For years, the North West Derby, contested between Manchester United and Liverpool FC, was far and away the biggest fixture in English football. Arsene Wenger's revival of a formerly boring Arsenal side and the millions Roman Abromavic have pumped into Chelsea have added some intrigue to some of the other "big four" match-ups, but the rivalry between United and Liverpool stood high above all else. While the Manchester Derby has always been a big deal - at least while City have been in the Premiership - it never matched the bright lights of the big show in the northwest of England. Now, it's a completely different story. While Steven Gerrard was once the brightest star in the northwest, Carlos Tévez has taken his place, turning the Manchester Derby into the Premier League's main event.
Manchester United Vs. Manchester City: Manchester Derby, Formerly The United-Liverpool Undercard, Now Headlines
Premier League fans are getting incredibly spoiled this February, with arguably the two biggest games of this season taking place in back to back weeks. As intriguing as Fernando Torres's debut against his former club was, Carlo Ancelotti kind of took the luster out of that fixture with questionable tactical decisions. This is not likely to be the case when City and United face off, if their first match at Eastlands is any indication. There is some high 0-0 potential, but it shouldn't prevent anyone from watching this match, though. It's going to be tactically fascinating, extremely hotly contested, and extremely well played on both sides.
That last point is the biggest one, because it hasn't been true for long stretches of history. Manchester City have had periods of relative success, but it's possible that they have never been as talented as they are now, relative to their competition. They certainly haven't been in my lifetime and the last time they were arguably this good was the late 1960s. Now, they have players like Carlos Tevez, David Silva, Edin Dzeko, and Nigel De Jong. These players are all legitimate stars who are key cogs in their national sides and who could get significant playing time for literally any team in the world. When is the last time anyone said that about Manchester City? Never?
Meanwhile, Liverpool have faltered in recent years. King Kenny Dalglish appears to be leading a revival under John Henry and NESV’s ownership, so we could see their rivalry with Manchester United reclaim the top spot in our hearts and minds soon enough, but they still lack a lot of what City have. Mostly, it’s the sexy factor. Highly paid, big-name, young superstars.
Liverpool had three legitimate stars coming into this season. Two of them were sold, and the other one, Gerrard, seems to be aging not so gracefully. Meanwhile, City are full of awesome players who are on the right side of 30 and who cash ginormous paychecks. Back in the day, Gerrard’s play and the standing of Liverpool would have dwarfed them all, but we live in a new reality where the “big four” that appeared to be completely untouchable is now dead; killed by Tom Hicks, George Gillett, and Rafa Benítez.
Thanks to Sheikh Mansour, this is now the big show. Manchester United vs. Manchester United, the Manchester Derby, is now the premier fixture in English football, while the North West Derby is now clearly behind. Crazy to think about, isn’t it?
Five years ago, if someone told me...
if you went to Hollywood with a script about Manchester City becoming a super club...
Okay, you’ve heard the cliches. This is unbelievable, we all know. Let’s forget them and enjoy a fantastic game of football, possibly the best one we’ll see all season.
