Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini insists he does not feel under-pressure ahead of the Manchester derby
Reigning Premier League champions Manchester City host bitter-rivals Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
City have enjoyed a relatively inconsistent start to their campaign and the Citizens have come in for criticism for their performances.
Important
Manchester derbies have taken on an extra importance since City have become awash with money.
Suddenly not only were City on equal pegging to their neighbours, they actually had a stronger team and more resources to improve said team.
Where Manchester derbies used to be just important to the fans of the two teams they now have more significance to the rest of the Premier League. City are now and will be the foreseeable future Premier League title challengers.
That means they now matter more in the English football fans consciousness. Prior to the injection of money they had been labelled underachievers and lived in the shadow of their more trophy-laden rivals.
Now Manchester City have replaced their rivals as one of the teams to beat in the English top-flight. Their rivals are a very expensive jigsaw which veteran Dutch boss Louis van Gaal is attempting to put together. However, at this point we do not know if Van Gaal has all the pieces.
Pressure
With big spending and big resources comes big pressure. City boss Manuel Pellegrini and United boss Louis van Gaal are under-pressure to deliver this season. They may not quite have the same aims, but failure will not be tolerated at either club in Manchester.
Pellegrini has never really come under any major pressure during his City reign, but it seems he now is after last weekend’s 3-1 defeat West Ham and a midweek 2-0 Capital One Cup defeat against Newcastle.
The Chilean shrugged the defeat off and claims he does not feel under-pressure, but the loss leaves the Citizens six points behind seemingly unstoppable Chelsea in the Premier League table.
It is early in the season and there is plenty of time to turn the situation around. However, City seems to be struggling to find their best form, especially with Ivorian star midfielder Yaya Toure badly out of sorts this season.
Spanish midfielder playmaker David Silva has also been ruled out of action for up to a month with a knee ligament problem. The former-Valencia man is one of City’s moss creative players and will be sorely missed.
Pellegrini has asked the other City players to step up to the plate and make a difference in Silva’s absence. The question is why where they not doing that before Silva got injured and why are they finding it so hard to put in consistent performances.
Leaky
This season has seen both City and United’s defences look very suspect. United have had to chop and change their backline due to injuries and they do not seem to have a settled first choice back four.
Luke Shaw and Marcos Rojo still need to settle at the club properly and become accustomed to their teammates. Fellow defenders Phil Jones, Jonny Evans and Chris Smalling have all experienced injury problems this season.
When Van Gaal has his first choice back four available then maybe United will be more solid and resolute at the back.
City have been uncharacteristically poor in defence this season. Last season the Citizens had the second best defence in the English top-flight. However, new centre-back Eliaquim Mangala has not settled in at the Etihad just yet.
Captain Vincent Kompany is one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League, but he needs a reliable partner. Argentinian Martin Demichelis was much-maligned when he started his City career. However, he found form and City looked far more solid.
Mangala has not exactly enjoyed the start to his City career of £32million player. He needs to improve and settle fast if City are going to tighten up at the back.
Dangerous
Both these teams have a very tasty players going forward. For City Argentinian striker Sergio Aguero tops the Premier League scoring charts with nine goals, while Bosnian Edin Dzeko is a play that will always sniff out opportunities.
The Red Devils main strength is also in their attacking players. Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney, Radamel Falcao, Juan Mata and Angel Di Maria all have the ability to change a game in an instant. United are unlikely to start with all their big name attacking players, but whoever plays will be a major threat to City’s defence.
Favourites
Manchester City heads into this clash as favourites for victory at odds of 10/11. A victory over their arch-rivals is just what they need to get their season back on track. That may be easier said than done though, as the visitors may see this as a good opportunity to get one over on their local rivals.
Who will come out on top in the Manchester derby?
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