Manchester United Must Shake off Their Inferiority Complex Ahead of Derby Day

Manchester United fans still take glee in taunting their rivals Manchester City, despite the Premier League power shift that has taken place in the northwest over the past five years or so.

"If you go down to Man City, you'll buy one, get one free," sang United supporters in reference to the swathes of empty seats on display at the Etihad stadium for City's Champions League match against Roma earlier this month. 

But with the first Manchester derby of the season set for Sunday, it's pertinent to consider how that shift has affected both clubs in the wider sense. While City once held an inferiority complex when it came to games against their closest rivals, it is now United that are now haunted with a sense of subordination.

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City were the ones who would talk of being a "big club," forcing the point just a little too much to be genuine. They were the ones who boasted about having more fans from Manchester when repeated studies showed that claim to be untrue. And they were the ones who artificially inflated their transfer market standing by paying over the odds for players.

However, some time after Khaldoon Al Mubarak's takeover of the club in 2008, City started to shake off their inferiority complex, straight across Manchester and on to their rivals United.

Such a shift in dynamic had been taking place for years, but it really took root at Old Trafford last season, as the Red Devils suffered their worst campaign in a generation whilst their rivals clinched their second Premier League title in three years. 

"I think we've played a very good side and it's the sort of standard and level we need to try and aspire to get ourselves to at this moment in time," David Moyes, who became a specialist in saying the wrong thing as United boss, admitted after a defeat to City last season, as per Sky Sports.

Unsurprisingly, Moyes' comments did not sit well with those of a United persuasion, especially given his predecessor Ferguson's efforts to undermine every little achievement of City's.

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"Noisy neighbours" is how Ferguson famously described United's rivals, a tag that would come to define how United saw City with regards to the rivalry between the two teams.

At the height of United's supremacy, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool formed the club's primary competition, with even Leeds United more of a direct rival than Manchester City.

It should be noted, however, that United's subconscious was infiltrated with hints of inferiority long before Moyes' doomed tenure at the club. The dynamic truly changed as soon as the pipeline of cash started flowing to the blue side of Manchester direct from Abu Dhabi.

Even under Ferguson, the most mentally strong manager in European football, United started their slip into an inferior mindset. Look at the way Fergie approached a title-deciding clash at the Etihad Stadium two years ago. The Scot denied as much, but his selection and strategy was motivated by fear of his rivals, as he effectively played for a draw. His team lost the game and subsequently lost their Premier League crown, too.

Wayne Rooney recognised this insecurity when he held the Old Trafford club to ransom over contract demands in 2010. Or rather his agent Paul Stratford did, threatening to move his client—and United's best player at the time—to City.

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With Cristiano Ronaldo's exit to Real Madrid fresh in the memory, Rooney and his agent understood that United simply couldn't lose another marquee name, not least to the rising power in English football, who just so happened to be their closest rivals.

It's a combination that has empowered City when it comes to their rivalry with United, as demonstrated by their Premier League crowns. Fans on the Stretford End have little more than ticket sales to taunt their rivals over.

Manchester United founded a dynasty on arrogance and swagger, but now they are terrified of losing their status as England's predominant footballing superpower to their closest rivals.

It's up to Louis Van Gaal to restore United's identity, not just as a team but also as superiors over their rivals. And rivals come no bigger and more formidable in 2014 than Manchester City, regardless of whether that is a recent development or not.

City are now a permanent fixture at the top of the Premier League table, but United must make sure that their inferiority complex when it comes to the fixture itself isn't as permanent. Starting on Sunday.