Man oh man oh Manchester

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/12/2020 (2078 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Try to untangle this.

Ahead of today’s Manchester Derby (11:30 a.m., NBC), United, just four days after Champions League elimination, know they can ascend to second in the Premier League with a win at Old Trafford.

A loss, depending on what you read, could well result in the sacking of manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and subsequent appointment of one of Mauricio Pochettino or Maximiliano Allegri. Or, as Solskjaer’s bosses insist, his job is safe regardless and he’s expected to mount a title challenge through the winter and spring.

Oh, and Paul Pogba wants to leave the club. He scored a spectacular goal at Leipzig during the week and launched the comeback at West Ham three days before that. But his agent says he hopes to seal a transfer next month, and there is at least one sensational rumour that has him rejoining Juventus with Cristiano Ronaldo coming back the other way.

City, meanwhile, will be eighth at kickoff — eighth! — and could tumble as low as 11th with a derby loss and a combination of other results today and Sunday.

That said, they thumped Marseille 3-0 on Wednesday to top their Champions League bracket, and Pep Guardiola, a manager whose job security is not in question, would surely swap domestic success for a European Cup this season.

Guardiola is also vital to the very real pursuit of Lionel Messi, whom he coached to three Spanish titles, two Champions Leagues and four Ballons d’Or during their time together at Barcelona.

The transfer scuttlebutt is said to be unsettling Messi’s current teammates, which is entirely believable, given the Catalans are ninth in La Liga — NINTH! — and 12 points off the summit after just 10 rounds.

Could Messi, who will be 34 next term, really lift another club to continental glory? City are already struggling to turn over an aging squad —which has a lot to do with their patchy form — although it’s worth pointing out that in acquiring 20-year-old Ferran Torres from Valencia for US$30 million they may have made one of the best signings of the previous transfer window.

Catch all that?

F. Scott Fitzgerald insisted it’s possible to hold two ideas, even opposing ones, in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. Two? How about 10?

Function, incidentally, is the operative word here. There’s so much going on at both United and City that it’s entirely possible that one, or even the pair of them, could implode in the coming weeks, when holiday fixtures come thick and fast and the course of a campaign can be altered in a matter of days.

United’s position is especially intriguing. Will their shocking defeat at Leipzig provide a much-needed jolt for a showdown with their local rivals? That’s the popular thinking going into the match. Of course, it’s just as easy to imagine another devastating loss heaped on top of the last one, in which case the pressure would be turned up on Solskjaer, no matter what the club claims.

But — always a but — United’s Christmas schedule is rather more straightforward than City’s. At least it should be. After the derby they’ll face Sheffield United, Leeds, Leicester, Wolves and Aston Villa, whereas City have West Bromwich Albion, Southampton, Newcastle, Everton and Chelsea.

‘Pep Guardiola, a manager whose job security is not in question, would surely swap domestic success for a European Cup this season’

Still, it’s City, isn’t it, who seem more capable of winning out. Sure, but they’ve not been any more convincing than United this season. Fine, but United collapse more dramatically. Granted, but results are results. Okay, but so little is predictable right now. There’s a pandemic, after all.

Right, the pandemic.

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Manchester Derbies bring the storylines at the most ordinary of times, and these are not that. If there is to be a winner today, it will surely be the team that is able to untangle themselves from the drama, untwist themselves from the circumstances and mentally organize events and the possibility of events that can easily become overwhelmingly intermingled.

Clear heads will prevail.

jerradpeters@gmail.com

Twitter @JerradPeters