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Jonathan Wilson on Pep Guardiola’s place in a changing world
The environment is akin to England after the reliance on W-M and the winger was shattered by Hungary in 1953, or 19th-century Europe after scientific discoveries had provoked the crisis of faith. If none of the previous assumptions are true, if we cannot trust the old doctrine, how do we know what is right?
This is the world that produced Charles Darwin and Friedrich Nietzsche and had Arthur Conan Doyle attending seances and believing in fairies, just as managers in the 50s started trialling strike pairings and back fours and had the Doncaster manager Peter Doherty assigning players with random numbers to spread confusion. Nobody knows what is true any more, and the consequence is a chaotic world of experimentation.
Team news: Donnarumma, Sesko start
Man City (4-3-3) Donnarumma; Khusanov, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Bernardo, Rodri, Reijnders; Foden, Haaland, Doku.
Subs: Trafford, Ake, Nico, Savinho, Nunes, Bobb, Mukasa, Lewis, Mfuni.
Man Utd (3-4-2-1) Bayindir; Yoro, De Ligt, Shaw; Mazraoui, Ugarte, Fernandes, Dorgu; Amad, Mbeumo; Sesko.
Subs: Heaton, Lammens, Fredricson, Heaven, Leon, Maguire, Casemiro, Mainoo, Zirkzee.
Referee Anthony Taylor.
Before the game there will be a tribute to boxing legend and City fan Ricky Hatton, who has died at the age of just 46.
Preamble
It’s 3 February 1990. No really, folks, it is! FW de Klerk has just announced plans to release Nelson Mandela from prison; Mike Tyson is a week away from pummelling Buster Douglas; Tears on my Pillow, Kylie Minogue’s epic meditation on love, loss and secretion from the lachrymal glands, is being kept off top spot by some Prince knock-off.
And the Manchester derby is taking place at Old Trafford. Seventh-place United and 14th-place City draw 1-1 in a lively contest, with Clayton Blackmore’s excellent goal cancelled out by a screamer from Ian Brightwell.
That was the last time the Manchester derby took place with both teams in the bottom half of the table*. Today’s game is 16th v 11th and, though there are some simple reasons for that – it’s early in the season, they’ve played a game fewer than most of the teams above them – it’s also a reflection of the reduced status of both clubs.
City have lost two of the first three games and the word on the street is that Pep Guardiola is yesterday’s visionary; United are United. To judge a team after a handful of games is absurd, reductive, infantile, pathetic; it’s also the norm.
Woe betide whoever loses today.
Kick off 4.30pm.
