For all their early season talk about how close they were to Barcelona, last week a dark cloud descended upon Manchester’s illustrious clubs when they were eliminated from Europe’s major show piece. Despite premier league dominance during the early season, both United and City will now have to make do with the less glamorous Europa League. This week we explore which of the two clubs will be blinded by this dark cloud to derail their premier league campaign.
For City, elimination as Champions League novices from the group of death is excusable. They also have Europa League experience to draw from and arguably the deepest squad in Europe to manage the challenge of Thursday night and Sunday football better than their Manchester rivals.
United on the other hand, a three time winner and finalist in three of the last four seasons was very embarrassed by elimination from the most winnable of groups. As they demonstrated against Wolves last weekend, and previously following a 2003 first leg quarter final battering in Madrid, United are at their most dangerous after embarrassment.
City has such a deep squad it can afford to keep their players fresh all season for both Europe and domestic contest. United on the other hand has over nine first team players out injured, including Vidic, the glue that holds a sometimes leaky defense together. Ferguson has stressed that United do not need to feel sorry for themselves about the injuries and if he can navigate December with the team in touching distance of the league leaders, will stand a good chance of reclaiming the title. One can draw parallels between this season and the 2009/2010 season when players returning in the second half of the season propelled United from total obscurity to finish the season within a point of Chelsea.
Although the Europa League is one trophy that Ferguson has never won, we would be silly to think this will motivate him to prioritize it over the premier league. Despite reports that Ferguson has only not won this trophy because his teams have never been bad enough to compete in it, United did not even make the cut for Europa on the last two occasions they were eliminated from the group stages (1994 and 2005). Given their stretched player resources, United’s best hope for a sustained premier league challenge may be to dedicate the Europa League to academy and fringe players’ experience.
The biggest challenge for City at the start of the season was how to keep the egos of their overpaid stars in check. The Tevez Munich disaster did not just conclude his transformation from talisman to villain, but finally gave Mancini a chance to make his mark as the dressing room’s top dog.
Given that both United and City are likely to prioritize the premier league, it is very unlikely that the Europa league will shape their respective premier league destinies. With their high up the field pressing game recently showing frailties when countered with energy and pace, City’s collapse may depend on whether players of other teams will have the courage and discipline to implement this blue print. A few more losses may cause dressing room unrest as some of Mancini’s stars begin to question his strategy. Having played most of their premier league title rivals away from home in the first half of the season, City have the easier run in on paper. Despite enjoying a perfect home record thus far, City fans will be wary that their home record over many of their title rivals has not been flawless in recent seasons. United’s season on the other hand rests on how Ferguson addresses Vidic’s absence and a midfield that lacks a cutting edge.
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