Why Manchester United's 6-1 Loss to City Could Prove a Blessing in Disguise

It's no exaggeration to say Manchester City's 6-1 demolition of Manchester United is the most stunning result in Premier League history. United had won 19 in a row at Old Trafford before the arrival of their "noisy neighbours," and were unbeaten at home for 37 games and 18 months.

City came as league leaders, and with an expensively-assembled squad as deep as any in Europe, but nobody expected them to steamroll the 19-time champions in their own back yard.

Common sense suggested a draw; the majority expected a narrow United victory.

What nobody accounted for was a performance as compelling as what was delivered by Roberto Mancini's increasingly convincing collective of superstars.

"We're Man United, we'll do what we want," so goes the most popular chant at Old Trafford these days. Not today they didn't. And how City fans relished singing their own version as home fans streamed out of the stadium with 20 minutes to play.

While City's margin of victory was largely down to the sending off of Jonny Evans just before halftime, there can be no doubting their superiority throughout a harrowing 90 minutes for everybody concerned with United, not least their manager.

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"It was our worst ever day," Sir Ferguson said. "It's the worst result in my history, ever. Even as a player I don't think I ever lost 6-1. That's challenge for me too.

"I can't believe the scoreline. The first goal was a blow for sure but it was retrievable at 1-0. The sending off was a killer for us. We kept attacking when we went 4-1 down and we should have just said: 'We've had our day.'"

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Ferguson won't say it publicly, but he must surely tonight be regretting United's failure to land a world-class midfielder over the summer. The pairing of Darren Fletcher and Anderson worked tirelessly, but in comparison to David Silva looked like a couple of blunt spoons next a cutthroat razor.

United's predictability in central areas leaves them overly reliant on Wayne Rooney dropping deep to provide a spark, and that in turn leaves them without Rooney's goalscoring threat higher up the field. In contrast, the likes of Sergio Aguero and Mario Balotelli can lurk in dangerous positions and rely on Silva for City's inspiration.

It was United's weakness in midfield that saw them outclassed by Barcelona in the Champions League finals of 2009 and 2011, and it was their midfield that did them in today. There remains a Paul Scholes-shaped hole in the middle of the park that Ferguson desperately needs to fill.

The only hope for United fans is that today's humiliation will force the issue in January. If Ferguson was just vaguely contemplating making a major move in the transfer window, surely the worst result of his 25-year reign has made that move a necessity.

If it has, and United do go out and land a player of the quality of Wesley Sneijder, then perhaps there could yet be a silver lining to the today's embarrassment at Old Trafford. 

For now City are the team to catch and deserve every plaudit, but let's not forget United lost 5-0 to Chelsea on their way to the 1999-2000 title.

There'll be a reaction alright from Ferguson and his team, and it will be all the more potent if they add an equivalent to Silva in the United midfield.