Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has suggested that Manchester City are getting back towards their best after they made the League Cup final.
A Manchester derby was played out at Old Trafford but it was City who were the victors as they won 2-0, looking sharp and rather in control as they did so.
Indeed, the performance built on a strong result at Stamford Bridge as they beat Chelsea 3-1 in the Premier League last weekend and Neville believes we’re starting to see City get back to the levels we saw between 2017 and 2019.
He said, via the Gary Neville podcast:
“City, over the 90 minutes, looked like they are back to their best or near to their best.
“If you had said to me before the game at Stamford Bridge on Sunday who would be the favourites for this game, I would have said Man Utd. But then having watched City deliver that first half an hour and then see the game out the way they did in the second half [against Chelsea], it just made it a lot more interesting tonight, in the sense you wondered whether this was City back to their best.
“The way they started the game, the rhythm in the passing was back. Pep Guardiola looked like he had his spark back on the touchline.
“I said a few weeks ago, watching City, it was almost as if the players had become bored of playing really well and achieving the standards they had achieved previously.
“But I imagine since Sunday Pep Guardiola has said to them, ‘do you not enjoy playing football more like that than you have in the last few weeks?’
“They were absolutely sensational against Chelsea for 25 minutes, they cut them open.
“Their passing was so precise, sharp, quick, you cannot live with it. You cannot get anywhere near it and there were periods in that first half where City were brilliant.”
Rush Football’s take
Certainly, there have been signs that City are returning to something like themselves after a dip and that should be a warning to the rest of the Premier League.
Liverpool and Manchester United meet later this month at the summit of the table and City will be hoping the pair draw as they reel them in, whilst the likes of Leicester City also appear to be well in contention this year.
