“What are they called?”
Erling Haaland was asked about Manchester City’s cross-town rivals in a beIN Connect interview over the weekend. He paused before answering.
“I had to think about the name,” he eventually added, with a laugh.
Haaland’s feigned forgetfulness travelled fast through football coverage, and the mocking landed because the point behind it is not quite a joke. Manchester United sit 13th in the Premier League with six points from six games. That is United’s lowest total after six matches since 1986.
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Ferguson’s ‘noisy neighbours’ line, flipped
In September 2009, after a 4-3 derby at Old Trafford, Alex Ferguson shrugged off City with a line that would follow him for the rest of his career. The neighbours were sometimes noisy, he said, but you had to live with them. Seventeen years on, City have won the Premier League repeatedly, and Haaland is the one pretending he cannot recall the name of the club across town.
‘It hurts a lot’ at Old Trafford
Michael Carrick, who is in charge at Manchester United, was booed off at Old Trafford on 10 October. Bryan Mbeumo had put United ahead against ten-man Tottenham after Rodrigo Bentancur’s red card. Dominic Solanke equalised in the 92nd minute.
“Obviously, it hurts, you know, it hurts a lot,” Carrick said of the reaction from the home crowd.
City win titles, lose in the commission
Haaland’s confidence sits against a backdrop that is less comfortable off the pitch. On 29 September, an independent commission found Manchester City guilty of all the serious financial breach charges brought by the Premier League. The club has said it will appeal. Sanctions will be decided at a separate hearing.
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In the same beIN Connect interview, Haaland was asked about the mood around the club.
“We have to stick together,” he said.
Carrick’s backing has a shelf life
The Manchester United hierarchy still believes Carrick deserves time to work his way out of the slump, according to Goal.com, though Eddie Howe is reported as interested in the Old Trafford role if performances do not pick up.
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