Can Manchester United kick start a lacklustre season into action in the local derby?

Manchester United visit their neighbours Manchester City this weekend with their campaign hanging in the balance. With a season-defining run of fixtures ahead of them, Ralf Rangnick will be hoping an away victory can light the blu-touch paper to United’s season.

Rangnick’s tenure has certainly not gone entirely to plan since taking over as interim manager in November 2021. The recent home knockout to Middlesbrough in the FA Cup was a heavy blow considering United are without a major trophy since 2017.

To date, Rangnick’s reign has been blighted with underwhelming performances and disappointing results. Whilst he has only experienced one defeat in his 13 games so far, United have not played any of the top four sides in that time.

Drawing five of those games against lower opposition has been where the frustration has crept in at Old Trafford, highlighted against Watford in the recent goalless draw. The motivational issues that have plagued United since the end of the Ferguson dynasty still appear just as prevalent eight years after the Scot’s departure. 

Whilst Ole Gunnar Solskjaer momentarily threatened to find United’s core during his spell as manager, he also found consistency his biggest challenge, mirrored by the experience of both Jose Mourinho and Louis Van Gaal.

Rangnick’s tenure to this point is treading a similar path and it promises to be a huge summer for the club with Football Director John Murtough, already starting a ‘thorough’ process to find United’s next permanent manager with Rangnick said to be part of the consultancy work to find his successor.

Interim feels very much where United are at this point in time. Even on the pitch, the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani as players, despite their world-class ability, are not part of a longer-term strategy.

For United fans, there have been very few green shoots of optimism – the Mason Greenwood situation has stunned the club. Anthony Elanga’s emergence has been a bright point as well as David De Gea returning back to his best in between the sticks.

Aside from that, it has been another season of blowing hot and cold and Rangnick is all too aware of what is lacking at Old Trafford.

‘What is obvious, not only with Manchester City but also with Liverpool, is that they have continuity and consistency with the position of their manager for the past five or six years.

‘They have a very clear identity, a clear idea of how they want to play. This idea is the headline for everything that happens in the club.

‘This is the secret behind their success. Their guideline for everything they do and something that needs to be developed at United and improved in the next couple of years.’

With a lot riding on the summer plans, the immediate question is can United salvage more out of a season that is threatening to fizzle out?  The underwhelming results under Ragnick have left little room for error in trying to secure a fourth-place finish or progressing through to the latter stages of the Champions League.

The next run of games looks set to define United’s season but it is not all doom and gloom. They are still in a healthy position going into the Atletico Madrid last 16 tie at Old Trafford. Following that will be Tottenham at home as well as away trips to Anfield and the Emirates to come.

Starting on Sunday, in one of the biggest games in football will be the trip to City. Having been thoroughly outplayed in their 2-0 defeat back in November with City enjoying 67% possession, the manner of the defeat was alarming with De Gea in superb form to keep the scoreline respectable.

However, United will not be too despondent going into the fixture albeit 19 points behind the Premier League leaders. Their record against City is certainly not one to be sniffed at, particularly at the Etihad. City have not beaten United on home soil since November 2018 and suggests that another away victory is more than possible.

Van Gaal, Mourinho and Solskjær all recorded notable victories at City, with the latter winning no less than three times. Disappointingly for United fans, those victories were not built upon and a minimal achievement for a number of teams that could not go on to become genuine title contenders.

Given City’s domination of the English game in the past decade, they still go under the radar to a degree and do not suffer the same burden of expectation as their neighbours. Guardiola’s men are currently top of the tree but also with little margin for error with Liverpool’s superb form closing the gap.

Three points behind with a game in hand, defeat against United will certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons as Jurgen Klopp seeks to put his side back into the driving seat after last season’s disappointment. Without the hamstrung  Ruben Dias, Guardiola knows the threat that Cristiano Ronaldo still carries in the twilight of his career.

‘As a finisher he’s exceptional, I’m not going to disguise it was a joy to watch him these years. We have to explode our game, our strength to avoid Cristiano close to the box, because there he is almost unstoppable.

‘When you are one of the greatest that he was in terms of being a goalscoring machine, you will always be there. He’s been one of the greatest in the last 15 years, alongside Messi. What these two guys have done, we’re not going to see again.’

 

With little love between the two, the stakes are high, at the very least in causing disruption to either side’s aspirations going into the final quarter of the season.

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