Pep Guardiola has extended his Manchester City contract and will likely therefore extend the very real inferiority complexes of his so-called ‘rivals’ in the Premier League, who have been roundly embarrassed by his side’s dominance in his eight seasons at the Etihad.

We’ve come up with a damning indictment of inferiority for each of the other five members of the Big Six since Guardiola arrived in the summer of 2016.

Arsenal: One Champions League knockout win
Manchester City haven’t been the Champions League juggernauts that their domestic dominance suggests they should have been during Guardiola’s tenure – it was about the only stick left to beat him with before they eventually got the monkey off their back in 2023.

Their relationship with Europe’s showcase competition hasn’t been a smooth one but they’ve had a relationship to speak of, unlike Arsenal.

The Gunners have only been in it twice during the age of Guardiola in England: in the Spaniard’s first season in the Premier League, when they successfully negotiated a group with PSG, Basel and Ludogrets before losing 10-2 on aggregate to Bayern Munich; and last season, when they squeezed through the first knockout round against Porto on penalties before limping out in the quarter-final, again to Bayern.

Chelsea: 28 fewer points per season
The argument from Chelsea fans and the previous regime to defend their saloon-door manager policy was ‘works though, doesn’t it?’. But Guardiola marks the cut-off point after which it no longer did.

Antonio Conte drove Chelsea to the title in his and Guardiola’s first season in England, but none of the Blues’ eight managerial changes since the Spaniard has arrived have led to a title. Not even a sniff of one in fact, with 19 points the smallest gap between the two sides come season’s end, which they ‘achieved’ in consecutive seasons thanks to a bit of Frank Lampard and a lot more Thomas Tuchel.

In the seven seasons since Chelsea won the title in 2016/2017, when Guardiola was still getting his feet under the table, Manchester City have won 200 more points than Chelsea; that’s an average of over 28 more points per season.

Tottenham: 36 knockout victories
No trophies, obviously, but that doesn’t paint a picture anywhere near clear enough of Spurs’ subservience. In the time that Manchester City have won 18 trophies (and yes we’re counting the minor ones because Tottenham sure as sh*t would), Spurs have reached just two finals and won 36 knockout games. Manchester City have won 85.

Manchester United: Spent more
The Sheikh sugar daddy argument rather falls down for Manchester United fans when you dig into, or rather brush the surface, of the numbers.

Manchester United have spent £1.32bn on players since Guardiola arrived in the Premier League, compared to Manchester City’s £1.27bn, with the Citizen sales of £694m in that time providing further embarrassment for United, who have recouped just £363m.

United have spent more, have a significantly greater net spend, have watched City win six Premier League titles – usually from quite a distance – and have failed to finish above their rivals in any of Guardiola’s eight seasons in charge.

READ MORE: It’s been a tough season so far for the Main Character Managers; can Amorim turn the tide?

Liverpool: The Great Rivalry
“I will miss him a lot,” Guardiola said when asked about his great rival leaving Liverpool. “Jurgen has been a really important part of my life. He brought me to another level as a manager.”

We don’t doubt that and we can’t dismiss what were undoubtedly some brilliant battles between two great sides under two great managers, who were so far ahead of the chasing pack for a couple of seasons that those clashes took on added importance as genuine title deciders.

It was definitely over-egged at times, with TV broadcasters as much to blame as anyone for huge build-ups to games between the two even when they weren’t going properly toe-to-toe in the Premier League, which only happened twice, in 2018/2019 and 2021/2022.

Arne Slot is currently wondering what all the fuss was about as he and Liverpool trot ahead of Manchester City without any bother, and it would be very funny if he was to cruise to the title in his first season after The Honorary Scouser fought tooth and nail with Guardiola for years and managed to pip him and City just once.

An enjoyable rivalry certainly, but we would argue a Great Rivalry would need to be significantly less one-sided.

Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies wants £10m to sign for Man Utd on a free transfer in the summer transfer window, according to reports.

The Red Devils spent around £180m on new signings in the summer transfer window as they looked to support Erik ten Hag ahead of the new season.

However, just nine Premier League matches into the new season, Man Utd made the decision to sack Ten Hag and hire Ruben Amorim from Sporting Lisbon.

It looks likely that there will be very limited money to spend to help Amorim improve his squad in January and the Red Devils are already looking ahead to the summer.

One part of the team which Amorim is keen to improve is left wing-back and Sky Germany journalist Florian Plettenberg revealed in late October that Bayern Munich’s Davies – who is available on a free transfer in the summer – is a target for Man Utd.

Plettenberg wrote on X: “Manchester United’s interest in Alphonso #Davies is becoming more concrete #MUFC have been gathering extensive information on Davies for several days. The 23y/o would be a desired transfer for the vacant left-back position, as recently revealed.

“In recent months, Manchester United have already made an informal inquiry with the player’s camp. At present, there are no new talks about a contract extension with FC Bayern. Davies could leave the club as a free agent next summer.”

Before revealing earlier this week that Davies had become a “dream” target for Man Utd and Amorim ahead of next summer.

Plettenberg added: “#Davies #MUFC … One of Manchester United’s dream targets for summer as revealed.”

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano also brought an update on Thursday about the Red Devils’ interest in Davies and confirmed that Man Utd will attempt to sign a new left-back as priority.

MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
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👉 Big Weekend: Man City v Tottenham, Ruben Amorim, Liverpool, Cole Palmer, Napoli, Coventry

Romano said on his YouTube channel: “As I told you, there is still no agreement done with any club. Real Madrid remain there. But for Alphonso Davies, there are several possibilities. So let’s see what’s going to happen.

“On Manchester United, a name I already told you last year, because Manchester United were monitoring this player, and keep monitoring this player.

“Now there is a new coach, and the new coach is Ruben Amorim. So let’s see what Amorim will decide to do for that position.

“But for Man United, first of all, in general, left-back is a priority position. So Man United want to cover that position. This summer, they decided to go with Noussair Mazraoui, this was the plan.

“So last summer, last transfer window, because they believed that Mazraoui could cover the two positions, right and left-back.

“But in 2025, Man United want to sign an important left-back to also play in a different kind of position for Ruben Amorim. He wants a top left-footed player in that position.”

And now GiveMeSport claim that Davies ‘would likely demand wages of £240,000-a-week and a signing-on fee of around £10m’ if he leaves Bayern Munich for Man Utd in the summer.

The report adds:

‘United reportedly view these figures as a potential stumbling block, as such wages would place Davies among the top five earners at the club. The Red Devils are currently looking to reduce their wage bill under INEOS’ management.

‘United are also believed to have identified Wolves’ Rayan Ait-Nouri, former United defender Alvaro Carreras, and Girona starlet Miguel Gutierrez as alternative options.’

From his first Manchester United training session it was clear to see Ruben Amorim has something. But one Liverpool fan says he can’t be judged for a while.

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.

That’s Amorim
Erm, I’m a bit giddy and don’t really understand why other United fans wouldn’t be. If we’ve learnt anything from the last few guys its to enjoy it as much as possible in the beginning because sooner or later, it will all turn to shit. Excitement and objectivity aren’t mutually exclusive.

I wrote in the other week to poke fun at a certain Liverpool fan for claiming dispassion and patience with regards their new manager’s impressive start whilst obviously falling head of heels for him, explaining all the things Slot was doing better than Klopp.

Well, Paul, I suppose I owe you a bit of an apology because here I am like a lovesick schoolgirl bewitched by a mysterious foreigner whose done nothing but show up to training and flash his pearly whites. Given our respective previous relationships I would argue my giddiness is somewhat more justified however Slot has actually done something worthy of praise so fair enough, and sorry.

With that in mind however I’m now going to fawn over Amorim a little. There have been three short videos produced by the club so far showing our new manager. A stadium tour, an interview, and a video of the first proper training session. Whilst the first two successfully make me all gooey inside it’s the training video that actually has something worthy of discussion.

There was some talk of whether Amorim would take a pragmatic approach during his early time at United and try to integrate a three at the back style over time given the squads supposed unsuitability for that system, but we got an answer immediately. Three at the back, two high wingbacks, two playmakers behind the striker, same as he did at Sporting, no messing about.

Obviously this was very basic stuff and whilst ‘man does bare minimum of job requirements’ shouldn’t produce as much excitement as it has, this does demonstrate just how utterly lacking in identity and direction United had become under Ten Hag. Giving the team a framework of consistent positioning and basic passing structures will look revolutionary in comparison.

Establishing that identity is important, having something to fall back on when everything goes wrong is important. Its simple stuff that could make a big difference, like when the team loses possession everyone turns around and runs in a straight line back to their defensive position. Very basic, but for a team that has so consistently collapsed under the barest of pressures over the last few years it could be vital.

Pessimism has its place and I’m in no way saying Amorim is going to be successful at United. There is no evidence to suggest that yet and our club has a habit of breaking managers and players but that doesn’t mean excitement at the possibility of success is unreasonable. Just being able to see the destination, already having a clear idea how this team could look in a year or two if Amorim is talented enough to coach it, should be cause for some giddiness.
Dave, Manchester

Right not to be giddy
Good to see that Utd fans have some perspective on their expectations regarding Amorim. I hope that also extends to what results he should be getting. I may be entirely wrong, but I see Utd’s first XI/squad as around the 7/8th best in the league, and so the expectation for an average manager would be results that place you in those positions in the league.

Now, you might argue that you want a good, or ideally, great manager, and he should subsequently over-perform with the team. Let’s say that improves the points return by 7-10 points above the average. That might put you in the 4th-6th position area (or higher or lower, this is guess work people), but still only those positions and that’s a great manager having a serious impact upon your results.

This means you are going to often drop points against those teams in the top 6 positions. You will also sometimes lose against teams in the bottom half. Just like Liverpool, Arsenal And City do, just with more regularity because they are a worse team. Fans, Media (even our hallowed F365) and pundits treat Utd as if they are still the dominant team of the Ferguson era. They are not. And if I was a Manchester Utd fan I would be getting super pissed at this continued attitude. It is actively damaging the clubs attempt to drag itself forward. Every time they put in a dismal performance where they are outplayed everyone tears them to shreds.

Do they do that with Brighton? If Brighton lose to Spurs do the players get dragged over the coals for not putting in the work and being shit. No. People have reasonable expectations. They will lose occasionally to big teams. They will win occasionally to big teams, when they do they are applauded for the success. This is a positive cycle that promotes players to feel supported and confident.

What you get with Utd is an unrealistic expectation, which when inevitably not actualised means the players, having only played to their expected level, are slaughtered, and in some cases, publicly humiliated. This creates a dismal feeling within the squad, ratchets up the pressure because any perceived under-performance gets lambasted, and the combination makes the whole environment unpleasant. Amorim will bring fresh respite, but if he is held up to unreasonable expectations, the cycles will begin again.

Judging Amorim inside the first 12-18 months is always pointless. There are many examples of great managers needing at least a couple of seasons to integrate their ideas, develop the playing squad, and provide enough data to offset any unfortunate/fortunate periods that muddy the water of actual performance. Moreover, it is simply logical to surmise that a manager would need time to evaluate the squad and instil the required patterns/processes he wants his players to replicate habitually.

People will no doubt point to Slot as an example of a manager showing progress and performance very quickly, but this was only possible due to an incumbent successful squad, full pre-season, an evolution rather than revolution of playing style and perhaps players who have high intelligence and flexibility to make the transition process easier. But despite this apparent success, we should absolutely not draw any conclusions for some time. Slot, and I say this as a Liverpool fan, is absolutely going to go through a performance slump at some stage. It might be before xmas, after or next season, but slump they will. This will not make him suddenly a bad manager, despite recency bias making some fans and most media insist to the contrary. It is just the absolute certainty that teams go through periods of good form and bad form.

Though in my opinion Utd have a (for them) mediocre playing squad, that does not mean it will take the oft mentioned 2/3/4 seasons to improve. There are many examples of teams vastly improving from far worse base lines in a couple of transfer windows. And this is instead the area that people should rightly criticise the previous performance and subsequently expect vast improvements in the future.

Utd have a distinct advantage on almost every other team. They accrue enough revenue to budget a significant net spend every season. This, in theory, allows them to have a high wage bill, an absolute necessity for title challengers, but moreover allows them to actively purchase players to improve the playing squad. If you can constantly spend significant money to improve your team, they should exist as perennial challengers who should regularly reach the pinnacle and stay there through the ability to replace ageing stars with new, young ones. With such a significant advantage it is actually extremely impressive (for the wrong reasons) that they have continuously produced such mediocre teams.

And beware, this advantage isn’t baked in. Utd were dominant for so long that they amassed a legion of fans (on top of already being a large, storied club), as success tends to do, but the longer the fallow period the more that legion gets eroded, particularly if there exists a twin who represents absolute success and competence. If Utd continue to exist outside the top 4 then at some point their turnover will evolve to reflect that.
Ed Ern

MORE ON AMORIM’S START FROM F365
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What do Spurs want?
Most fans, I imagine, don’t really know much about other clubs support base aside from a handful of loudmouths on the internet, which is why someone like Dixon Hunt (not his real name, surely….too many genitalia jokes there) writes in basing an opinion on a fan base off of one letter.

Spurs fans, in general, at the stadium – which I am fortunate enough to go to regularly, have one permeating opinion; that the club, which includes the manager, are more than just okay. I know that, in my job, I’m required to think differently as per which client I’m dealing with – seems quite logical, but we have a coach who steadfastly refuses to change (and for anyone saying he has – he really hasn’t, it’s the same thing week in week out) despite who we’re playing. This means that when teams who aren’t either very poor, Everton, West Ham, and for 45 minutes, Aston Villa, we capitulate under the most minimal of pressure.

We have a group of players who are okay but no more than that. A leadership group consisting of two players who aren’t good enough, and one who is a legend but very, very clearly, on the slide. Our injuries have increased since Ange took over – no surprise there, the players are having to bust a gut for 90 minutes non-stop, and almost certainly during training. The number of muscular injuries – and recurrences of injuries isn’t coincidence either.

We pay huge sums of money to go to games where the stadium – or business park to be more accurate – is a building site – again – due to a number of hotels being built, and a chairman who is trousering vast sums of money but routinely fails at his job (the one which involves anything on the pitch), lurching from one manager to the next, often firing coaches in and around this time.

The football can be fun but again, I doubt Dixon Hunt watches every Spurs match in their entirety so how would he know how often it can infuriating watching Vicario pass to an opposing player 20 yards from goal, or Udogie get done time and again, or Romero stood around watching – in fact what is watching because it sure as shit ain’t the opposition. He doesn’t watch Brennan Johnson cough up possession repeatedly, and cheaply. Those are the three I can be arsed to mention.

I’m really not at all fussed what Liverpool fans want, you know why? Because who, except Liverpool fans, gives a toss!?

Baffling.
Dan

How do these journo hacks get jobs let alone keep them? Do they all meet up at some pub in Fleet Street and discuss whose life they intend to destroy next? You actually have to feel sorry for ETH as he is probably a good coach but didn’t suck up to the UK media in the way they wanted.

We all know the formula by now – initial adulation and unrealistic expectation followed by public humiliation and destruction. Even Mourinho, the darling of the UK media, eventually suffered the same fate. Had Klopp stayed long enough I am sure he would have found himself in the cross hairs. Even Guardiola is now facing closer scrutiny, one of the greatest managers to grace the game.

So now the narrative seems to have turned to Ange Postecoglou who, seems affable, modest with a dry sense of humor. A breath of fresh air really. Although there are only 3 domestic trophies on offer each season and Spurs are unlikely to win any of them, the “Media Mafia” have decided to trot out that old cliche of “Spursiness.” Come on journos, this is about as real as religion or luck or fate. Besides, I can think of many more extreme examples of “Spursiness” (i.e. Gerrard’s or Terry’ slips) but they don’t fit the narrative, do they?

The reality is “Spursiness” is more down to management not going the extra mile to secure that extra bit of quality that is needed when the time comes (e.g. MUFC buying Van Persie) tha n some cosmic force.

Sure, Spurs are inconsistent but at times are playing amazing football. Why can’t we just enjoy that entertainment and what seems like a decent bloke instead of trying to destroy the man?
Adidasmufc (Amorin is the new Mourinho? After 2 training sessions? Seriously?)

Rash call
The same tired old tropes in todays Mediawatch. Essentially anyone criticising Rashford is part of/a fan of the ‘right wing’ press cabal harbouring a grudge over his (PA team driven) school dinners thing or for being ‘black and rich’. Sigh.

Sorry to point this out lads but the reason a large section of United fans dislike Rashford is for playing like a **** for the past 2 years, all the while moping around like a spoilt teenager and picking up £350k a week for a less than one in three career goal return as a ‘striker’.

So yeah no one gives two hoots about a trip to New York. Just give a little thought to the day job eh?
Richard, Manchester

What’s your favourite? Tell me what’s your favourite
There are so many boring podcasts (thank god for this site) discussing whether Liverpool are favourites to win the title. Just wanted to clarify there is a difference between being likely to win and favourites. In the betting odds liverpool are leading at 40% likeihood. So favourites but chances are they won’t win it. Both can exist.
David (some awful YouTube content nowadays, whose your least favourite?) Morris

One down
As a Sheffield Wednesday fan, I welcome the idea of Frank Lampard to Coventry. It will be one less team to worry about when we ultimately enter another relegation dogfight!
Luke (Dublin)

Fabric football team
So I was bored at work and couldn’t get the words mikel merino wool out of my head, so here’s a full fabrics football team that noone asked for:

David Rayon

Fleece James
Nylon Nosworthy
Igor Biscanvas
Matty Cashmere

Mikel Merino wool
Muslin Izzett
Cesc Fabricas

Daniel Polyesterridge
Lionel Hessi(an)
Gary Linenker

subs;
Tony Cotton
Silkvain Distin
Matthew Leatherington
Acrylicolas Jackson

Sorry…
AD, NUFC