring dynamism in that area, but the additions of back-up goalkeeper Lee Grant and teenage Portuguese defender Diogo Dalot do not scream of being pieces in a title-winning jigsaw.
The United manager is desperate to bring in one or two more new faces before the transfer window shuts on Thursday, but he will need more from the players already at his disposal.
And when you think of underperformers from last season, the two names that spring to mind are Paul Pogba and Alexis Sanchez.
Yet we have just witnessed Pogba play a pivotal role in France winning the World Cup.
As the tournament progressed, the French doubters were no more as the midfielder played like an £89m player should.
It begged the question why his displays for Les Bleus are not a more common sight at Old Trafford.
Firstly, he doesn’t have the insurance of N’golo Kante behind him putting out fires and allowing Pogba to go forward and express himself.
Secondly, does he have the complete trust of his club manager?
It was no coincidence that one of Pogba’s best displays was in the second half of the Manchester derby when the Reds came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at City.
The shackles had to come off and the Frenchman took centre stage. But it’s hard to imagine Mourinho being so bold with his team every week.
Sanchez had the summer off because Chile did not make it to Russia, so he should be raring to go in his first full season at United.
They pinched him from under City’s noses in January, but three goals in 17 matches hardly set the world alight.
His performances were underwhelming and nowhere near the level he showed regularly for Arsenal. Quite simply, United need him to do so much better this season.
Alongside him, Romelu Lukaku will continue to score goals but the Belgian needs to change the perception that he’s a flat track bully and make the difference in the really big games.
As for City, their challenge is how to try and live up to the incredibly high standards they set last season.
Guardiola has already stated publicly that his team will not reach 100 points again this term, to take the pressure off if there are any iffy results early on.
When City won the league in 2012 and 2014, their defence of those titles was meek.
The following seasons, they finished 11 and eight points behind Champions United and Chelsea, but the destination of the title was assured well before the finish.
But Guardiola is not a man to allow things to drift, and he has promised to be even harder on his players to keep them at the top.
His methods do work though as he won three successive titles at Barcelona and then repeated the feat at Bayern Munich.
However, sceptics would argue that competition in Spain and Germany is not as deep as in the Premier League, so it’s up to the Catalan to prove the doubters wrong again.
In terms of the squad, it’s been a quiet summer at the Etihad, although they did break their transfer record with the capture of Riyad Mahrez for £60m from Leicester City.
The Algerian adds more creative and attacking talent to the pot as City try to compete across four fronts.
With 16 players at the World Cup this summer, pre-season preparations have not been ideal, but if the motivation is still as high, they will remain the team to beat in 2018/19.