Execution of Well-Formed Plans Will Be Key to Manchester Derby Victory

As Manchester United and Manchester City prepare to face off on Saturday in the most eagerly anticipated Manchester derby since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, Bleacher Report takes a look at the tactical clash between their two illustrious managers.

It is a battle that has been fought on many fronts. From Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan side shutting down Barcelona to ensure their 3-1 semi-final first-leg lead was enough to send them to the 2010 Champions League final to Pep Guardiola’s breathtaking Catalans blowing Mourinho’s Real Madrid out of the water, there is a sense of deja vu as these two face off against each other.

But the new setting brings with it new challenges and opportunities. There will be tweaks here given the players that are available and the fact that it comes so early into both of their tenures in Manchester.

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History tells us Mourinho will set his team up to thwart the possession hungry 4-3-3 Guardiola will likely deploy. The latter’s way is not to bend to the will of the opposition but to play his game under any and all circumstances.

Mourinho is much more pragmatic and less idealistic about his manner of play. If he thinks a change in system will offer him the best chance to earn him a result, he will not hesitate to make it.

It is easy to forget, but there was a period when Louis van Gaal had United playing some pretty good football. Toward the end of the 2014/15 season, they beat Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Manchester City in quick succession, and against Spurs, Liverpool and City in particular, they were very impressive.

Their build up was still focused around their short-passing game, but there was more purpose to it than later became the case. Their use of triangles on either flank was pretty Guardiola-esque.

It was all working fine until they ran into Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea. The Blues were in full wrap-up-the-title mode and offered no truck to all that nice tippy-tappy nonsense United had been churning out.

Hate this team but based on 2 assumptions: Jose will want bodies in midfield and Rooney will never ever be dropped pic.twitter.com/y1fiTGz4Qd

— Enda Higgins (@endahiggins88) September 9, 2016

They played Kurt Zouma in defensive midfield and, in essence, put 10 men behind the ball. Van Gaal’s side had 70.4 per cent of the possession, per WhoScored.com, but an Eden Hazard breakaway goal did the damage, and Chelsea won 1-0. That ended United’s outside chance of a run at the title and provided a successful template to stop Van Gaal’s side.

So will the Red Devils do to City what Chelsea did to them in this one? After all, Guardiola already has his side playing some fine, on-brand football.

Bleacher Report’s Manchester City Correspondent, Rob Pollard, had this to say on Guardiola and City’s start to the season: “He’s played what is essentially a 4-1-4-1, or at least that’s how they line up at the start.

“When they have the ball, the two full-backs move into midfield and Fernandinho drops in …

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