While Manchester United and Manchester City may well be close physically to each other, the figurative gap between the two clubs could not be greater.
United’s demise since the Sir Alex Ferguson era has coincided with the new world order in the Premier League being established. City have created a stronghold in English football that the likes of Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta have struggled to break.
The Blues had become a force before Pep Guardiola arrived at the Etihad Stadium but they only truly became this all-conquering behemoth when the Catalonian arrived. After what would be nine years at City, the nightmare from a Reds perspective could soon be over.
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The Times reports that the English FA made an informal approach for Guardiola at the beginning of the season in a bid to replace Gareth Southgate. By Guardiola’s own admission, any realistic option is still on the table – he could stay, he could leave.
But if he chooses to leave the Blues, suddenly the onus on Ineos and Sir Jim Ratcliffe becomes more pronounced. City without Guardiola are likely to suffer a transition period, whether it is as dramatic as United’s is uncertain but in the short term there is likely to be a power vacuum.
Arsenal and Liverpool will hope to be the favourites to capitalise on City taking their eye off the ball but United will be expected to position themselves as challengers again with their nearest rivals weakened. In order to do that, Ratcliffe and Co. will need to be confident of their plan moving forward which includes who will be in charge of the team.
Erik ten Hag’s future has been under intense scrutiny since Ineos arrived and the Dutchman remains on shaky ground despite appearing to have negotiated the October international break unscathed. If they are to stick with him, Ineos need to be confident that he is the man to mastermind a title challenge.
Should they choose to twist, the next manager is a huge appointment. Thomas Tuchel is currently the bookmaker’s favourite with Michael Carrick and Ruud van Nistelrooy fancied too.
Any of those options would be as much of a gamble as sticking with Ten Hag considering their lack of Premier League success albeit Tuchel’s resume is clearly more gleaming than that of the Dutchman’s. Ultimately the expectation will be that United are at least challenging for the major honours sooner rather than later no matter what happens with Guardiola but his exit from the Etihad Stadium shall only increase scrutiny on the Reds boardroom’s next move.
