Lessons of a 1-6

A derby is not a normal game. A city or a region or even a country gets divided in two sides. Football gets more tribal than ever, it is you or the neighbor. The game crosses the usual lines of sport to become a social event, especially in the local derbies, where the rival neighbor lives next door. The fans of both teams get mixed in their work places, pubs or even in the same family in a more or less healthy banter. This is why yesterday was a terrible day to be a Manchester United fan. Manchester City, their eternal enemy, crushed them at home in a historical 1-6 and the Theater of Dreams was the one of nightmares... the worst nightmare.

This game was interesting to watch for several reasons. First of all, it was the derby of the city of Manchester and this is enough to know that we are talking about a different game. But this time we were in front the most attractive Manchester derby ever. Manchester City was the leader, two points ahead United, who played at home to assault the first position. We were talking about two giants. Manchester United has been the team of the Premiership in the last couple of decades. In this time, Alex Ferguson has built an empire and has written the most memorable era in the history of the club. On the other hand, Manchester City was (still is) a rising power. Since the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan has the ownership of the club, he did not hesitate to spend whatever it takes to be the best team on Earth. They are still to prove that they can actually be the best, but things were working smoothly so far, since the team was leading the table of the Premier League with iron hand, not showing weaknesses in their football. All this mix made this game something really interesting.

Dzeko says six

What no one really expected was the 1-6 at the end of the match. Any victory (or defeat, it depends on your perspective) in a derby has a special effect. The winners get a dose of euphoria, while the losers get a painful slap in the face. But a beating of this kind crosses the usual lines, which are already exaggerated, of the usual feelings after a derby. This 1-6 will not be the result of one more derby, but a historical one, something that both sides will remember, each one in their own particular way. Alex Ferguson described the day as his "worst-ever day"... and Alex Ferguson is old enough to have lots of bad days, despite he has usually enjoyed more happy days. For the Manchester City fans, this result will be written in golden letters in their history, the chase of DVDs of the game has already started for sure and the years will pass and the City fans who watched this game will tell their children and grand-children about it: "The day we won 1-6 at Old Trafford".

Which kind of effect is supposed to have a 1-6? It is evident that this is the kind of result that has consequences. From the City point of view, it definitely is a turning point in their history. The petrol-money has given them the chance to build a super-team, but a collection of stars does not guarantee titles. In fact, they did not win a title yet, but this victory is so powerful, so noisy and so special that now they really have good reasons to believe that their dream is closer to be reality. It is evident that this result does not close the English league. There are lots of games to be played yet and the five point gap is not definitive. But something has changed. Until yesterday, Manchester City was one of the favorites to win the title. At this point, no one would hesistate to say that City is THE favorite to win the Premier League, not forgetting that the Champions League is a possibility too. This change is the minds of City fans and rivals is not irrelevant.

Balotelli, eccentric and brilliant

From the United point of view, this result is a shock. Manchester United is used to mistreat rivals, especially in recent times. During the last two decades, United is the owner of the Premier League and, even in the worst moments of this period, they have always been the reference, the rival to beat. But this time United was the mistreated team. When you are so used to win, a defeat is always painful... but this kind of beating is a torture. This result will have consequences. It does not matter how well United has been doing so far, this 1-6 sets a "before" and an "after". At this point, the United players, staff and fans will probably be wondering what has happened and how it actually happened. This result will mark the season of United or, at least, the following dates. This result will haunt them as a ghost during the entire year and it will not disappear. The following games will show us how Manchester United digested this terrible defeat. This digestion is a must, the result evidences a problem that requires solutions. It is impossible to know if the solutions are in hand or if they will have to be found at the end of the year. We are talking about the current winner of the competition and the runner-up of the Champions League.

In each case, the emotions must be focused in the right direction. The euphoria is dangerous for City. The title is not in hand, there are lots of games to be played, there are lots of moments of suffering to be suffered and, probably, lots of moments of joy to live too, but the league is only won when the maths say so. The 1-6 can only be good news, but Mancini's job is to put the team's feet on the ground. There are many precedents of failure celebrations.

Face-palm Rooney in the Theater of Nightmares

Depression is United's danger. The result is emotional, but Alex Ferguson must throw all the feelings to the garbage to build a bubble to isolate the team from the hostile environment. Emotions must turn into rationality. Nine matches have been played so far, so twenty-nine are yet to be played including one in City's home. United is only five point down, not an impossible distance to overcome in just a few weeks. And this is when history is a useful tool. Alex Ferguson and his boys must sit down, get calm and take a look to what they have done in recent years. It is not that we are talking about a veteran team without a future, but a collection of important players that are in their best age and their previous achievements are good and high enough to make a reference on the pride of the team. The 1-6 must be an accident, not a turning point, not the end of a cycle. As we said in a previous entry, if there is a word to define Alex Ferguson, that is competitiveness. Manchester United must use this game to learn. It is not time to regret, but time to compete, as their coach always did.

In one way or another, it has been the result of the weekend. A historical one in a year of historic results in the Premier League. This 1-6 is a result that has shocked the entire World, a memorable day for Manchester City and their fans, while the rest of the World look at them in a mix of envy, admiration and a certain dose of surprise. This result has made me turn my view to them. Until yesterday, a team that was a collection of individuals with an average coach, Roberto Mancini, and now a reference in Europe. Everyone will talk about them seriously now... but I also believe that, if there is a team and a coach that can actually turn a 1-6 into something positive that can only be Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson. We will see.

1-6, a historic result

Sir Alex Ferguson, the man who changed United's history

I can not imagine Manchester United without Sir Alex Ferguson. The United's Scottish coach is the only one I know in that club and the reality is that the Mancunians have been a reference of success during all my life. I have seen several English clubs having their peak moments during the last couple of decades, but Manchester United has always been there and the only common factor during all these years has a name: Sir Alex Ferguson.

His biography and achievements are well-known. It is impossible to find an active coach who has won as much as he did. He has been the coach of Manchester United since 1986, which means that several generations of football fans do not know any other coach in Manchester United and, given the size and importance of this club, it is impossible to understand it, if he was not the most competitive coach I know.

Taking a look to Manchester United's history, you realize that the Red Devils have a great historical coaches and teams in the past. The most relevant, known and successful was the one of Sir Matt Busby, who was their coach from 1945 to 1969. He was the architect of the first glorious era of Manchester United, the father of the Busby Babes, the legendary team whose career was dramatically cut in an airplan crash in Munich after an European Cup game, back in in 1958. Busby did not surrender and, with the survivors of the ashes of Munich, being one himself, he built the team that ended up winning the European Cup 10 years later.

But with the retirement of the light which had been leading the way of the club for 24 years, Manchester United started a dark era in their history, without a league title in decades. When Alex Ferguson was given the job after his successful stage in Aberdeen, the fans probably were missing the good old days. His early years in United were not easy and it took several years to see the team winning a title and it was this way until the FA Cup of 1990, which gave them the right to play and win the Cup Winners' Cup in 1991 against Johan Cryuff's Barcelona. Manchester United started to win again and they did not stop until now. 12 Premiership titles, 2 Champions League, 5 FA Cups, a Cup Winners' Cup, an Intercontinental Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup.

The key of the success is based in the method. Sir Alex Ferguson is a competitive animal. He has been able to put the institution over the individualities, the team over any star. In his teams, there is something you can not negotiate: his idea of football. His discipline does not admit exceptions, which caused the exit of very important players, even legendary players, but set a clear message: the most important is the team and the idea, not any individuality. And he represents the idea.

In the last two decades, we can remember memorable teams. The beginning of the 90s had Eric Cantona as symbol, surrounded by the legendary Bryan Robson, the forward Mark Hughes or Steve Bruce among other players, and the early appearances of Ryan Giggs and Roy Keane.

The failure in 1995 after the two titles of 1993 and 1994 gave Ferguson the excuse to make his revolution. While important players of the first part of the 90s, like Hughes or Paul Ince, left the team, Ferguson did not hesitate to create a team whose base were young members of the team like David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Gary and Phil Neville or Nicky Butt and the already mentioned Roy Keane and Ryan Giggs. What seemed to be an attack of madness was the beginning of a brilliant era, winning 5 leagues in the following 6 years. This team peak moment was the victory in the dramatic Champions League final of 1999 in the Camp Nou against Bayern Munich, which closed the circle of their historical Treble that season.

In the mid 2000s, Alex Ferguson started the slow revolution (evolution) that set the base of the future winning team. As we already said, the winning formula always grew from solid grounds. Alex Ferguson did not hesitate to sell players, despite their importance in and out of the pitch. His personal friction with David Beckham, a pop-star icon already; Roy Keane, a captain loved by Old Trafford; or Ruud Van Nistelrooy, a reference during the first part of this decade, have never been a problem for Manchester United to keep winning titles.

In the last part of the 2000s, he built a new team around young players like Cristiano Ronaldo or Wayne Rooney, symbols like Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, and team player signings like Nemanja Vidic, Edwin Van der Sar or  Rio Ferdinand. Players come and go, but the titles are there: 4 Premier League out of the last 5, 1 Champions League title and 2 more finals. It does not matter that Cristiano Ronaldo leaves, the idea remains, which always was the most important, and the team keeps winning, which is the most relevant.

Sir Alex Ferguson is discipline in the idea, but capacity of reinvention. Sir Alex Ferguson is the coach that represents the word competitiveness. Alex Ferguson has seen how football changed, from the importance of  individual talent of classic football to the systematic philosophy of modern football. Despite his age, his methods are modern, he believes in his ideas over any individual supernova (and Manchester United had lots of them in the last decades). Owners come and go, players come and go, but the idea remains and his legacy is going to be nearly impossible to match. Sir Alex Ferguson is a reference, a living legend and a way to see football. Probably, the best I have ever seen.