Manchester City Fans Taunt Louis van Gaal's Men with 'United We Fall' Banner
Manchester City fans took it upon themselves to mock Manchester United's poor start to the season by flying a plane over the Etihad ahead of the Sky Blues' 1-1 draw with Chelsea.
The message "United We Fall—In Cinemas Soon" trailed behind the aircraft, as tweeted by AllSportsGH:
"A plane towing a message to @ManUtd fans flies over the Etihad Stadium reading 'United we fall - in cinemas soon' pic.twitter.com/addJBbN8n9
— AllSports.com.gh (@AllSportsGh) September 21, 2014"
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FourFourTweet provided a close-up of the message:
City's jab follows on from United fans expressing their discontent toward previous manager David Moyes with a plane over Old Trafford last season. The infamous banner read, "Wrong One—Moyes Out" prior to United's 4-1 thrashing of Aston Villa on March 29, an incident which rival fans have been happy to mock ever since.
United's poor start to the season was confirmed prior to City's match. Louis van Gaal's team squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads to lose 5-3 against newly promoted Leicester, who highlighted United's weaknesses with their fast-paced attacking play.
Jamie Vardy and Leonardo Ulloa terrorised a defence that will continue to lose United points if vast improvements aren't made with haste.
City were unable to follow their plane stunt with victory, but they will be satisfied with grabbing a point against Jose Mourinho's team. Pablo Zabaleta was sent off for the champions in an encounter that saw Frank Lampard net the equaliser against his former employers.
Manuel Pellegrini's side are three points ahead of Man United, despite working through a much tougher start to the season. City have already faced the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea, remaining unbeaten against all three, having lost to Stoke. Van Gaal has watched his team lose to Swansea and Leicester, not to mention MK Dons in the Capital One Cup.
The Dutch manager slammed his team for "giving the game away" against Leicester, reported by Neil Ashton and Laurie Whitwell of the Daily Mail. Although the game's momentum swung when referee Mark Clattenburg awarded Leicester a dubious penalty with the score at 3-1, the beating thereafter was as convincing and emphatic as anything we'll see in the Premier League this season.
Jonny Evans exited the King Power stadium on crutches, per United's official website, while Chris Smalling appeared off the pace as his replacement. Marcos Rojo's positioning and distribution was extremely poor throughout—the Argentine's willingness to get forward left youngster Tyler Blackett exposed and played a major role in the centre-back being dismissed ahead of the second spot-kick.
Van Gaal's inability to land a defensive leader during the summer transfer window continues to halt United's progress. While Angel Di Maria posted another excellent display and Radamel Falcao fitted in well upon his first start, major gaps remain behind the hard-working Ander Herrera and Daley Blind. A gap Rojo did well to expand during his second performance for the club.
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher criticised United for deploying money in the wrong areas during the summer. "Spending all that money and not bringing in a top defender is mismanagement at the end of the day," noted Carragher, per Ashton and Whitwell. "United look vulnerable like that at the back this season."
City fans will take heart from United's worst start in Premier League history. The champions are likely to go head-to-head with Chelsea for the title, while the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool battle it out below. It's difficult to add United to the conversation, as Champions League football is unlikely to be attained if the club continues to ship goals.
United travel to the Etihad on Nov. 2, a trip which could serve as further embarrassment for the Red Devils. We can expect to see plenty of high-scoring matches involving Van Gaal's team this campaign—such is their wealth of attacking talent and poor defence—but against the best, United's expensive new stars are likely to be overshadowed by the chasm in front of David de Gea's goal.
