Insanity can take many forms.
There is the supporter who swears blind his team are by far the greatest the world has ever seen even though they languish in the lower half of the National League North.
Then there is the Einstein quote about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
Or how about putting forward an argument that Manchester United can finish above their bitter rivals City this season for the first time in eons, and making this claim just 24 hours after the Reds have exited the Champions League so disappointingly? We’ll take our meds now, nurse.
For the record, since wrestling United’s long-held supremacy over to the Etihad, Manchester City have bested their neighbours for seven season’s running, racking up an astonishing 106 more points in the process.
Another disjointed performance last night has led to the odds shortening on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer being the next Premier League manager to leave his post; he’s now back to 2/1 favourite. Talk of crisis has returned, if indeed it ever really went away.
And yet we are a quarter of the way through this campaign and the Red Devils are a point better off than City going into a derby this Saturday – a fixture they have excelled in of late – offering up a great opportunity to put clear daylight between the pair.
What’s more, they have a reliable goal-scorer in Marcus Rashford with 10 to his name already while their comebacks are fast becoming the stuff of legend.
So can the Reds finally reclaim their top dog status in Manchester by the season’s end? They can when you find the method in the madness.
Derby know-how
Having secured the double over City last year United go into this game with precisely nothing to fear and the manner in which those victories were achieved hint strongly as to how they will set up again.
Across the two encounters Solskjaer’s side averaged 27.9% possession yet managed two more shots on target than City on each occasion. At both the Etihad and Old Trafford we witnessed a counter-attacking masterclass.
Fundamental to this was a highly organised low-block, as a combined 72 clearances illustrate, but United fans have aired concerns that their current gaffe-prone back-line are simply not capable of doing this anymore.
Maybe. But maybe they will not face the prolific and relentless City of old either.
Across the last five seasons Guardiola’s entertainers have averaged 30 goals after 10 games. This time that number has dwindled to just 17.
United are 16/5 to grab the three points and continue their derby dominance
Comeback kings
Gaining maximum points from their five games on the road so far bodes extremely well and is a continuation of fine away form that last saw them defeated all the way back in January at Anfield.
That each win this term has necessitated a comeback from a losing position reveals there are serious issues to be addressed, most notably a tendency to start games slow and complacently, but there are also significant positives to acknowledge too.
To overcome adversity five times in a row shows beyond doubt that this United camp has spirit in abundance along with a deep well of self-belief. They refuse to be beaten and frankly, at the risk of being flippant, the last time we checked a game lasts for 90 minutes plus added on time.
Both home and away Solskjaer’s men have become second half specialists in 2020/21, scoring 14 of their 19 goals in the latter period. Staggeringly they have scored 26% of their goals beyond the 90th minute.
United are 3/1 to win the second half
Blowing hot, hot, cold
Streakiness is never a good quality for a team or indeed a manager.
A failure to arrest an alarming slump in form can be attributed to a brittle mentality while similarly a side propelled largely by momentum hints at a worrying reliance on confidence. Ultimately, it can leave a team looking Jekyll and Hyde.
And since Solskjaer has taken the reins at Old Trafford the Reds have certainly been that.
On taking charge, the Norwegian immediately injected a feel-good factor and United went on a 12-game unbeaten spree. This however was followed by a springtime collapse with just eight points accrued from a possible 27.
The following season saw an identical pattern only reversed. United struggled to get going and by January had lost more league games than all but Southampton in the top ten. Yet they then went on a highly impressive run, amounting to 14 matches unbeaten.
This time out they coughed and spluttered, humiliated 6-1 by Spurs into the bargain. But here they are again, with four straight wins, tails in the air having shown twice-over they can capitalise on momentum with the best of them.
Streakiness is never a good quality but perhaps in this crazy year with results and form all over the place for everyone, it’s not the worst trait to have?
Manchester United are presently 13/10 to finish inside the top four
They possess a genuine difference maker
One of the many sticks United have been beaten with in recent months is that they rely too heavily on Bruno Fernandes to provide them with creativity. Fair enough. If you’re a glass-half-empty kind of person, fair enough.
The Portuguese schemer after all has scored 36% of his side’s league goals this term and United certainly looked a distinctly different proposition when he came on at half-time against West Ham last week.
Yet where else across football is it viewed as a negative when a team possesses such an influential architect of all things good?
Since arriving from Sporting at the beginning of this year Fernandes has been directly involved in a United goal every 83 minutes and the truth is that should the 26-year-old avoid serious injury in the months ahead he has the mastery to inspire his side to consistently ‘over-achieve’.
Remember when title-challenging Spurs were dismissed as a one-man team due to Harry Kane’s brilliance? Remember how ludicrous that was? There is very little difference here.
Fernandes is 8/1 in both the first and last goal-scorer markets
Source: Betfair Premier League
