Lessons of a 1-6

A derby is not a normal game. A city or a region or even a country gets divided in two sides. Football gets more tribal than ever, it is you or the neighbor. The game crosses the usual lines of sport to become a social event, especially in the local derbies, where the rival neighbor lives next door. The fans of both teams get mixed in their work places, pubs or even in the same family in a more or less healthy banter. This is why yesterday was a terrible day to be a Manchester United fan. Manchester City, their eternal enemy, crushed them at home in a historical 1-6 and the Theater of Dreams was the one of nightmares... the worst nightmare.

This game was interesting to watch for several reasons. First of all, it was the derby of the city of Manchester and this is enough to know that we are talking about a different game. But this time we were in front the most attractive Manchester derby ever. Manchester City was the leader, two points ahead United, who played at home to assault the first position. We were talking about two giants. Manchester United has been the team of the Premiership in the last couple of decades. In this time, Alex Ferguson has built an empire and has written the most memorable era in the history of the club. On the other hand, Manchester City was (still is) a rising power. Since the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan has the ownership of the club, he did not hesitate to spend whatever it takes to be the best team on Earth. They are still to prove that they can actually be the best, but things were working smoothly so far, since the team was leading the table of the Premier League with iron hand, not showing weaknesses in their football. All this mix made this game something really interesting.

Dzeko says six

What no one really expected was the 1-6 at the end of the match. Any victory (or defeat, it depends on your perspective) in a derby has a special effect. The winners get a dose of euphoria, while the losers get a painful slap in the face. But a beating of this kind crosses the usual lines, which are already exaggerated, of the usual feelings after a derby. This 1-6 will not be the result of one more derby, but a historical one, something that both sides will remember, each one in their own particular way. Alex Ferguson described the day as his "worst-ever day"... and Alex Ferguson is old enough to have lots of bad days, despite he has usually enjoyed more happy days. For the Manchester City fans, this result will be written in golden letters in their history, the chase of DVDs of the game has already started for sure and the years will pass and the City fans who watched this game will tell their children and grand-children about it: "The day we won 1-6 at Old Trafford".

Which kind of effect is supposed to have a 1-6? It is evident that this is the kind of result that has consequences. From the City point of view, it definitely is a turning point in their history. The petrol-money has given them the chance to build a super-team, but a collection of stars does not guarantee titles. In fact, they did not win a title yet, but this victory is so powerful, so noisy and so special that now they really have good reasons to believe that their dream is closer to be reality. It is evident that this result does not close the English league. There are lots of games to be played yet and the five point gap is not definitive. But something has changed. Until yesterday, Manchester City was one of the favorites to win the title. At this point, no one would hesistate to say that City is THE favorite to win the Premier League, not forgetting that the Champions League is a possibility too. This change is the minds of City fans and rivals is not irrelevant.

Balotelli, eccentric and brilliant

From the United point of view, this result is a shock. Manchester United is used to mistreat rivals, especially in recent times. During the last two decades, United is the owner of the Premier League and, even in the worst moments of this period, they have always been the reference, the rival to beat. But this time United was the mistreated team. When you are so used to win, a defeat is always painful... but this kind of beating is a torture. This result will have consequences. It does not matter how well United has been doing so far, this 1-6 sets a "before" and an "after". At this point, the United players, staff and fans will probably be wondering what has happened and how it actually happened. This result will mark the season of United or, at least, the following dates. This result will haunt them as a ghost during the entire year and it will not disappear. The following games will show us how Manchester United digested this terrible defeat. This digestion is a must, the result evidences a problem that requires solutions. It is impossible to know if the solutions are in hand or if they will have to be found at the end of the year. We are talking about the current winner of the competition and the runner-up of the Champions League.

In each case, the emotions must be focused in the right direction. The euphoria is dangerous for City. The title is not in hand, there are lots of games to be played, there are lots of moments of suffering to be suffered and, probably, lots of moments of joy to live too, but the league is only won when the maths say so. The 1-6 can only be good news, but Mancini's job is to put the team's feet on the ground. There are many precedents of failure celebrations.

Face-palm Rooney in the Theater of Nightmares

Depression is United's danger. The result is emotional, but Alex Ferguson must throw all the feelings to the garbage to build a bubble to isolate the team from the hostile environment. Emotions must turn into rationality. Nine matches have been played so far, so twenty-nine are yet to be played including one in City's home. United is only five point down, not an impossible distance to overcome in just a few weeks. And this is when history is a useful tool. Alex Ferguson and his boys must sit down, get calm and take a look to what they have done in recent years. It is not that we are talking about a veteran team without a future, but a collection of important players that are in their best age and their previous achievements are good and high enough to make a reference on the pride of the team. The 1-6 must be an accident, not a turning point, not the end of a cycle. As we said in a previous entry, if there is a word to define Alex Ferguson, that is competitiveness. Manchester United must use this game to learn. It is not time to regret, but time to compete, as their coach always did.

In one way or another, it has been the result of the weekend. A historical one in a year of historic results in the Premier League. This 1-6 is a result that has shocked the entire World, a memorable day for Manchester City and their fans, while the rest of the World look at them in a mix of envy, admiration and a certain dose of surprise. This result has made me turn my view to them. Until yesterday, a team that was a collection of individuals with an average coach, Roberto Mancini, and now a reference in Europe. Everyone will talk about them seriously now... but I also believe that, if there is a team and a coach that can actually turn a 1-6 into something positive that can only be Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson. We will see.

1-6, a historic result

The Premier League 2011/2012 season by the fans

There is no need to say that the English Premier League is the most important, prestigious and popular league of the World in this moment. The Premier League enjoys some of the richest clubs of the World and, as a consequence, the level of competitiveness is huge. If there is an unpredictable league at this point, it has to be the Premier League.

Manchester United defends the title. Sir Alex Ferguson extended his already huge collection of titles with another title last year. It was the last year of legendary players like Edwin Van der Sar, Phil Neville and, especially, Paul Scholes, being all of them part of the history of the Red Devils. Now they added important players like Phil Jones, David De Gea or Ashley Young to an already poweful team. Chelsea FC has been and will probably be the main rival of the Mancunians. The club of London starts a new project based on the signing of the young but prestigious Portuguese coach Andre Villas-Boas. The core of the team is practically the same of the veteran team that ended up being the runner-up in the previous season, along with young players like the star signings Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku, among other young additions that set the base of the future Chelsea. The rising power can only be Manchester City, who will definitely present a super-team to fight for every single title they are in. Another summer and Manchester City did not hesitate to keep spending their infinite budget and signed Kun Agüero in one of the most important transfers of the season. There are no excuses for the team of Roberto Mancini.

Aside the 3 main favorites on paper, it is impossible to forget Arsene Wenger's Arsenal. The departure of their leader and captain Cesc Fàbregas and the possible exit of Samir Nasri makes the challenge more difficult than ever. Aside the usual arrival of young players to reinforce the squad, Arsenal can still make their last movements before the end of August. The collection of important favorites is closed by Liverpool FC. The club of Anfield want to finish the transition from the Rafa Benítez era to become a power again. Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam, José Enrique and Stewart Downing join Luis Suárez and Andy Carroll in this new project led by the legend Kenny Daglish.

In order to help us analyze the new season, we count on the help of several members of the prestigious xtratime.org forum who will give us their opinion:

What do you expect from your club for the Premier League season that started a few weeks ago?

Gabriel "Vidic15" (Manchester United FC) - Judging by the first 3 games I can expect youth, pace, one touch football of the highest order and some. The transition to the last Fergie team is in its final stages and it really is exciting to watch. He is a remarkable man. There will be tough times, no doubt. Especially for the new goalkeeper De Gea, impossible to expect a 20 year old lad who is still developing to fit in seamlessly into a club like United and English football. Doesn't even speak English yet but he should be ok long term. Think it was positive for him to make a mistake or two in games the team still ended up winning.

Think the 0-2 to 3-2 turnaround vs Man City will sum up our season. We've got great depth in every position other than central midfield and the best manager in the business. It says it all that these young players have already been part of a trophy success by coming back from a difficult position. A new generation of last minute winning games, winning games you don't deserve to win etc

It's extraordinary really, Ferguson is into his 25th year of doing this. Best manager ever.

CityBlue (Manchester City FC) - With the talent we have brought to our club, I expect us to win the title, there are no excuses.

Alec Cobas (Chelsea FC) -  Enter the Champions League. Nothing more.

Zhuge Liang (Arsenal FC) - Actually I don’t really have high expectation of how far Arsenal can go this season. After the departure of our two most important players, Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, Wenger have two big tasks in front of him : First, to qualify for CL group stage, which is successful. Second, to reorganize and reinforce his team to add depth and quality that lost. The later one looks easy, but in reality Arsenal always keep their transfer expense low no matter what. Right now, the area that urgently needs strengthening is our defensive area, especially the left flank since both our main LB and his back-up are still young players and one is currently injured. So far we have filled Nasri’s usual role with Gervinho, who is natural wing attacker and it turns out good. For Cesc, I think for time being , it’ll be rotated between Ramsey and Rosicky, while Wilshere still plays his usual 'Iniesta' role in current formation.

So I think the best Arsenal can achieve for this new season is 4th position. It’s the most realistic target considering our team state and our injury records.If we lucky maybe we can try to get a shot at Carling Cup or FA Cup again, we got quite promising youngsters to play there.

Ryfa (Liverpool FC) - As a Liverpool fan, my minimum expectations for this season is finishing within the top 4. It will be difficult as we'll be challenging Arsenal and Spurs for that position but we've spent a decent amount of money in the transfer window, buying the likes of Enrique, Downing Henderson and Adam. Not world class players but they all fill a hole in the squad. Liverpool have needed a reliable leftback and decent winger for years and finally we've got them. I expect them all (except Henderson) to make a mark this season. With Dalglish as our manager, who has shown some excellent tactical nous, his great man management skills and the excellent Luis Suarez, Liverpool should have enough to consolidate 4th spot.

Would also like/expect Liverpool to win a domestic cup. It will be 6 years without a trophy for Liverpool if we don't and i believe that will be the longest we've gone without winning one for over 40 years. Liverpool have no European football which will be an advantage over the other top 5 clubs, and we also have pretty big squad to utilise so can't see why winning a trophy isn't possible.

Who do you consider is the main favorite to win the title?

Gabriel "Vidic15" (Manchester United FC) - United for the league. Flawless home record for many years now which has been the bedrock of all their title challenges, as proven by last season when we were horrific away from home but were saved by 18 wins at home out of 19. We surely won't be that bad again away and I expect us to keep up a similar home record so that is pushing the 90 point barrier which will be enough to win the league this season.

Chelsea and City to follow behind United, in no particular order. Have to admit Chelsea will go serioulsy close if they do land Modric, the best central midfielder in Europe outside of the Barca bunch. Fantastic talent.

Alec Cobas (Chelsea FC) -Manchester United

CityBlue (Manchester City FC) - The main favorites for the title I think are Man City and Chelsea (if they buy Modric, if not than Man Utd.).

Zhuge Liang (Arsenal FC) - Manchester United. It’s simply because they have the biggest mentality to win things. The morale is sky high and their players have very good link and understanding to each others which is important.

Ryfa (Liverpool FC) - Manchester City, are my outright favourites. Great squad with no obvious weaknesses and they've finally got a winning mentality which is the most important thing. Mancini is often accused of being negative but City have played some great attacking football in the two games played so far. Remains to be seen if this is just fluke.

Manchester United will also be up there who you can never right them off, especially with Ferguson as manager.

Among the favorites, who do you consider is going to struggle or fail?

Gabriel "Vidic15" (Manchester United FC) - Arsenal aren't really favourites anymore but my god what a mess they are. And it's all Wenger's fault.

He has known for months that both Cesc and Nasri were adamant they would leave, yet he kept ignoring the situation until the start of the season leaving Arsenal in serious disarray as they get more and more injuries.... If he had just sold the players when they made it clear they wanted to leave they would have had plenty of time to sign new players and no doubt be more prepared for this injury crisis they are suffering.

The Cesc and Nasri stubborness also led to them missing out on a cut price Mata who would have been a excellent Nasri replacement. He now will ply his trade just a short train ride away over in West London instead. Classic Wenger.

He should be sacked. Crazy that it's come to that, but that is how much he has regressed.

Alec Cobas (Chelsea FC) - Chelsea and Arsenal. I don't consider Liverpool as favorites.

CityBlue (Manchester City FC) - I think United is going to fail because they still haven't bought a proper playmaker, the luck from last year is going to run out.

Zhuge Liang (Arsenal FC) - I think all top clubs in Premiership try their best to improve themselves. For Arsenal, I don’t think we are title contender this season. We don’t have enough depth or quality to go all the way going through all the competitions. I think the title race will be between Man Utd and Chelsea again with Man City comes close.

Ryfa (Liverpool FC) - Chelsea over the past few years have been constant challengers for the title. Provided that their current squad remains as it is and Fernando Torres continues to struggle, i feel they willll struggle to match City and Utd's quality. Lampard is aging and if he's not chipping in with the goals from midfield, there is no one that can fill in for him. They are however linked to Modric and Mata and if they pull of those two transfers, it will be a three way battle for the title.

I'd normally mention Arsenal amongst the title favourites but i think currently they're in a hole so deep that even with a few new buys, they won't be capable of challenging for the title. Their lack of a winning mentality plus the need for the squad to gel in Cesc's departure means that they will need time to get back to the highest level.

About the European competitions, who is your favorite to win the UEFA Champions League?

Gabriel "Vidic15" (Manchester United FC) - Barcelona. Not much else to say really. Just to confirm further they are an era defining team by being the first team to retain the CL since that amazing AC Milan team of 20 odd years ago.

Alec Cobas (Chelsea FC) - Barcelona

CityBlue (Manchester City FC) - Barcelona will be big favorite for CL, but i can see City maybe challenging them?

Zhuge Liang (Arsenal FC) - Other than Barcelona, I see no other club has good chance winning it. It will be either Man Utd or Real Madrid as Barcelona’s opponent in this season CL final.

Ryfa (Liverpool FC) - Three favourites in my opinion, Barca, Real Madrid and City with Barca having the edge.

No team since the CL began has retained the CL so history doesn't favour Barca here but then again this is a legendary Barca team, and if any team can retain the CL it will be Barca.

Real Madrid with Mourinho at the helm will always be a massive threat. He's the man that can get under the skin of Barca (the ultimate favourites for the competition) and has done so in the past. He has a quality team under him, one that will have another year to gel, improve, become even more Mourinho-nised. Ultimately though, the only team capable of stopping Real Madrid is Barca. Somehow avoid Barca during the CL and they can win the CL.

Manchester City are the wildcard. They've never played in the CL, they've got Mancini as a manager who got sacked by Inter for not succeeding in the CL so really not much should be expected of them. But it also can't be ignored they've got a pretty brilliant squad. Quality GK, solid defence (not world class though), strong midfield and a harem of world class strikers. On paper, they're strong enough to challenge for the CL. In reality though, they have too much going against them.

And your favorites for La Liga and the Serie A?

Gabriel "Vidic15" (Manchester United FC) - Barcelona are clear favourites for the Primera, the best team in the world have added Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez, both are hard working, explosive youngsters who will add much quality to your first XI and squad. Madrid seriously missed out on Aguero and also failed to strengthen what I consider a seriously average defense (Pepe, Ramos).

Oh and Mourinho is a complete arsehole by the way.

Don't watch Serie A as much as I used to but Inter's decline since winning the CL is something I couldn't avoid. Eto'o gone, Sneijder likely to go, Maicon, Lucio and Samuel all declining/legs going.

All the top teams look poor there at the moment, says a lot when the serie a winners Ac Milan get beaten with such comfort by the 5th placed team in England Spurs in the cl last season.

Gonna tip Roma off purely for their new project with Luis Enrique. They've bought well this summer(Lamela, Osvaldo, Stekelenburg, Bojan etc) No reason why they can't win the scudetto, even for a casual watcher like me it's pretty clear there is no stand out team at the moment and the league is only now gonna really the pain of the Calciopoli. Though if other clubs get foreign investment like Roma, that'll change quickly.

Alec Cobas (Chelsea FC) - Barcelona and Milan

CityBlue (Manchester City FC) - In La Liga, Barça is going to be champions, and in Seria A, I would say AC Milan.

Zhuge Liang (Arsenal FC) - I think Barcelona still has too much quality to continue their domination in La Liga. However, Mourinho will try his best to fix his record in La Liga for sure. As much as I hate him, I have to admit Mourinho is borned a winner. He will try his best to find a way to defeat Barcelona. Real Madrid didn’t sign any well-known big star player this season. But I see he has made some positive adjustments like making Benzema his primary striker. The only concerns for Barcelona is their backline in case there’s injury. Mascherano seems to be more active as defensive back-up rather than his natural position.

For Serie A, I think Milan still has biggest chance to win the title followed closely by Inter.

Ryfa (Liverpool FC) - There are only ever two favourites for La Liga, Barca and Real Madrid.

Barca will naturally be favourites although it must be said Real Madrid are now closing the gap. I expect Real Madrid to actually put a challenge in and make the title race last until May. Barca will ultimately win though.

Malaga have spent a quite a bit this summer, but they're still a while off from challenging. Atletico, are Atletico. Valencia, no chance now they've sold Mata.

Serie A, I admit to not really watching much of or even keeping up with the latest news from that league. Milan won it last season, Inter for the last half a decade have been challenging and winning the league, so i'll just sit on the fence and say it will be between the two of them.

All these interviews were done during last week (before the games of this weekend). I would like to thank them for their contribution and I hope to see them here more times in the future.

Sir Alex Ferguson, the man who changed United's history

I can not imagine Manchester United without Sir Alex Ferguson. The United's Scottish coach is the only one I know in that club and the reality is that the Mancunians have been a reference of success during all my life. I have seen several English clubs having their peak moments during the last couple of decades, but Manchester United has always been there and the only common factor during all these years has a name: Sir Alex Ferguson.

His biography and achievements are well-known. It is impossible to find an active coach who has won as much as he did. He has been the coach of Manchester United since 1986, which means that several generations of football fans do not know any other coach in Manchester United and, given the size and importance of this club, it is impossible to understand it, if he was not the most competitive coach I know.

Taking a look to Manchester United's history, you realize that the Red Devils have a great historical coaches and teams in the past. The most relevant, known and successful was the one of Sir Matt Busby, who was their coach from 1945 to 1969. He was the architect of the first glorious era of Manchester United, the father of the Busby Babes, the legendary team whose career was dramatically cut in an airplan crash in Munich after an European Cup game, back in in 1958. Busby did not surrender and, with the survivors of the ashes of Munich, being one himself, he built the team that ended up winning the European Cup 10 years later.

But with the retirement of the light which had been leading the way of the club for 24 years, Manchester United started a dark era in their history, without a league title in decades. When Alex Ferguson was given the job after his successful stage in Aberdeen, the fans probably were missing the good old days. His early years in United were not easy and it took several years to see the team winning a title and it was this way until the FA Cup of 1990, which gave them the right to play and win the Cup Winners' Cup in 1991 against Johan Cryuff's Barcelona. Manchester United started to win again and they did not stop until now. 12 Premiership titles, 2 Champions League, 5 FA Cups, a Cup Winners' Cup, an Intercontinental Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup.

The key of the success is based in the method. Sir Alex Ferguson is a competitive animal. He has been able to put the institution over the individualities, the team over any star. In his teams, there is something you can not negotiate: his idea of football. His discipline does not admit exceptions, which caused the exit of very important players, even legendary players, but set a clear message: the most important is the team and the idea, not any individuality. And he represents the idea.

In the last two decades, we can remember memorable teams. The beginning of the 90s had Eric Cantona as symbol, surrounded by the legendary Bryan Robson, the forward Mark Hughes or Steve Bruce among other players, and the early appearances of Ryan Giggs and Roy Keane.

The failure in 1995 after the two titles of 1993 and 1994 gave Ferguson the excuse to make his revolution. While important players of the first part of the 90s, like Hughes or Paul Ince, left the team, Ferguson did not hesitate to create a team whose base were young members of the team like David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Gary and Phil Neville or Nicky Butt and the already mentioned Roy Keane and Ryan Giggs. What seemed to be an attack of madness was the beginning of a brilliant era, winning 5 leagues in the following 6 years. This team peak moment was the victory in the dramatic Champions League final of 1999 in the Camp Nou against Bayern Munich, which closed the circle of their historical Treble that season.

In the mid 2000s, Alex Ferguson started the slow revolution (evolution) that set the base of the future winning team. As we already said, the winning formula always grew from solid grounds. Alex Ferguson did not hesitate to sell players, despite their importance in and out of the pitch. His personal friction with David Beckham, a pop-star icon already; Roy Keane, a captain loved by Old Trafford; or Ruud Van Nistelrooy, a reference during the first part of this decade, have never been a problem for Manchester United to keep winning titles.

In the last part of the 2000s, he built a new team around young players like Cristiano Ronaldo or Wayne Rooney, symbols like Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, and team player signings like Nemanja Vidic, Edwin Van der Sar or  Rio Ferdinand. Players come and go, but the titles are there: 4 Premier League out of the last 5, 1 Champions League title and 2 more finals. It does not matter that Cristiano Ronaldo leaves, the idea remains, which always was the most important, and the team keeps winning, which is the most relevant.

Sir Alex Ferguson is discipline in the idea, but capacity of reinvention. Sir Alex Ferguson is the coach that represents the word competitiveness. Alex Ferguson has seen how football changed, from the importance of  individual talent of classic football to the systematic philosophy of modern football. Despite his age, his methods are modern, he believes in his ideas over any individual supernova (and Manchester United had lots of them in the last decades). Owners come and go, players come and go, but the idea remains and his legacy is going to be nearly impossible to match. Sir Alex Ferguson is a reference, a living legend and a way to see football. Probably, the best I have ever seen.