No Power Shift In The City Of Manchester

Manchester City have for so long been the comical club who have provided the Red side of the City with something to laugh at down the years, What was there not to laugh about?

A club who's celebrity fan is Curly Watts, the strange adopted terrace craze of the Inflatable Banana, the three stars above the club crest, signing Spencer Prior on deadline day, supposedly having the widest pitch, the greenest grass and tallest floodlights in the Football League, and lets not forget the words "Massive" and "Bitter".

This is the same club, who's manager once instructed his players to keep possession of the ball in the corner late on in a game when drawing 1-1, unaware his team needed a win to stay up!

On the final day of the 2011-2012 Premier League season at the Etihad, City finally laid that element of laughter to bed, but with three minutes of injury time left those long suffering supporters must have thought they were going to live up to their "Typical City" tag.

Sheikh Mansour's billion pound fortune has ensured that Manchester City are now a force in English football, two trophies in three years would suggest this. Sir Alex Ferguson labelled City the "noisy neighbours", their first title success since 1968 means that for the summer those who live next door will be very noisy indeed as they finally have something to be loud about.

Sir Alex has had to overcome some challenges in his time in charge at United, City's title win will represent another campaign in which he will look to put a stop to a team who some suggest could dominate the Barclay's Premier League for years to come.

Unlike the Arsenal "Invincible" team under the guidance of Arsene Wenger, and Jose Mourinho's Chelsea team, I don't fear or sense a shift in power, if you go off the season that has just finished. Manchester United simply threw away the league title this year. I am not taking anything away from City, I have always stated that the league table does not lie, but its the fact is come down to goal difference that suggests to me that there is not much between both Manchester Clubs.

United only have themselves to blame for their disappointment this year. Just over a moth ago they were eight points clear of City and they simply crumbled, like a biscuit would under intense pressure after being dipped in a hot cup of tea.

Labelled by many as the worst ever Manchester United team under the guidance of Sir Alex shows just how well United have done this season to be pipped on goal difference, to a team who have invested nearly £500million on world class and quality proven players.

The start of the 2013-2014 season will see the introduction of the Financial Fair Play regulation that will see some manners and thought into how City spend in the summer. Its a regulation that will ensure that no other team does a Chelsea or a Man City and effectively use financial power to go from being a mid table mediocre football team, to being crowned Premier League Champions.

This season following City's title success, there has not been a shift of power in the City of Manchester, but its the Blue side who have the trophy and bragging rights.

Fergie Loses Game Of Derby Black Jack

Picture the scene, an Italian man called Roberto enters a Manchester Casino and approaches the Black Jack table, the croupier is a Scottish man named Alex. The cards are turned over, the croupier's hand is not 21 but its a strong hand, the Italian knows its by no means unbeatable.

The croupier decides to stick, Roberto has already gone all in on his hand knowing he has nothing to lose, and decides to twist. The next card the Italian gets totals his cards at 21, its won him the hand and there is nothing the Scottish croupier can do about it, sound familiar?

It pretty much sums up how the eagerly anticipated Manchester derby ended up, one manager decided to stick, the other one twisted and was rewarded for his decision.

From the minute the starting elevens were confirmed, it was obvious that Sir Alex Ferguson was looking to protect Manchester Uniteds three point cushion at the top of the Barclay's Premier League. The words "caution" and "negative" leapt out as it became clear that United were visiting the Etihad looking to flood the midfield with bodies to try and barricade the threat of Manchester City's midfield creativity.

In stark contrast Roberto Mancini's team selection, suggested that City would not echo the same intentions of Sir Alex's team set up, it was very much the total opposite. By naming Nasri, Silva, Toure, Aguero and Tevez in the attacking third of the field, Mancini's team selection was positive in comparison to Ferguson's negative selection.

From the minute the whistle was blown to indicate the start of this gladiator like bout, United were obviously happy to try and keep possession without actually causing City and attacking threat. Wayne Rooney has never performed convincingly or with any great confidence as a lone front man, and his performance will go down as one of his least productive in a red shirt, and that's being polite!

Its a match that suddenly started to remind me of the Champions League final in Rome 2009 against Barcelona. I am not for a minute comparing Manchester City with Barcelona, but that final was a match that Sir Alex tried playing defensively in, the supporters turned up, but the players didn't, it was exactly the same at the Etihad for this huge Manchester derby.

Uniteds game plan looked to be going well until on the stroke of half time, City captain Vincent Kompany leapt above Chris Smalling to power the ball past a helpless David De Gea. City did not really deserve their lead, but in terms of how they set up, they had asked more questions and were more positive than United pressing forward.

The introduction of Danny Welbeck in the second half seen United adopt a preferred formation of 4-4-2 rather than the 4-5-1 they had started the match with. The 4-5-1 formation is something United never look comfortable playing, its not the United way. From the early management days of Matt Busby the philosophy has always been to attack, United have always used it as their best form of defence. Uniteds negative approach reflected in the shots on target tally at the end of the match, not a single shot tested Joe Hart.

The destiny of the Premier League trophy is now not controlled by Manchester United, its Manchester City who will dictate which colour ribbons and which trophy cabinet it will take pride of place in.