This week’s Manchester derby was the one of the most over-hyped football matches that I can remember. Manchester derbies are usually tense, passionate affairs; last season, Manchester United snatched victory in injury time on both occasions. But this time we had a Manchester United side which has started the season lethargically and has had a defence, which at times, looked about as secure as an Icelandic bank. By contrast, Manchester City are flushed with cash, bankrolled by UAE oil tycoon Sheikh Manzour. This was supposedly a chance for the boys from Eastlands (which had always sounded like a high-security prison to me) to prove that the balance of power of in Manchester has shifted. There is something very nouveau riche about Manchester City’s transformation. In many ways, it’s like watching Wayne and Waynetta Slob buying a mansion in the Surrey countryside. Perhaps I am just a football aristocrat at heart.
Anyway, I digress slightly. The point is that the media managed to kill what could have been a thrilling game. For Manchester City, defeat would have illustrated how money can’t buy success and how Sheikh Manzour’s money would have been better spent on a bigger palace. For Manchester United, defeat would have shown that the Fall of Rome was not far away. The determination of both sides not to lose stymied any creativity or risk-taking. The media had ended up talking a potentially brilliant game into its grave.
Both Roberto Mancini and Sir Alex will not be too displeased with a point. It still feels as it we are early on in the season and that things will kick on after Christmas.
