It’s too early to talk of Manchester United as champions

Last weekend’s Manchester derby has not in any way changed my opinion about City retaining the English Premier League title.

United may be six points clear of City heading into this weekend’s round of fixtures but it is only December which means it is far too early to be talking about them being champions.

Besides, I thought City edged the derby. They were the better side overall. Over the 90 minutes, City looked stronger than United. It was a brilliant end-to-end stuff with two teams really wanting to win the match.

United went up 2-0 in the first half but City responded with two goals of their own after the break and only lost the game thanks to a deflected Robin van Persie free-kick in stoppage time.

United are a strong team but there’s a long way to go in the season. You may remember that this is the same United team which was eight points clear of City at a much later stage last season and we all know who went on to be crowned champions.

I am not going to get into the hot topic regarding United’s defensive frailties, all I will say is that City have no European football to play and so this will give their players a chance to take better care of themselves towards the end of the campaign. It is how City will react to the derby defeat which will decide the title.
They made some mistakes in the Manchester derby defeat for sure. Mario Balotelli, for one, was a very poor choice in the starting XI by City manager Roberto Mancini. He’s an unpredictable player now and you can’t play him for huge games like the Manchester derby anymore.

Even when he was brought off the pitch on Sunday, Balotelli showed poor attitude towards the team and the manager. In my own career I’ve never played with someone like Balotelli who for all his football talent continues to make headlines for the wrong reasons. Therefore, I am not too sure if he is currently causing a split in the City dressing room.

What I can say is that he would cause some unrest to his fellow strikers like Carlos Tevez and Edin Dzeko if Mancini persists in picking him in the team even when he is not producing the goods on the pitch while causing issues off it.
I don’t think the City owners will tolerate any more negative publicity from Balotelli — either way, my preferred strike force for City would be Sergio Aguero with Tevez.

Former Liverpool and England International Steve McMahon is a football expert with ESPN.