Manchester clubs: This 2024–25 season, United and City are sharing grief.
Between these two clubs from Manchester clubs which to a great extent defines and tears apart the port city, they have claimed the EPL trophy in as many as 15 of the 24 tournaments this century. The dominance has been quite staggering in its distinctness – United ruled over the league till 2013, which is when Alex Ferguson stepped away from management. From that point City have pretty much been a one team league. The Manchester clubs have only once been enjoined in a head to head race for the title ending off rather dramatically in 2013. The rest of the years saw their paths separated in a rather dramatic fashion.
Yet the 2024-25 season has made them a unit in their common suffering, bringing them closer than the distance of five miles that separates them. City managed to win only two out of their last fourteen matches, their worst run since the Sheikh buyout of the club. Guardiola, the most feted manager of this century, has suffered five losses in a span of a few matches for the very first time in his managerial career.
United also suffered the most humiliating defeats as for the first time in their history, they suffered six defeats in a single month. Their new manager, Ruben Amorim, thinks they’re in real trouble of going down given their 14th place position. On the other hand, City are doing relatively better, being at six with only six points behind Nottingham Forest who are second. But for the three times defending champions of the premier league and one of the most powerful teams in the entire Europe, this position is very poor to be in.
Both would be able to come back from the gorge when the season is out, but possibly during the premier league era, destiny did not often scatter them around in the drought. The streak of defeats, however, is where the similarity stops. The challenges that Guardiola and Amorim – who on two occasions in just 45 days managed to outwit City twice using two different teams – encounter are not the same.
Guardiola is not new to the grind of seeking to command attention in the most competitive league in the world, having had it for the past eight seasons, six of which culminated in winning titles. His players are exhausted, the relentlessness has taken a toll, the new ones are getting the hang of it, probably a little too slow for his liking, and probably the Spaniard is a bit out of breath himself.
The structures of the empire of the City are falling apart. The amulets are reaching the downhill stage. Injuries have absented the speed and agility of Kevin de Bruyne, Phil Foden who was last season’s able performer looks well cooked and rusty, the midfield metronome Rodri would definitely not come back this current season. Right back Kyle Walker looks stagnant and mischief less.
The back four which has usually been rotated due to injuries and form is this time very average. They have gone to concede as many goals in a stretch, as they had in the entire 2021-2022 season. There is an overriding feeling that, should City attempt to resurrect their brandishing empire, they will have to achieve it with a fresh brigade and new nucleus.
The dangers of rebuilding an empire are known to the United neighbours. For the last eleven years they have been hurtling back and forth in the hire-and-fire-managers roulette. Since Ferguson’s departure, six managers have been appointed at the club and each one of them has failed to implement any strategic plan to the team. David Moyes was way too incompetent for the position; Louis van Gaal too unexciting; and Jose Mourinho lacked any sparkle, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had no strategy whatsoever and Erik Ten Hag just seemed to be too lost.
Beginning the list of managers who left a terrible impact on the club, we can start with Amorim. He is smooth and sounds good when he speaks, however, he has a poorly articulated intent – that his side plays a specific way – which more often than not is his failing 3-4-3 formation in the league.
There is faith that he could be the trigger for an upturn in fortunes for United, but in that case, greatest of all, these hopes should be fulfilled. All he can see is round holes with square pegs and players who are so weak and slow for his system. However, it is clear that this matters placed in a more dramatic context – if he survives a high turnover tide and grabs a few wins, all is bound to change for the fans.
Just as how one asks how will sergio cope with all the maddening pressure, as tension appears to be component fuelled by the curiosity There is something interesting how guardiola revives his squad and takes them to tournaments one after another and strolls into the final rounds. The managers present an engrossing portrait. One is the metronome, who has achieved everything. The other is an apprentice, one who has yet to reach forty, who is capable of half a game of high-intensity game and considers the other one as his inspiration.
Amorim was one of the names that emerged in media discussions as a possible successor to Guardiola, because of the connections that existed between the two- Amorim was confirmed as the Sporting CP head coach after the city’s director of football Hugo Viana settled at the club. “He is a great influence on every aspiring manager at the highest level,” Amorim would say. In return, Guardiola replied: “Twice I have had the opportunity to play against Sporting and he has struck me as a very, very good coach.”
Probably, they shall again meet during the times when the fortunes of the club are rather brighter than they are now. There is still a belief that City is going to only improve through the course of the season this time around. For United it is more complex than that. Forget the relegation that could sound far fetched considering the ineptness of the four last placed teams, but trace the lines to where the club fell and it will take no less than five years. But for a moment at least, Manchester clubs, or the Red and Blue halves are one, but only in depression.
Read More- Rain Threat Looms Over Sydney Test? Report Has Some Bad News For India
