Man Utd and Man City Heading In Opposite Directions

Tomorrow's Manchester derby is about much more that Man City consolidating their grip on the final Champions League place and Man Utd continuing their unlikely pursuit of league leaders Chelsea.

It is about two clubs who are moving in very different directions. Off the pitch Man City are in a financial situation which is the envy of the footballing world. Their owners seem to regard the club as a platform from which to display their substantial wealth. By contrast Man Utd's owners, to the evident disgust of the club's supporters, seem to regard the club as a business which should be run profitably.

Man City are furnished with an extravagance of expensive footballing talent such as Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Gareth Barry. Man Utd also have more than their fair share of quality players. If their title challenge meets an abrupt end at the hands of their local rivals though the focus will be on Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez, the players which the club lost in a profitable pre season's transfer activity.

The table will testify how the gap between Man City and their more illustrious neighbours has narrowed. Man City are currently 11 points behind Man Utd with a game in hand. If City win tomorrow and win their game in hand the gap will be as little as five points. Everybody expected Man City to improve rapidly after the huge injection of funds, but few predicted the improvement would be so immediate.

The bad news for Man Utd is that Man City are only going to get better. They are likely to spend at least another £50 million this summer and it appears highly unlikely Alex Ferguson is going to have access to anything like this amount of money.

Unlike Man Utd they also have a relatively young squad with the vast majority of Man City's players still in their prime. Man Utd, by contrast, have an aging squad with Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, and Ryan Giggs all approaching the twilight of their careers. These players have been crucial to the success the club have enjoyed over the past decade and will be very difficult to replace.

It is still far too soon to write off Man Utd. The team has survived the losses of the likes of Ince, Kanchelskis, and Van Nistelrooy in the past and continued to reinvent itself. However, they do not appear to have the same depth of talent emerging through the ranks which they once did. Johnny Evans, Darren Gibson, Fabio, Rafael, and Federico Macheda are all promising, but are they good enough to fill their predecessor's footsteps? Only time will tell.

History will probably forget how close Man Utd came to reaching the Champions League semi finals and winning the Premier League this year. In two disastrous matches in the space of a week Rafael's red card and Didier Drogba's offside goal appear to have put paid to their chances of doing either.

Alex Ferguson has done it before and I do not doubt his ability to do it again. With Man City's new found wealth already starting to cast a shadow over Old Trafford he may have his work cut out to make his team the best in Manchester, let alone England. Victory at Eastlands this weekend would be a very good start.