English soccer fans were treated to something truly rare this weekend: The heavily anticipated Manchester derby lived up to the hype.
Anyone with even the slightest interest in European soccer has been salivating over the first matchup between the local rivals since it was announced José Mourinho would take over as manager of Manchester United, months after longtime foe Pep Guardiola took the same gig at Manchester City. Arguably the two greatest managers of their generation, former friends who’d grown to hate one another after Guardiola was given the Barcelona job that Mourinho believed should have been his, would be pitted against each other in domestic action yet again — in the same town, no less. That derby games tend to be rather boring — perhaps because of the local bragging rights at stake, teams tend to clench up — didn’t matter. It was predicted to be great theater, and City’s exhilarating 2-1 defeat of United at Old Trafford on Saturday proved to be just that.
The game was a tale of two halves, but even Mourinho had to admit the result was justified. Though United responded well in the second, City managed to dazzle and dominate in the first like no other team this term. The season is only four weeks old, and the side was without Sergio Agüero or new midfielder centerpiece Ilkay Gundogan, but City already look like a fearsome unit capable of prying apart any defense in Europe, let alone England.
Despite its fourth-place finish last season, Guardiola inherited a very talented team, which his buys look to have improved. Even more importantly, his tactics look to have taken hold already. This is best seen in Kevin De Bruyne, who after a strong debut last season, showed Saturday he might now be the league’s best player. He calmly beat David DeGea for the opener in the 15th minute, and his shot off the post was put back by striker Kelechi Iheanacho to double the lead 21 minutes later.
United will be disappointed with the result, but they shouldn’t be too dispirited. The team weathered a nightmare first 40 minutes in which its manager got his tactics woefully wrong and several players failed to show up, but took advantage of the first opening they had to get back into the game. City keeper Claudio Bravo, in his first game for the team, dropped a harmless free-kick at the feet of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swede, a former Guardiola player who detests his former coach more than anyone, smashed in a half-volley.
Though United was unable to find an equalizer in the second half, they looked lively and dangerous after two substitutions — especially the young Marcus Rashford — and a much-needed formation change. Guardiola, who likes to lead with his tactics rather than react, reacted perfectly, sending in another defender, Fernando, in place of Iheanacho.
The ability to chase a game was the norm at United under Alex Ferguson, but has been missing in the three seasons since his retirement. Like City, the team is still is a work in progress, but United already look like they’ve put the David Moyes and Louis van Gaal eras behind them.
Though City and Guardiola have the clear edge after four games, there’s plenty of time for United and Mourinho to respond and they shouldn’t be worried just yet. For the rest of the league, that’s a different story. The gap between the Manchester clubs and the other title hopefuls — Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and, yes, Liverpool — looks daunting right now. — B.H.
Chelsea’s good luck papers over deeper problems
After the Manchester teams proved they are the cream of the Premier League crop on Saturday, Chelsea might have been exposed as title-challenging frauds on Sunday.
Playing against an abject Swansea City team, Chelsea once again needed late heroics from striker Diego Costa to earn a miraculous point from a game they should have won with ease. Taken as a single moment it wasn’t a terrible result, but it confirms a disturbing pattern.
The Blues are struggling against bad teams (the average league position of their opponents is 15th), and are completely reliant on late Costa goals to bail them out of the trouble created by their error-prone defense. At some point, however, Costa’s late goals will dry up, and it’s not entirely clear how Chelsea will fix its bigger problems.
Heading into the summer transfer window after last season’s disastrous 10th-place finish, Chelsea’s holes were clear to see. They needed to bring in a world-class center back, a destroyer in central midfield, a playmaker to feed their tricky wingers, a backup to Costa and a new identity after Mourinho’s cult of personality crushed the team’s soul.
Two of those five big problems were quickly and efficiently addressed with the signings of Leicester City defensive midfielder N’Golo Kanté and young Belgian striker Michy Batshuayi. But the other three issues remain.
To “solve” their problems in defense, center back (and Sideshow Bob doppelgänger) David Luiz was brought back to Stamford Bridge, though he was sold to Paris Saint-Germain two seasons ago because he made too many high-profile mistakes in his first stint at Chelsea. To boost creativity in the center of the park, the club looked inward by changing Nemanja Matic from a defensive sitter to a box-to-box runner. And finally, the club brought in former Juventus and Italian national team manager Antonio Conte to fill Mourinho’s considerable shoes.
Conte hasn’t changed much — 10 of the 11 players who started Sunday were starters at Chelsea last season — so there’s room for him to work his tactical magic. But there is also a gigantic red flag. Conte is an intense coach who demands discipline and hard work from his players — just like Jose Mourinho. — M.B.
Magical moment of the Week
Dimitri Payet was the breakout star of the 2015-2016 Premier League season, and West Ham’s creative genius is already back to his best form. Picking the ball up on the right side of Watford’s box, Payet juked this way and that, got his defender off balance and lofted in a perfect rabona cross that was nodded home by Michail Antonio.
Gaffe of the Week
Liverpool was at its beautiful pressing and flowing best for the first 38 minutes of Saturday’s game against champions Leicester. And then keeper Simon Mignolet played a pass out to Lucas Leiva, who took a heavy touch and, in a brain fart for the ages, hit the ball directly to Jaime Vardy, who scored the easiest goal of his life.
Post’s Premier League Rankings
City and United dominate the headlines, but that doesn’t stop Tottenham from showing its class, while Watford rediscovers its offense and Stoke hits rock bottom … again.
1. Manchester City (2)
2. Manchester United (1)
3. Chelsea (3)
4. Liverpool (5)
5. Tottenham (6)
6. Everton (4)*
7. Arsenal (7)
8. Hull City (9)
9. Swansea City (13)
10. Watford (18)
11. Middlesbrough (10)
12. West Ham (11)
13. Southampton (12)
14. Burnley (15)
15. Crystal Palace (16)
16. Leicester (8)
17. Sunderland (17)*
18. Bournemouth (20)
19. West Brom (14)
20. Stoke (19)
* Play Monday