Man Utd’s overt attempts to mimic Man City add new edge to the intense Manchester derby rivalry

A Manchester derby doesn’t need any added spice, but changes at Old Trafford since the teams last met have altered the dynamic of the relationship between the two clubs ahead of Sunday’s clash.

If ever a city confirms the old adage that football is cyclical, it’s Manchester. In the ‘60s the two sides were competitors, but in the ‘70s it was Manchester City who were largely the dominant force, prior to Sir Alex Ferguson’s appointment in the ‘80s and the unheralded success he brought to Manchester United. The beginning of the Abu Dhabi era at City in 2008 changed that and, after a brief period where they operated as equally matched foes, it’s City who have ruled the roost for the last decade.

Now, United are aiming to once again change the status quo. While the full details of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s multi-layered plan to return United to a football behemoth remain unknown, one aspect is clear. As he looks to create a ‘best-in-class’ environment at United, there’s an obvious place to begin his recruitment strategy.

Omar Berrada has already been convinced to swap blue for red in Manchester and ex-City employee Jason Wilcox is also among their other primary targets. More could follow and pinching staff from United’s local rivals is very much Ratcliffe’s modus operandi.

It’s a policy United executives are even acknowledging and Ratcliffe’s overt flattery of City’s methods was perhaps the one aspect of his opening round of interviews that did not sit brilliantly with United supporters. In fact, the 71-year-old mentioned the European champions so often during that introductory Q&A he was eventually pulled on it.

“Well, they are one of the best teams on the planet,” was his response. “We have a lot to learn from our noisy neighbour and the other neighbour [Liverpool]. They are the enemy at the end of the day. There is nothing I would like better than to knock both of them off their perch.”

But altering the inhabitants of said perch is easier said than done. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer spoke about closing the gap to City in 2020, but in the four years since it's only widened. Under the Norwegian, United regularly managed to ruffle their rival’s feathers and Pep Guardiola endured a few difficult encounters against United early on, winning just six of his first 13 derbies. Yet City head into Sunday’s game with five wins in the last six against United, four of which lacked any real competitive edge.

Another simplistic, yet telling, measure of the chasm between red and blue in Manchester is the thought of a combined XI from the two squads. Martin Keown once famously left out any Tottenham Hotspur players from a joint North London XI, but a one-sided selection wouldn’t be controversial in Manchester.

Luke Shaw may argue his involvement at left-back - although City’s lack of full-back plays a significant factor in that argument - but Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes or Marcus Rashford would get nowhere near that side, certainly based on this season’s form.

Ratcliffe will hope it’s a very different story in three years, by which point Guardiola will have departed City and the new Ineos-led hierarchy will have laid the foundations for an era of success at Old Trafford. That’s the plan, anyway.

In the meantime, when the teams meet on Sunday, United could put a major dent in City’s chances of claiming a fourth successive top-flight title, an achievement that would only further underline their supremacy. Last season, a second treble in English football also snatched a unique accolade away from United, whose FA Cup final loss at Wembley carried additional weight.

That wasn’t the first time one club's triumph has come directly at the expense of the other. Sergio Aguero’s title-winning goal, Denis Law’s infamous backheel, United stopping the title party in 2018, the 2011 FA Cup semi-final - the Manchester rivalry is undoubtedly England’s most significant local derby in terms of dictating the destination of silverware.

United’s overt attempt to mimic City’s practices may add additional intensity to this rivalry, but in reality it’s just another chapter in a story of outmanoeuvring opponents. Fifteen years ago, Carlos Tevez’s move from Stretford to Eastlands marked a line-in-the-sand moment for Manchester football, a sign of the direction of travel. Now the big question, can Ratcliffe’s arrival bring another seismic shift?

Welcome to the Manchester derby, Sir Jim.