YOUR mission, should you choose to accept it, is to face Manchester City in an FA Cup final and deny them the Treble.
That is the challenge Manchester United face on Saturday, and it’s the same one my Watford side faced four years ago.
That was the biggest match of my career. The manager and all of the team prepared impeccably, our attitude was spot-on, we had belief and confidence. We got stuffed 6-0.
Facing Pep Guardiola’s City is a challenge like no other. They suffocate you, they frustrate you, they mentally exhaust you, they bully you and they end up demoralising you.
On more than one occasion against City, I have literally found myself, out on the pitch, counting their players because I was genuinely convinced they must have more men than us.
And they don’t seem to have any weaknesses.
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You face other great teams and you know there are potential weak links.
Play Manchester United and you know Fred might take one too many touches. Jump on that. Go up against Chelsea and Cesar Azpilicueta lacks height. You try to exploit those small margins.
With City, there is none of that — and even more so now than four years ago.
City were a more beautiful footballing side in 2019 than they are today.
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But now, with Erling Haaland, they are the most complete team in the world.
If you try to press this City team, they can go long to Haaland. Even their keeper, Ederson, has a sledgehammer of a left foot. Sit off them and it’s death by a thousand passes. World-class players everywhere, running at you from all angles.
Players like Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes, who demand the ball and are so used to seeing plenty of it, get starved of action and they will feel that frustration, which is unique to facing City.
United have far more quality than we had at Watford and I’d really like to tell you that I think this Cup final will be a great contest — but I don’t think it will even be close.
You can say it’s a one-off game. You can say that anything can happen in a derby. You can say United are in decent form. You can say that United beat City at home the last time they met.
Try all you like to make a case for Erik ten Hag’s men but you will be ignoring just how good City are.
Even Real Madrid got spanked at the Etihad in the Champions League. City are world football’s Galacticos now.
Facing Guardiola himself as an opposition player is a funny experience, too.
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He kills you with kindness. He’s always complimenting you. Perhaps he’s trying to soften you up. Or keep his team on their toes.
I’d rather an opposition manager was snarling at me instead!
And today City will have the supreme motivation of becoming footballing immortals.
City completed English football’s only domestic treble when they defeated us in 2019 but this team can emulate the United team which did the ultimate Treble in 1999.
That side, along with Arsenal’s Invincibles, are generally regarded as the best Premier League teams ever and City will stand alongside them if they win today and defeat Inter Milan in Istanbul next weekend.
United have motivation, too. Stopping City winning the Treble would mean more to them than any other club, and if they complete a Cup double, having qualified for the Champions League, it will end up being an excellent first season for Ten Hag. But I’m not seeing it.
Maybe it’s that I’m still haunted by the 2019 final. I’m still convinced we were in that game for half an hour. We had a decent penalty shout and Roberto Pereyra squandered a one-on-one with Ederson when it was still goalless.
But you simply have to be ruthless when you get a chance against City.
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To beat City, you must be ruthless, you must be impeccable and you will need to have fortune on your side.
Good luck, United. You are going to need it.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
