Saturday 9 May 2009

Man Utd vs Man City - Sun 10Th May 13:30 pm

Another away game in our quest for 7Th place, we are in good form and go to Old Trafford believing that we can get a result.

When it comes around to derby day a lot of people say that it is strange that I don't seem to hate Utd much even though I am a massive blue. The truth is that I don't have a care in the world about what United are up to and never have, to me they are just another team and the day I do start to care if they are winning or losing trophies that's when I will be worried, there is only one team I am interested in and that is Manchester City.

So its derby day but for me that is not the most important thing, I don't care about beating United because it is United but because we need three points to help us move up to 7Th place.

Nearly everyone has already got us down as beaten and there is a good possibility that will be the case but I think we deserve more respect than that, if the Man Utd players are in the same mindset and already think its a win in the bag, then they might get a shock.

We should have a lot of confidence at the moment and even more confidence in the fact that it is possible for us to win at Old Trafford, something we proved with our heroic win last season. Obviously United are a great side and to beat them at home twice in a row is a hell of a hard task, but achievable. City will really want to make it five wins in a row, get a win against our rivals and take those three points so we can push for Europe, so I don't think anyone can afford to take us lightly.

In the build up to the Everton game I said that we will need to work hard to beat them and I think the same goes for this game. We have to unsettle United, be on top of them at every possible moment and give them a dig or two. Basics will also be very important tomorrow, we must not give the ball away because against United that is suicide, we must also be the first to every loose ball and win every 50/50, if we do these things then I think we are half way to a result. The other half will need to come from our attacking ability and individual talent, we can score goals against any team in this league when we get our attacking right so tomorrow the likes of Robinho, Ireland and Elano will be more than important to us.

I am hoping Elano in particular is in good form tomorrow because when he plays well our team can score goals, as well as hoping he is in good form I am expecting him to be, he has had a good run in the side now and there isn't a better time for him to hit his peak than tomorrow.

Now although we do need our attackers in form I personally think that our most important players for the game against Man Utd could be De Jong and Kompany, the job they do is so important to our team. They don't hit the headlines as much as the likes of Ireland and Robinho but that's because the job they do is done so discreetly. They will be very important if we are to shut down United's main threat their midfield, if we stop their creators then we stop Man Utd. De Jong is also handy to have around when you need someone to give the opposition a dig, I am also hoping Zabaleta will play because he can dish it out a bit too.

Whatever the result tomorrow we can't lose really, if we win of course we will be ecstatic but if we lose at least we will be losing City fans and being a City fan and not a rag fan from the swamp is the main thing.

City team news:
Wright-Phillips is still struggling with a knee injury and will face a late fitness test. Sturridge (hip) is expected to miss out and Bellamy is definitely out with a knee injury. Zabaleta should return to the team after being out with a hamstring injury. Benjani has joined in on some training this week but isn't expected to make the squad.

Man United team news:
Gary Neville returns to the team after being out with a foot injury, Wes Brown hasn't had the same luck, his foot injury is keeping him on the sideline. Carlos Tevez, Dimitar Berbatov and Paul Scholes are all pushing for a start after only making the bench in midweek.

Possible Man City line up:
Given, Richards, Onuoha, Dunne, Bridge, De Jong, Kompany, Elano, Ireland, Robinho, Caicedo.

Possible Man Utd line up:
Van der Sar, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Giggs, Fletcher, Scholes, Rooney, Ronaldo, Berbatov.

My Prediction: Man Utd 1 - 3 Man City.

Worth a bet: Ireland or Elano score the first goal in a City win.

2 comments:

  1. Its a joy to read these post's but I have hated united with a passion since 1967 and the flame will never die.
    The world though has changed, we are no longer being inspired by the words of Malcolm Allison to overthrow thier local dominance. We have overcome them and the proof is that we no longer live in thier shadow.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I just prefer not to give them even the time of day, why would I want them going through my head.

    Don't get me wrong though I would sacrafice body parts if it meant beating them.

    ReplyDelete