Ferguson and Mancini in war of words
Rivalries are very important for any football player or supporter in the world. Sometimes, fans do not want to win anything, but they just need their team to remain ahead of their archrivals. Rivalries arise in the world of football due to some historic significance or between two teams who are always competing at the top. The Real Madrid and Barcelona rivalry followed by Manchester United’s rivalry with Liverpool are some examples in present day football.
However, the most common form of rivalry arises when two clubs share the same origin. This introduces a new concept in football i.e. the concept of local derby. Probably, the most famous one in Europe is played between AC Milan and Inter Milan. However, in recent years, the tussle between Manchester City and Manchester United has also escalating, especially after the induction of lavish funds in City.
Despite these funds and heavy spending, Manchester City was unable to challenge their neighbours during last season. Furthermore, Sir Alex Ferguson was bold enough to claim in the media that this rivalry could never take the place of the United and Liverpool saga. Still, City had high hopes for this match as after a long time it looked like that they would be able to win the local derby. However, things did not go as planned when Manchester United overcame their neighbours after an exciting match.
This time, Manchester City has gone on another shopping spree. They have signed a number of players including Yaya Toure, Jerome Boateng, David Silva, Mario Balotelli and James Milner. City’s interests in James Milner and their successful attempt of signing Gareth Barry last year caused the resignation of Martin O’Neal from Aston Villa. Apparently it seemed that City is trying to create problems for other teams rather than making things easier for them.
Therefore, Ferguson spoke against the spending spree of his neighbours during a press conference. He said that in recent years, the wealthy owners are coming into the English Premier League with a kamikaze effort to spend their money. However, he said that the spending is right, if someone possesses the money. However, he believed that success could not be achieved in this way.
By kamikaze effort, Ferguson definitely meant that City is trying to spend everything that they have to get everything they can get in their hands. In this way, Manchester City is ignoring what they need due to which their money can go to waste if their transfers fail to achieve the desired results. Plus, this suicide mission by City is damaging other clubs because any speculation about a player in the news results in City taking charge to sign the player. Therefore, most of other teams are rendered helpless because of this attitude.
However, Roberto Mancini has come forward to defend his club’s policy of spending. He blamed Ferguson for using the same strategy during his stay at Manchester United. Mancini said that such examples of spending big sums in transfers is not ancient practice, but these methods have been used by big clubs in the last three or four years.
In this way, Mancini is right in claiming that clubs do spend a lot of money in order to improve their squads. Therefore, Manchester United has signed some big players including Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Nani, Anderson and many others. Quite recently, Chelsea has set an example of spending big cash on transfers. So, if the clubs feel that there are deficiencies, then the money must be spent wisely.
On the contrary, Manchester City has spent their cash indiscriminately. They had quality players in certain positions, but they went for other players playing in the same positions. Due to this attitude, they must have created a lot of enemies during the summer transfer season as they held other clubs back because of their willingness to pay more. Everyone is hoping that all this spending brings its fair share of fruits. Otherwise, there would be further humiliation awaiting for Manchester City in the future.
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