Last year of contract and uncertainty.
The season starts today in Europe. The English championship will start with a bang: a year earlier the winners had been decreed nuclear submarine and vice-champion, now awaits the Manchester derby. We have considered this battle in terms of a clash of coaches, now it is worth describing the positions of the teams as a whole.
United is testing a new model
The Red Devils are settling into a new reality, with Jim Ratcliffe as co-owner and the most active participant in the life of the club. The businessman wants to optimize the processes in the team and for this purpose has recruited specialists with proven experience.
Perhaps one of the main acquisitions of management is Dan Ashworth. The official worked as a sports director at Newcastle and knows how to competently manage a large budget. In his previous job, he was required to quickly transfer the club, which attracted wealthy investors, to the category of big. And already in the 22/23 season, the Magpies competed for medals with Manchester City and Arsenal. Only at the finish line they lost third place to United, but qualified League of Champions – and that’s a great success. Plus there’s experience in crisis situations: Newcastle also had to deal with an injury epidemic last season. And there nobody succumbed to the fever.
Jason Wilcox, who previously oversaw Manchester City’s youth department, has been appointed director of scouting. City specialist Omar Berrada has also been appointed as director of management.
The coaching staff has also changed a lot: it now includes Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rene Hacke, Jelle ten Rouvelaar. Ten Hag is enthusiastic about it:
I started looking for people who I know are good. Loyalty is also important. Ruud Van Nistelrooy: a fantastic and experienced coach with United DNA. We have a talented British coach in Darren Fletcher. Rene was someone with the same profile as Mitchell: a very good, experienced and analytically strong coach. And Jelle Ten Roevelaar has trained three players for the Dutch national team, including Bart Verbruggen. With his innovative training materials, he is one of the outstanding talents when it comes to modern goalkeeping training.
It is now impossible to evaluate the correctness of last season’s conclusions and the steps taken. But for now Manchester United they are trying to find the root of the problems and not attribute everything to the weakness of the coach.
Manchester United have something to prove
And last season was really bad. Injuries piled up, which forced us to reshuffle the combinations: we rarely played with the optimal formation. In addition, the long conflict with Sancho poisoned the atmosphere in the dressing room. It was not possible to consistently show a high level: that’s why they failed in the Champions League and in the Premier League they didn’t even manage to get into the top 5.
In the end, Tottenham broke away and didn’t let the Mancunians in, who miraculously managed to escape. THE – if it weren’t for the Cup, we would have been left without any Champions Leagues at all. The Red Devils are preparing for the new season in the best possible way. This applies not only to the changes in management: the new bosses have brought new arrivals to the club worth 104 million euros. They have strengthened the attack and signed a central defender for the future (Leni Yoro is very talented, but it takes time to develop) – now they want de Ligt and Mazraoui to make an impact here and now (even if it is difficult to negotiate with Bayern).
Everything indicates that Mancunians have had enough of last year’s mistakes and want to improve.
Only Liverpool are calmer than City
“Citizens” is a project in a fundamentally different phase of construction. They have an experienced and long-trained core. The cosmetic changes followed last summer when Riyad Mahrez, Aymeric Laporte and Ilkay Gundogan left the club. Now tangible losses can be avoided and the “sky blues” have no sense in spending money.
At the moment, Manchester City are the second-to-last player to spend in the transfer market this offseason. Only Liverpool are below them, but the Merseysiders have not spent anything. City have yet to complete a deal: 20-year-old winger Savigno from Troyes costs €25 million. The Brazilian has blossomed under Michel and was an important part of Girona, who were spectacular in La Liga last season. He scored nine goals and provided 10 assists in 37 league games.
Potentially Pep’s last trip
City is already the project Guardiola has stayed with longer than anyone else in his managerial career. He has made City the dominant force in the Premier League, with him the Sky Blues have won the FA and League Cups and achieved long-awaited Champions League success.
But Pep is increasingly thinking about a change of scenery. Even the last time, on the eve World Cup-2022 negotiations were underway for a new contract, he could not guarantee that he would stay. Now, when a new treble and another championship have entered the coffers, doubts are intensifying.
There is already an example of Jurgen Klopp: he had even more difficulties at Liverpool, but in the end the Reds fought on equal terms against the Citizens. This squeezed all the juice out of the German: probably Pep was tired too. The current contract expires next summer. Now City is not in decline, but on the contrary is only getting stronger. It is time to enter the final battle and try to do the quadruple. Say goodbye with dignity to the master if he decides to leave.
Forecast Soccer.ru: Manchester United still defeated the “citizens” in the Cup, proving that in a single match everything is possible. But it is difficult to believe that it will be possible to do it again. The city will be even stronger.
