Manchester United’s fall from grace leaves Manchester City in novel place

Absence of Van Persie threatens to undo much of the momentum built by Moyes' men.

Manuel Pellegrini, pictured during the English Premier League match between Manchester City and Fulham at Etihad Stadium on March 22, 2014, has Manchester City in the rare position of being favouritesShow more

MANCHESTER // Manchester City managers have long faced awkward questions before derbies.

The comparative nature of their local rivalries meant they were judged against Sir Alex Ferguson, their players assessed against generations of champions in the colours of Manchester United. They have been games that threatened to underline the size of the gulf between Manchester’s warring halves.

Manuel Pellegrini faced an awkward examination on Monday, too, but of a different kind. Success brings its own perils, and the City manager was required to repel questions that would not have been directed at most of his predecessors. He was asked why he thought United have declined so rapidly. He opted not to answer properly.

As Yaya Toure’s power has often made him the scourge of United and he is paired with the similarly energetic Fernandinho, he was invited to discuss the difference between the respective midfields.

“The characteristics are different,” he replied vaguely.

He was confronted with the suggestion that City will go to Old Trafford as favourites as, for the first time in the English Premier League era, they do. The Chilean disagreed, citing football’s famous unpredictability.

All in all, Pellegrini played the deadest of dead bats. At times, it was mind-numbing stuff.

Yet the nature of the inquiries illustrate the change in the balance of power in England’s footballing capital. City are looking for a hat-trick of consecutive wins at Old Trafford and, after September’s 4-1 demolition, a derby double this season. They are 12 points ahead of United in the standings.

“All the other clubs expected United would be in the first positions in the table,” Pellegrini said.

Instead, they are seventh. While City may need to win on enemy territory if they are to become champions, United require victory simply to prove they can still beat the better sides.

David Moyes has a dismal record in such meetings: a dozen league matches against the top nine have yielded a solitary win.

"We want to try to perform better in the bigger games," said the Scot, hoping wins against Olympiakos and West Ham United form the basis of a revival. "In the last couple of games, they've really stepped up to the plate and performed."

Moyes has made mistakes, but fortune has not favoured him at United. Given Rio Ferdinand’s diabolical display at the Etihad Stadium in September, his presence may not be a boon.

Yet with three other central defenders injured, United need the creaking veteran to partner Phil Jones. Otherwise, Michael Carrick will have to reprise his role as an emergency centre-back.

“He done great at centre-half and I would have no problems,” said Moyes, trying to look on the bright side.

Yet he admitted the loss of Robin van Persie, scorer of United's last derby winner, is a huge blow.

“There isn’t any club in the world who wouldn’t want Robin playing centre forward, and it’s a massive miss,” he said.

Admittedly, City, too, are without their top scorer, with Sergio Aguero hamstrung, and Van Persie's absence allows Juan Mata to operate as a No 10.

Moyes, though, asked for United's most expensive player not to be judged on his £37.1 million (Dh224.6m) fee. The Spaniard is yet to score in his brief United career, whereas Toure's hat-trick against Fulham brought up a personal landmark of 20 and Pellegrini, in a rare illuminating reply, concurred with a suggestion that the Ivorian is the world's best goalscoring midfielder.

Then he was asked about his February comment that there is only one team in Manchester now.

“I meant in this season, the best team is Manchester City,” he said. “But we must recognise what Manchester United have done in the last 20 years.”

They were two decades when City managers had problems, but never these sorts of problems. The job never used to consist of trying not to sound too confident.

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