“Would love to see Man Utd back at its best for more feisty derbies,” Shaun Wright-Phillips
Shaun Wright-Phillips reflects on Manchester City's journey to dominance and suggests that Manchester United must rebuild strategically to reclaim their former glory.
Once a languishing side in the English third tier, Manchester City has come a long way, winning the Premier League four times in a row. Shaun Wright-Phillips, their former winger, believes their city rivals, Manchester United, will need to take a similar approach to return to their glory days.
“I don’t think they’re there yet (as a top-four Premier League team). Ten Hag still doesn’t know what his best XI is. And if you don’t know your strongest team, you’re setting unrealistic expectations for a top-four finish,” Shaun told The Guy in the Stands during the club’s Champions-4-in-a-row trophy tour in India.
“There is too much team rotation. Even when I watch them, I don't know how they are trying to play. I can watch Everton knowing how are they going to play. With Manchester United, I can't see their identity. There's too much like 'what's it gonna be',” he added.
Manchester United wasn’t always down in the dumps, though. Back in 1999, when the Red side of Manchester was enjoying one of their best-ever seasons, Shaun was part of the blue side, facing teams like Macclesfield and Gillingham in the third tier of English football.
Epitomising United’s success on the pitch, City had their turnaround in fortunes when UAE’s Sheikh Mansour acquired the club in 2008, the same year Shaun rejoined the team. Since then, City has won 23 trophies - eight Premier League titles, four in a row, a Champions League title, three FA Cups, one Club World Cup, and several other accolades.
However, Shaun believes this success isn’t solely due to the financial backing, as pinned down by the critics, but rather to the structure the owners instilled at the club.
He argued that the takeover brought with it a clear blueprint, focusing on the academy, recruitment, and developing players. “So, success isn’t merely bought but rather achieved through a structure like Man City has instilled, who implemented a blueprint and followed it rigorously. Then, the trophies and success follow.”
However much of City’s success is drawn down to their indubitable spending; since 2016 Man City rank fourth amongst the ‘top six’ in premier league by total net spend whilst being one of lowest spenders amongst teams who have been in the Premier League over the last five years. On the other hand, their city rivals, the Red Devils (Man Utd) have been profligate in their spending.
And despite all the exponential splurge by the Red Devils, with top players coming in and going, it’s owners have been under a cloud of uncertainty over their management of the club. This was highlighted by one of Utd’s ex-marquee player, Cristiano Ronaldo, who brought an end to his second stint with the club after stirring controversy in an interview, before the 2022 FIFA World Cup, over the abysmal handling of the club’s operations by its management.
“I think now Man Utd fans understand how much Sir Alex Ferguson was doing at the club. He wasn’t just managing the team; it was almost like he was running the entire club. But since he stepped down, the club, in many ways, has declined,” Shaun added.
As this wasn’t the case back under Sir Alex, reflecting on United’s past, Shaun continued saying, “If you look at Man United’s success, it wasn’t overnight. Sir Alex Ferguson came in, and there was a stage in his career— I was a bit too young— when he was close to being sacked. But a year later, he turned it around and became one of the greatest managers I’ve seen in the Premier League.”
For him Manchester United will continue finishing outside the top four, this season as well, as he expects the Premier League's top four to mirror last season’s, with City winning the league for the fifth consecutive year. However, he hopes Manchester United will bounce back, leading to more intense Manchester derbies in the future.
“I would love to see them back at their best for more feisty Manchester derbies,” he added.
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