Is it all turning to you-know-what in Stretford? What a difference a week makes. Last weekend against the background suffering a draw away to Burnley and the Stretford Stagecoachers annihilating Huddersfield 2-0 the feeling of a City implosion was starting to gain momentum.
The vacant body parts of certain Stretfords still clung to the belief that they could catch City, the reality of it is that they are a long way from being able to even partly emulate what Pep Guardiola is constructing in Manchester.
It is abundantly clear that all is not well just outside Manchester, where they spend money for a laugh on players that City fans only laugh at and then blame it all on Guardiola whose team is playing football from another world. Sadly, the crew of goons that is being built in Trafford will never bear any resemblance to the beauty that we are being forced to watch week-in-week-out in sky blue shirts.
Yes, City didn`t get it all their own way when they recently came up against Newcastle United on their home patch, but United simply didn`t have a clue.
The Pug, too often too cute with comments about fellow professionals getting seriously injured, was a disgrace. Sentenced to the bench last week, the billions watching on TV saw nothing to suggest all was well with his game, or that the tactics deployed by Moaning Maureen resembled anything designed to make a title challenge. With City clubbing the Fox and Hounds to death on Saturday, clearly the gods were against the Stretfords, forced to play a day later, demonstrated that they don`t have the stomach for the fight and despite the ponderings of the joke, formerly known as Lukaku, and the desperation of their pursuit and acquisition of a potential jailbird, they are not at it and not up to it.
De Gea apart, Stretford Stagecoachers are a sad indictment of the wonderful footballers who sixty years ago were inadvertently put to death on that unfortunate day in the German city of Munich. My family, ardent Blues, like may others, lined Shadow Moss Road to show their respects as the hearses left Ringway Airport and shared the grief. How insulting was it to see Maureen in his track suit as the United players and fans remembered. He looked as though he couldn`t give a foxtrot and that the whole thing was an imposition on his working week. And then you`ve got that clown Messi Shinguard tweeting stuff. Discipline!
Nowadays the likes of Pogba and Sanchez stroll around the field, contributing zero and collecting money with a lot of zeros. Today the short suffering so-called supporters of the nation`s team were subjected to the vision of a team that is already thinking about next season with the hope of a series of 1-0 victories giving them either the Champions League or the FA Cup. It hasn`t taken Sanchez long to see that you don`t have to do much to collect £2million. Offer nothing on the field for a month, score a scruffy penalty rebound and you are embedded in their minds of the Stretford enders forever, so long as you have two dogs.
I have said before in my Ped Reports that City dodged a bullet in “missing out” on Sanchez. I suggest that the ADG due diligence team looked at it all and thought “Hey, this guy end up in Alhaurin de la Torre” where the infamous Atletico owner Jesus Gil was forced to dial-a pizza to avoid what was being dished up in the prison kitchens. I t was then simply a case of ensuring United spent as much as possible on a player noted for not retaining possession, in stark contrast to the needs of a Manchester City footballer.
So now City have a bigger goal difference than United have points and Liverpool are looming large on the horizon after their cruise in the Solent this afternoon, which kept Sue on edge but in reality never looked in doubt. And they still have to play United, albeit in Stretford Bus Depot.
Consider this, if United fail to beat Chelsea and Liverpool before they present themselves at the Etihad, they could find themselves facing the ignominy of a youthful team, which will probably beat them anyway, as they line up as a guard of honour to salute the Champions. Can you imagine that?
The Stretfords are a long way away from competing with City in the broader run and the problem for me lies at the door of the manager. Despite the droolings of the Stretford-assisted Media, they are not in the same breath as City or Liverpool for that matter, and that is the stark failure of Maureen to get the best out of his footballers, while at the same time sacrificing their younger, potential stars of the future to strangulation as they pay ridiculous money to the waster that is Sanchez. What would Rashord and Martial become under the guidance of Guardiola. Sadly, it will never be tested because they are not good enough and despite the bleatings of manager-extraordinaire Gary Neville, the queue for the bench places in elongating, almost right the way across the Nexen Bridge front the City Football Academy to the main Etihad Stadium. Still, they are the best the Stretfords have.
So, proudly sitting sixteen points behind Manchester City, United`s short-suffering fans may be heading for a period of long-suffering, but the Etihad will never show the lack of dignity that the Stretford displayed in the times when City were very much the poorer side of the two. You will note that I did not say the poorer side in Manchester.
I`m hoping for a Manchester one-two when the final standings of the Premier League are mathematically certain. City champions and Liverpool runners-up. I am delighted that Mourinho has signed a contract extention. The longer he stays at Carrington, the worse United will become. Sadly, it will lead to him cashing-in his chips, but, boy will the rest of the Premier League enjoy it. What will Sky Sports, The Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast and the Sun find to discuss?
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