The Manchester derby is just hours away and Manchester United will be aiming to win in order to go level on points with our rivals Man City.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be well aware of what a defeat could mean, too.
It would see us sink further behind league leaders Chelsea, who with Thomas Tuchel in charge, look a completely different side. The Champions League triumph in May was certainly no fluke, although Pep Guardiola set Man City up to fail by not starting a holding midfielder and it wasn’t like he wasn’t spoilt for choice.
Speaking exclusively to The Daily Mail, however, former United left-back Patrice Evra was asked whether City’s recent dominance in the Premier League could eventually lead to a permanent power shift within Manchester.
“No way,” Evra said, as a former player who always speaks with a great deal of passion when it comes to United. “I have the same number of Premier League titles as City. Just myself! And where is their Champions League? They are much better than United right now but it’s not a worry. The history will never die. If they start to win the Champions League it could be a different story but even to reach the level of Chelsea — well, they are not there yet. Only people born after PlayStation 5 came out [last year] will say that City are the biggest club in the world. Everyone else? No way.”
Not in my lifetime, anyway, and I’m 26.
You’d have to fear for future generations if United don’t pull up their socks quickly enough. The dynamic of how the team worked back in Evra’s day was different to now, all thanks to how the Glazers have milked the cash cow, taking their eyes completely off the wheel on the core aspects of a well run football club.
A lot of fans will point to the manager right now, thinking he’s got us this far but isn’t of the required quality to take us to the next step, but this runs deeper than that.
Do you trust them to pick the right man next time around? Let’s not forget that Solskjaer signed a new deal just months ago, yet there’s already been talk of a potential sacking this season.
I may be just hyperbole because none of our sources have once indicated that Solskjaer was on the brink of getting sacked.
Not even after the 5-0 defeat against our arch-rivals Liverpool.
It could be a different story if there’s a repeat of that in the Manchester derby.
