“It’s not just about spending money.”
Now that Manchester City are all but certain to win the Premier League title this season, the narrative has completely shifted. At the start of the season, the majority of pundits and fans felt it would be a close-run battle between City and Manchester United, with many choosing Jose Mourinho’s team as their favourites to win the league.
Back at the start of October, when Mourinho instructed his team not to attack a shaky Liverpool defence, and made Dejan Lovren look like Paolo Maldini, the same people said that a goalless draw at Anfield was a “good result” for a team chasing the title. The fact that United had dropped two points on City that day, and stunted their own momentum, appeared to be lost, and the gap between the two sides has continued to increase since.
Heading in 2018, Pep Guardiola’s team are 15 points clear, the biggest lead at this stage of the season in the history of the English top-flight.
Now the narrative has shifted. The reasons offered for United dropping behind Guardiola’s team, and for City’s dominance, include:
- City are running away with the title because they spent hundreds of millions on new players.
- Mourinho has said United need to spend even more than the £600m they’ve paid for players since 2013.
- Paul Pogba’s injury derailed United’s progress, while other players, such as Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Romelu Lukaku, lost form at key stages of the season.
- United are still reliant on players from Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign, and have recruited poorly in recent seasons.
- They can’t compete with a club funded by petrodollars.
- Guardiola inherited Kevin de Bruyne, David Silva and Sergio Aguero. Mourinho inherited Ashley Young, Marouane Fellaini and Chris Smalling.
However, it’s not really a question of money, as both clubs have roughly the same resources at their disposal. They finished level on points in the season before Guardiola and Mourinho arrived, and have identical wage budgets.
Essentially, the reason City are so far clear of their rivals is because Guardiola is a better coach than Mourinho, and has improved his players and team to a greater degree than his counterpart at United.
This was something Jamie Carragher spoke about on Wednesday night, when the praised the impact of Guardiola.
“Pep Guardiola is the star for me of Manchester City,” Carragher said on Sky Sports, during coverage of City’s 1-0 win over Newcastle United at St James’ Park.
“They had Fernandinho at centre-back tonight, and had Eliaquim Mangala, who previous managers don’t seem to have wanted, and Danilo playing at left-back when he isn’t really a left-back. Sometimes for how good City are you look at the names on paper and not everyone gets into an all-time XI.
“I know there’s been talk of Jose Mourinho saying he needs more money, but look at the improvement of two players under Guardiola. It’s not just about spending money, every top club in world football spends money, that’s what you have to do, but the improvement in players he has inherited is why they are so far ahead of Manchester United.”
“De Bruyne is now the best player in the Premier League and could go on to be one of the best in the world if he is not there already. His improvement has come under Guardiola. Raheem Sterling did not have a great start to his Manchester City career and was not a regular, but he is now one of the best wide players in the Premier League. Look at the improvements. It’s not just about spending money, every top club in world football spends money, that’s what you have to do, but the improvement in players he has inherited is why they are so far ahead of Manchester United.”
Kyle Walker, Mangala, Otamendi and Fabian Delph, a midfielder, is no-one’s idea of a title winning defence. Yet, that’s the back-four which finished City’s 2-1 win over United at Old Trafford at the start of December. De Bruyne was frozen-out by Mourinho at Chelsea and sold for £18m. Now he’s the best player in the league, thanks to his immense talent and the coaching of Guardiola. Sterling has become an assassin in front of goal, with 13 goals in 18 games in the league this season.
Meanwhile, Mourinho has left Lukaku isolated up-front in big matches, a role he’s completely unsuited to, and discarded Mkhitaryan, a player who recorded five assists in his first three games of the season.
When it comes down to it, City are ahead of United because they have a better coach.
