There is a room inside the Etihad. It seats around 100 people and focuses on functionality rather than charm. Each football pitch has a different version of the same space, and after every game a pair of contractually obligated administrators enter through a side door, flanked by a largely silent, usually suit-clad club employee.
Then ask mostly mediocre questions until club staff decide enough is enough. Often, the answers given are predictable and bland. Just like that, one game after another continued. No one really knows why. it’s just yes.
But occasionally, very occasionally, these post-match exchanges reveal what football is and what it means. On Sunday, after the 195th Manchester derby, the world saw both sides of the coaching world.
Manchester derby is a tale of two owners
First, in the red corner, Ruben Amorim walks in, wearing beige chinos and spotless snow-white sneakers. Half an hour earlier he had watched United transform what seemed like a slim but glorious defeat into a slim but potentially decisive victory with just minutes remaining.
Amad Diallo’s winning goal came on one of the old stacks in front of the Amorim technical area that was a staple of concrete playgrounds in a world before health and safety components.
Amad Diallo gave Manchester United the lead in the 90th minute! 🌟 pic.twitter.com/Q3I684gEDzDecember 15, 2024
Lisandro Martinez was at the bottom, rolling in delight after his short pass to Diallo. Very happy.
A few minutes later, the final whistle sounded. But by the time his name rang out from the frenzied third floor away from home, Amorim had long since disappeared. After shaking hands with Guardiola, he scurried back to the United dressing room before staff at City’s tunnel club came out with post-match brie.
Amorim knows there is still a lot of work to be done and time on the training ground is urgently needed. In fact, he’s trying to micromanage players in real time every step of the way. Given the pace of a Premier League game, it’s akin to standing on a motorway bridge and trying to direct traffic in and out of the lane.
Regardless, Amorim was a breeze in the room, light on his feet and soft on his movements. He smiled. He made eye contact. He answered questions tactfully, answering questions directly but still saying exactly what he wanted to say. He told reporters the decision to leave Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho not just out of the starting XI but out of the traveling squad entirely was “not discipline”.
“Next week, next game, new life, they’re fighting for their place. But for me, performance in training, performance in games, the way you dress, the way you eat, the way you compete with The way your teammates interact, the way you push your teammates is important.
“In our context, when we want to change a lot of things, when people at our club are losing their jobs, everything is important and we have to set the bar very high.”
Amorim insisted it was not a statement choice, just a choice. But the message is clear. What was before is no longer enough. Fasten your seat belt. “A lot of players here are improving, fighting, working hard, suffering,” he added. “When you suffer for something, it’s a good thing.”
Then, as he prepared to leave, Amorim answered the toughest questions of them all. 48 hours before the game, Manchester United’s squad was leaked on social media. Amorim smiled again. “I know that story,” he said. “I don’t think it’s possible to solve this now. Because you have so many people in the club.
“It’s not a good thing. But let’s move on and get to the next one. Let’s see if they can find the next starting eleven.” Amorim left with a twinkle in his eye. This is a perfect performance. marvelous.
Then Pep came. At least it looks like Pep, smells like Pep, and sits in Pep’s seat. It moves a bit like Pep, but it’s not Pep, not really, not the person we know him to be. Not the invincible #fourinarow, Triple Crown winner. It’s a ghost from Pep’s past, and it’s not easy to watch.
“I’m the boss, I’m the manager but I’m not good enough.” Pep Guardiola at his post-match press conference after the Manchester derby defeat 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/EUOW1Yr5RmDecember 15, 2024
“I’m the boss, I’m the manager, but I’m not good enough,” he told reporters. Wait, what? No, he didn’t just say that – did he? But Pep repeated it again. “It’s that simple. I have to find a way to talk to them about the way we have to play, press and run the offense, but I’m not good enough.”
Six titles; two FA Cups; four League Cups; Champions League. “If that person isn’t good enough, who isn’t?” Room thought.
Just a month and a half ago, Guardiola reminded everyone that Manchester City was the only undefeated team in Europe. But this wasn’t the optimistic, arrogant statement Pep had made in previous defeats. When Tottenham beat Manchester City a few weeks ago, Guardiola was still struggling to rock the boat. He pointed to injuries and pointed to previous success as if that would guarantee future performance.
Now these are gone. This is a man struggling in his football career, a manager with all the questions but no answers yet.
“Eight out of eleven,” he kept repeating, as if to say it would somehow make City’s unprecedented number of defeats disappear in the modern era.
What followed would have been unthinkable six weeks ago. Does he still believe he can turn things around? Will he honor the two-year contract extension he recently signed? “This is a big club; of course the club cannot accept that. I still sit in press conferences because of what we have done in the past.
“I want it so bad. Lost eight out of 11 games, but I’m here to try and I’m going to try again and again.”
While Guardiola’s words themselves were shocking (at least in the football world), the way he delivered them – frustrated, paused, sighed – was even more worrying. Only the coldest-blooded person would not have the slightest sympathy for a man who looked like he might cry at any moment.
That’s football in a nutshell. It can break indestructible things, take shatterproof rulers and break them into a thousand plastic shards.
Two people come in through the same door, sit in the same chair, and leave in the same way. But the two men had very different ideas.
