One City, Two Teams, United in Dominance: Manchester XI vs EPL XI: Part 1

We're four matches into the new English Premier League, and there is already a clear indication as to which two teams will be battling it out for the title come May. The signs were there from last season, with Manchester United's record breaking 19th title and Manchester City's late surge towards third place only on goal difference with Chelsea.

Manchester City have gone further from last season with a vastly improved side, while Manchester United will always be competing for the title as long as Ferguson is at the helm. There were doubts about how they would figure without Van Der Sar, but with a new group of young players coming through and a rejuvenated Wayne Rooney in the mix, they look a much better side from that of last season. 

So, with Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool looking so far behind the two teams from Manchester, it begs the question as to how a Premier League side outside of Manchester would fair against the a Manchester XI, consisting of the best players from both United and City. First, we'll unveil the side representing Manchester:

Manchester Goalkeeper: Joe Hart

While De Gea might arguably be more talented, his inexperience with the Premier League renders him as the lesser choice between the two Manchester keepers. Joe Hart is a player with supreme confidence in his own high abilities, though that overconfidence can lead to mistakes.

Only 24 years old, Hart has a long way to go in his career, and the early signs suggest that he is on his way to being the true successor to David Seamen within the England ranks. 

Manchester XI Right Back: Rafael Da Silva

Right Back might be Manchester's weakest position with two players, who, while being talented, have had too many injury problems to be considered top players. Rafael just shades Micah Richards due to his great performances last season, though injury cut that season short and has prevented him from playing this season.

A clear talent for the future, his natural attacking ability, coupled with his physique and aggressiveness in defense, makes him a perfect RB for the future. 

Manchester XI Center Back: Vincent Kompany

The Belgian encountered a meteoric rise last season, as he went from being a rotation player playing at DM and CB into arguably the Premier League's best defender. He was rated as a potentially great player from an early age. Kompany has only now begun to truly show his talent after an injury laden career at Hamburg.

A powerful defender who barely loses a battle, his reading of the game was also displayed in full flow throughout the season, especially in the bigger matches, where Mancini put more pressure on his defenders by playing a deep line. He is shades ahead of Rio Ferdinand on the basis of Rio's poor injury record of late. 

Manchester XI Center Back: Nemanja Vidic (C)

Besides Kompany, Vidic would be arguably the best Premier League center back over the past three years. The partnership of Rio and Vidic has been one of the best the Premier League has seen and maybe even outdoes Manchester United's previous great partnership of Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister.

Vidic represents a similar player in comparison with Kompany, but one of greater quality, though his lack of pace would be a big problem if he did not have a great ability to spot danger and nullify it. 

Manchester XI Left Back: Patrice Evra

He has been the most consistent member of United's defence for the past five years due in part to his fantastic injury record. Even with the dip in form last season, Evra would be a starting LB in every Premier League squad besides Chelsea. Fast, huge amounts of stamina and quality at both ends of the pitch have made Evra one of the World's best left backs over the past five years.

Left back seems to be City's biggest positional problem, with last season's signing Kolarov having problems adapting to the Premier League and Gael Clichy having had a drop in form over the past two seasons. Evra easily comes ahead of all of them. 

Manchester XI Right Winger: Nani

It might have taken him three years, but Nani can now firmly claim himself to be one of the World's best wingers. Arriving with the label of "Next Ronaldo" from Lisbon, Nani was considered as nothing more then a fancy winger for much of his career, and only for the past season has he added an end product to his great dribbling abilities.

Leading the assists chart with 18 assists, along with nine goals, he was arguably United's most important player in their title run last season, especially in sustaining their unbeaten record for much of the season. Easily ahead of his City counterparts, Adam Johnson and James Milner. 

Manchester XI Defensive Midfielder: Yaya Toure

Just why Pep Guardiola was so willing to let go of Yaya was a mystery to many at the time. Maybe it was that he didn't have the Barca blood of Sergio Busquests. Even then, City paid high money to get the Ivorian, and he has already paid majority of that fee with some superb performances over the past season, none more so than in the FA Cup Semifinal victory over United.

A lung busting box-to-box midfield reminiscent of a by-gone era where midfielders were expected to be strong at both ends of the pitch, Yaya dominates most midfields he comes up against. United have no comparison to him at the moment; maybe Anderson if he continues his current form. 

Manchester XI Central Midfielder: David Silva

Another big money transfer from the La Liga, David Silva had a similar impact to that of Yaya Toure: instant. Taking little time to settle to the so called "Best League in the World," Silva quickly established himself as the best playmaker in the league. Quick with his touch and deadly with his final ball, Silva's influence in the team was actually slightly diminished by Mancini's negative tactics throughout much of the season.

This season, Silva has continued his previous season's form and has gone one level up with Mancini, giving him more freedom to express himself and better attacking players with whom to create chances. 

Manchester XI Left Winger: Samir Nasri

Though a very late signing by Mancini have an elongated transfer saga, Nasri has taken little time in settling with his new players. Nasri was brought in at Arsenal with a huge reputation, but was never able to fulfill it by being played out of position as a winger, it was only with Fabregas' injury and Nasri's switch of position to the center of midfield that the Frenchmen displayed his true abilities.

Nasri still finds himself playing as a winger for City, but with a greater license to play in the center rotating positions with Silva. Ashley Young and Antonio Valenica give him great competition, but the Nasri-Silva combination seems one of great potential.   

Manchester XI Striker: Wayne Rooney

He has spurts of quality but never the consistency to be regarded as one of the best strikers in the world, mainly due to his lack of a proper position throughout his Manchester career, Rooney seems to be found his calling as the "False-9" within United's formation. His quality on the ball over other strikers was never in doubt, but he never showed the ability to score at the rate of other top strikers. Thirty-four goals in the 09-10 season went a long way in disproving that theory, but the consistency once again deserted him as he started the next season horribly.

His form improved considerably as he was shifted to a deeper position alongside Hernandez, and he has gone from strength to strength since then. While being as much a part of the building of United's attacks as his fellow midfielders, Rooney currently has eight goals in four matches this season, meaning that another 30-plus goal season is surely ahead. 

Manchester XI Striker: Edin Dzeko

A big man with a big reputation, Dzeko was scoring goals for fun at Wolfsburg before he made his move to the blue half of Manchester. Coming in January can never be easy, even for the best of players, and Dzeko surely enough struggled without a preseason with his new team and without any time to get acclimatized to the quicker pace of the Premier League. Two league goals in 15 appearances was a poor record, and the arrival of Aguero was the signal though to stop Dzeko's career.

That, though, has been proven false with Dzeko's blistering start to the current season, six goals in three games, excluding his goal in the Community Shield against United. Dzeko's awkward touch and poor finishing of last season seems to have been replaced with a top class ability to score and pass the ball on the first touch. Shades ahead of Aguero on part that Rooney-Dzeko seems a better partnership. 

Manchester XI Manager: Sir Alex Ferguson

One FA Cup and a couple of Italian trophies within a handicapped league does not replace 20 years of English dominance. No one can come above the great Scot.  

United would not have won the title last season without Sir Alex, but one can argue that City would've still reached third place without Mancini. That argument would be stronger considering that many were critical of Mancini's negative tactics throughout that season, especially in the bigger games. With the all round quality within the City ranks, a third spot was expected. 

Manchester XI Bench:

David De Gea, Micah Richards, Rio Ferdinand, Nigel De Jong, Javier Hernandez, Sergio 'Kun' Aguero and Antonio Valencia.

De Gea would be an obvious choice since he is clearly United's first choice goalkeeper, at least for now. Richards' versatility as a right back and center back means that he would be a valuable asset to have on the bench alongside Rio Ferdinand, who loses out on a starting place due to his aging legs and injury problems.

De Jong had a strong shout to be in the starting line-up. He certainly has the qualities of being one of the top destroyers in world football, but Silva and Nasri's fantastic quality means that a bit of defensive solidarity can be sacrificed for the offensive quality the two City players bring.

Sergio Aguero, Javier Hernandez and Antonio Valencia represent three attackers that would walk into any top side in England's starting line-up besides the two Manchester sides. Aguero is placed on the bench due to Dzeko's better goal scoring record over the past years, while Hernandez is in the line-up due to Berbatov clearly not being part of Sir Alex's first team plans, not to mention his supreme ability to score goals. A fantastic super sub to have with his acceleration and movement against tiring defenders.   

Manchester XI Formation:

A 4-2-2-2 with Rooney dropping deep to collect and help in the creation of chances, a partnership of Rooney, Silva, Nasri and Nani would be devastating, and goals would be guaranteed not only with the ability of those players to create chances, but also to score.

Nani, Nasri and Silva have good goal scoring records for midfielders, and therefore, if either striker is in poor form, they can step up to help in that respect. Dzeko is a striker who prays on crosses into the box and also likes having a second striker to support him; therefore, Nani's crosses with  Rooney's movement in behind him would be a perfect situation for the Bosnian to score tons of goals. 

The defence is one which consists of quality and speed. Though Vidic might not be the quickest, Evra, Rafael, Yaya Toure and Kompany surely are, and therefore, playing a high line is quite possible. Joe Hart's good rate of anticipation and speed enable him to come out to sweep long balls regularly for City, and that is an added advantage for the Manchester XI.

The wing backs might be the biggest weakness in the side, but with Kompany and Vidic bought being supreme in dealing with crosses, there is a low likelihood of any wingers being able to create goals with crosses into the box. 

Coming Up in Part 2 and 3!

Here ends my best XI from the two Manchester sides.

I'l post my Rest of England XI soon afterwards and then a player to player comparison judging where each team has the advantage. Please follow my articles at: www.redandwhitedoublepivot.blogspot.com