Truth be told Manchester Derby was far from the spectacle many expected it to be, although it was a battle between two managers and their vastly contrasting style of football. The story of the game was home side having the ball, and trying to penetrate the United defence with small passes, but were eventually frustrated into hitting it long or taking shots from distance.
In an attacking sense, Manchester United didn’t offer a lot especially in the second half of the game. The defensive duo of Vincent Kompany and Nicolás Otamendi dealt with the threat of Marcus Rashford smartly.
So without further ado, let’s delve into the world of talking points.
#1 The draw sums up the season for the two clubs
There is no doubt that both clubs have been extremely underwhelming in what they are capable and what they achieved. After the game, both the managers made similar noises, “They had more ball but my players were amazing in the way they fought” said Jose Mourinho, and "I am so so happy to work with these guys, they tried so much. I don't have any complaints” said Pep Guardiola after the game.
The common theme in both those statements was the acceptance of their team's inability to get the job done. However, as serial winners, both would be seething inside for not being nearer to Chelsea in the title race.
The silver lining is this is just their first season at the helm, and the first time neither of the two Manchester clubs are in the title race since the Premier League started.
#2 Marouane Fellaini
Asked what Marouane Fellaini brings to the team earlier in the season, Jose Mourinho said “Depends on the situation. He can be more positional and more defensive. He can be more offensive and an extra man in the opposition box. He can be dangerous there. With me, he started the season and played some matches as a positional midfield player.”
Fellaini has been the manager’s player throughout the season, apart from a few defensive lapses in an odd match here and there. There is no secret to the fact that Manchester United supporters do not like the Belgian or what he brings to the game, let alone see him lead their favourite team out at Old Trafford.
But the manager and player duo had managed to mute those voices down, with consistency and discipline. His role in midfield against Nemanja Matic in the role against Chelsea probably attracted the Serbian’s worst performance in the Premier League season.
But, the head butt of Sunday will rejig the memories of those supporters and naysayers. At a time when his club needed him the most (with the injuries in midfield), he let his manager and himself down.
The sight of Jose Mourinho mouthing “what happened” when the Belgian left the pitch is not a good sign for the player. The Portuguese might have defended him in the post-match interview, but feel let down personally.
#3 The art of playacting
Former England and Manchester City defender Danny Mills in an interview with the Mirror recalled an incident in the 2002 World Cup. England were playing Brazil, and Ronaldinho was sent off for a challenge on Mills, “He came in, it was a late challenge, he caught me, I went down and I was about to get up and Scholesy (Paul Scholes) came over and tapped me and said ‘stay down, ref has got a card out, stay down’”.
“He pulled a red card out, it was never a red card, he caught me slightly, it was a booking at worst” he continued.
Playacting is nothing new in football, and on Thursday, Sergio Aguero did his bit. He went and appeared to make contact with Marouane Fellaini’s head first leading the Belgian's headbutt of his own to which the Argentine reacted by falling to the ground as if he was shot by a rubber bullet.
“Aguero's played him there like a fool. What is he doing? He's played him like a fool”, said Gary Neville to Sky Sports, and the former Manchester United defender couldn’t have put it better.
What is clear by these two incidents is that playacting is nothing new in football, and is now easily laid out to the general audience by the hordes of cameras. The analogy of what are we teaching our youngsters couldn’t be further from the truth.
The only way to cut it out from the game remains retrospective action, and although it seems extremely harsh it is necessary to eradicate in what can only be termed as an ‘evil’ in the game we love.
#4 Manchester United’s lack of first team players in midfield and defence
With Paul Pogba, Tim Fosu-Mensah injured (he dislocated his shoulder towards the dying moments of the game) and Marouane Fellaini suspended Mourinho just has Michael Carrick and Ander Herrera in midfield for the time being.
With Michael Carrick unlikely to play another game in two days, that leaves Ander Herrera as the only central midfielder available to Mourinho. Add to that a highly patched up back four, and Manchester United are down to their bare bones in terms of personnel.
Wayne Rooney in midfield? An unknown academy product thrown in? The sale of Bastian Schweinsteiger suddenly seems like a really bad decision.
#5 To twist or to turn? Manchester City in a mid-life crisis
Ahead of the game against Manchester United, former Manchester City and Chelsea player Frank Lampard said, “I’m sure Pep Guardiola has learned more this year, than in any other year of his management, Manchester City obviously have great players – and they’ve added great players – but he demands a lot from his players”.
“There’s a real intelligence factor. Every player needs to know how to move position, change position, play in different positions – and I think he’s asked a lot from them this year. And I think that might be the one thing he’ll look at this year: did I ask too much from this group?” he continued.
The former England international has hit the nail perfectly on the head, Manchester City players look torn in what they should actually do for their team. It is quite obvious, that the team is brilliant on the counter attack, the base on which it was built first by Roberto Mancini and then by Manuel Pellegrini.
The possession game is good, but more than a Pep Guardiola side, they look closer to a Manchester United side under Louis van Gaal. That is not a good sign at all.
On Thursday, Ander Herrera was left marking Yaya Toure for corners and that shows the height difference between the two teams, a tribute to their teams in the last five years. But, the home side weren’t ready to take advantage of it, and that is a tribute to what Pep has done at City.
They have their own style and philosophy, but when Vincent Kompany hits it long from kick off to Raheem Sterling up against Matteo Darmian you know that the team isn’t playing on instinct.
Pep probably needs one more transfer window and one more season, but at the moment, his Manchester City side look like they are suffering a mid-life crisis.
