But perhaps without you.
An easy cruise control of a victory for the blue half of Manchester over the Red as Pep's Cityzens trounce Ruben's Reds 3-0 to deliver another hammer blow to the Portuguese and his time at Old Trafford.
It's crazy to think that United were actually coming into this one HIGHER in the table than City!
But league position is one thing, quality on the pitch is another.
City have that. We don't.
Lineup
Other than Ugarte starting ahead of Casemiro, I don't think there were too many surprises. No Cunha, Mount and Dalot obviously meant that we were going to see some changes but other than at CDM, there was nothing untoward.
However, one could ask whether there should've been more changes especially as the game went on.
First Half
United actually began the game the better of the two. This was somewhat unforeseen but also not considering that we've done so in the previous three games as well.
Nonetheless, despite all of the positivity of the opening 15 minutes, we create nothing and concede.
18 minutes in and Phil Foden of all players has a free header to make it 1-0 after some really good forward play from Jeremy Doku who had a brilliant game.
The home side then took the initiative and were the dominant team from there. United showed another of their usual weaknesses as they lost all composure and dropped their heads.
City started to pop it off like we know they can and it was hard for United to even touch the ball. We were lucky they didn't create anything of note in this period as the game might have been over long before it was.
Once Amorim's side did get back on the ball, we started to see some of that play we saw earlier. Yet even still, there was no penetration. The only shot on target was a tame left-footed effort from Sesko who made his first league start of the season.
Poor lad suffering from the same issues as past strikers. Probably regrets his decision to join United 😢.
The first half ended there and while it was annoying to go into the break a goal down, there were positives and we were still in it.
Second Half
8 minutes in and we were not in it. The derby was over.
Erling Haaland continued his Norway form as he scored in the 53rd minute to give City the 2-0 lead and put them firmly in the driving seat. Doku with another assist after some top intricate play between Nico O'Reilly, Foden and then Doku. Bayindir being slow to come off his line allowed Haaland to chip the goalkeeper.
This was all after the striking viking turned into prime Sergio Ramos with the way he was defending crosses and clearing the ball at the other end. A very impressive evening from the Norwegian.
Mbeumo then had a superb volley that required a superb save from new City shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma. What a good goalkeeper does for you, eh?
United and Amorim desperately needed that to go in.
The MUFC boss then made two substitutions just after the hour mark as a returning Mazraoui was taken off for Mainoo no doubt due to fitness issues after the Moroccan made his first start of the campaign. That was paired with a surprising one as Maguire was brought on for Yoro.
A baffling change at a time when you would expect attackers to come on instead of defenders.
This confusing substitution proved doubters right just 6 minutes later as Haaland made it 3-0. Sloppy play by Shaw while United were on the offensive saw him play a soft pass to Maguire. That was intercepted by Bernardo Silva who play a simple through ball to the striker who was not offside after starting his run from his own half. He then slotted the ball into the corner for one of his trademark finishes. That also happened to finish United.
Why The Red Devils were playing such a high line knowing City were going to play on the counter at 2-0 up was stupid. What was even stupider was leaving Maguire as the last man.
An absolute shocker by the manager there.
There was a bit of a flourish by United towards the end of the game which included the changes of Zirkzee for Sesko and Casemiro for Ugarte. This all came a little too late as the game was already over.
3-0 it finished and it seems that United themselves are already finished.
They were lucky it wasn't 4 or 5-0 after Haaland and Tijjani Reijnders missed two opportunities they should've scored.
Verdict on Amorim
“I will not change my phylosophy. I will continue with my ideas… if not, you have to change the man" - Ruben Amorim.
This was the United manager in his post-match presser. Not for the first time, Amorim has once again hinted at his potential departure.
He has become fond of these.
And maybe this might be the last straw.
His side are BOTTOM of the table (with the current teams in the league) since he became manager in November last year. In 31 PL games, he has 8 wins, 7 draws and 16 losses. 16. With a goal difference of -13. That is a win ratio of 25.8%.
Another game where he will see positives but ultimately, suffering defeat and in such a tame manner will leave him truly upset. However, he has to look at himself more than anyone because he will be the one to face the music, not those players.
As much as I do want to blame them as they have been this way for a long time, I'm starting to look more and more at the manager. Some of his selections, the constant use of Bruno in the midfield, weird substitutions, lack of chance creation and ultimately goals, will cost him his job.
14th in the table after four games, just one win with 4 goals scored (2 of which were own goals) and 7 conceded with no clean sheets is NOT how he wanted to be starting his first full season in charge.
He may not even get that full season at this rate. Did you see Sir Jim Ratcliffe's look?
Ratings
Bayindir - 4
Yoro - 5.5
De Ligt - 5
Shaw - 3.5
Mazraoui - 5.5
Bruno - 3
Ugarte - 5.5
Dorgu - 5
Mbeumo - 6 MOTM
Amad - 4.5
Sesko - 5.5
Mainoo - 5.5
Maguire - 5
Zirkzee - 5.5
Casemiro - 5.5
Ruben Amorim - 3
Final Thoughts
It's the same old shit that keeps costing us.
City didn't have to work hard at all to get a comfortable win. They probably should have scored more as well.
United are the masters when it comes to conceding stupid goals as they were all avoidable, just as the captain said. This was the same case against Arsenal, the same at Fulham, and even the 2 against Burnley.
Oppositions don;t have to work hard to beat us.
Amorim sticking with Bruno in midfield is what many are now saying, will be the reason he gets sacked. I agree.
For anyone saying it's the system or he needs a formation change, I disagree because if he were to use the right players in the right positions I do believe that this formation can work. However, putting square pegs in round holes is where he will come undone.
Bringing on Maguire for Yoro made little sense too. We were 2-0 down and with a good chance of losing, but as we know, 2-0 can be a dangerous score line. Maybe if you take a little more risk and go more attacking, something can come of it?
This also tells the team that you are going more defensive when you take a defender off for a defender. And why was it Yoro? Shaw was the worst of the back three and at least with Yoro, he has some pace. With City looking to use Haaland's speed to kill us on the counter, why substitute our fastest defender for our slowest?
As much as we do have to look at those players, the manager is more to blame. He picks the team (which most disagree with) and he very rarely does anything to suggest that we are going for it.
I was really optimistic before this game as I felt that there was something happening. I've had this feeling for a while that even though we are shit, there is something that tells me that 'the good days are coming.'
We then perform like this and that gets killed dead.
I do like Amorim but guy is sacking himself with a lot of his decisions.
This was another utterly disappointing evening for us. In a derby as well?!
The writing really is on the wall, isn't it?
*Sorry forthe lack of images but I couldn't find any. That's how bad we were 😭.
Man City beat Man Utd 3-0 | Nico O'Reilly and Noussair Mazraoui | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)