Man City toyed with them Keane and Micah REACT to Manchester derby | We’ll come to Manchester United’s performance in just a second. But from City, it felt very much, Micah, as a case of, it’s what they do.
Well, I said before the game, it’s about being calm, being composed, and waiting for the right moment. In the first half, I thought United defended excellently well. City found it hard to break them down, although they did have some chances. It’s just about playing a normal game, relaxing, believing in your ability, and in that second half, the game’s always going to open up. United defended so well, but they can’t do it for 90 minutes. Being that deep, making them short runs, they tie you out, they grind you down, and then in the end, the quality just shone through. It’s two different teams. It’s one who They were trying to find themselves. People have talked about the structure and the style of play. I thought today they did it in certain parts in the game, but in the end, Man City just blew them away with their quality.
In terms of those criticisms that there have been for Manchester United, one has been about the structure, first of all, whether there is a definable structure, and secondly, about, at times, commitment from Manchester United. Were either of those things, do you think, lacking, particularly today?
I don’t want to be too hard on United today because I just thought Man City were brilliant. Man City showed why they’re champions. That’s 11 league losses now for United. What City do is they find out all your shortcomings. And when you’re on that pitch and it’s tough, there is no hiding place. It’s like a boxer. We’ve seen the boxer. When you’re in that ring, there’s no hiding place. And they just wore him, wore him down. United made a substitution. Johnny went off after about 69 minutes. They had to change the back four and they were hanging on there anyway. And the stats at the end of the game show you how strong and dominant this Man City were. And Man City, even people like Haaland, De Bruyne weren’t at their very best. But then you have people like Foden who step up. We spoke about it before the game. An amazing, brilliant player. And United, it still leaves that question mark over Man United. Where does this Man United team going? Particularly when it was the last 20, 25 minutes, they couldn’t get near City. City toyed with them. But again, I’d probably to the effort, it’s more credit to City than really being critical of this Man United team.
Because again, Man United, we know their shortcomings, but when you play Man City, there’s no hiding place. So United will have to take their medicine today. But again, huge question marks again for this team, and unfortunately for the manager.
That calmness and belief that you talked about from Manchester City is based on evidence. That’s 21 points they’ve taken now from losing positions this season. They know that they can finish a game strongly.
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Yeah, I think they believe in their ability. You see the quality players, like Roy said, I don’t think De Bruyne was at his very best today, and Haaland, too. But you’ve still got Bernardo Silva, you’ve still got Foden, you’ve still got Stones going into pockets for when Man United were trying to press. I think the big difference for me today was Man City’s bench. If you look at who they could introduce on the pitch and then who Man United… And yes, we also want to see youngsters doing very well, but Man City can bring on a World Cup winner, and he’s involved within the goal, and that is just the different at the moment. I think I agree with Roy, it’s not a time to be very critical of Man United today because I did see good signs of what they were trying to do, but in the end, they just not got the quality needed He’s needed for this level in terms of Man City.
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I guess that’s 11 league games they’ve lost. That’s one scary stat when you consider, you look at what United are, to give up so many goals in defeat. We spoke last week, it was the Fulham game. They lacked a bit of energy, they lacked They had that, but the last 20, 25 minutes, City were just, again, men v boys at the end, and they were just hanging in there and they were making mistakes. And again, the lads coming off the bench, not quite getting up to speed. City’s players coming on and making a difference, giving them energy. And towards the end, then you’re thinking, it could be four or five. I have to take it.