I am not saying this for any other reason than I believe it to be true — not a single Manchester United player would get into Manchester City’s starting XI right now.
In fact, I will go further, I believe every one of City’s substitutes at Wembley on Saturday would strengthen United’s team. City have better players in every position — from one to 11 and then beyond. This will not make me very popular in the red half of Manchester, but I have thought long and hard about it.
People may well challenge me and say: ‘What about Bruno Fernandes? What about Marcus Rashford.’ OK, where does Fernandes play? Instead of Ilkay Gundogan? Kevin De Bruyne? No chance.
It’s the same with Rashford. He does not get in ahead of Jack Grealish or Bernardo Silva. I’d also have Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden in front of him, and they don’t get in City’s strongest side at the moment. Rashford has scored three Premier League goals since February. This is the business end of the season, your big players should be making a difference.
United midfielder Casemiro is a very good player and has done well, but is he better than Rodri? Come on. Again, no chance. There are a handful of United players who would make City’s squad, but nothing more than that.
Manchester City are a far stronger side than their city rivals and will dominate the FA Cup final
I wouldn’t put Marcus Rashford (left) or Bruno Fernandes (right) into the City starting line-up
Mail Sport’s Graeme Souness argues that City have better players in every position — from one to 11 and then beyond
For all of this, and here comes the very big ‘but’, it does not mean United cannot win on Saturday. I don’t think they will, but Wigan beat City in 2013, and that is the incredible unpredictability of our game.
What do I think will happen? City will dominate the ball, play in United’s half, have the vast majority of the chances and win. The fact it’s a derby changes nothing. For City especially, it just won’t come into it.
In these big cup finals, all I ever thought about was those I’d be coming up against and who might hurt my team. I went into these games with a certain nervousness, and that got the best out of me. There was no fear, but an apprehension. One mistake can cost you, your team-mates, the supporters and the club a trophy.
That is your focus, not a derby. There might be lots of talk in the build-up, but on the day it is a game that everyone is watching. The parochialism is taken out of it, this is a world stage.
City won’t be distracted by the Champions League final the following weekend, either. They are too good, too focused for that. They are looking to be history-makers and I think they will do it. This, though, will be the harder of the two finals. I suspect they will blow away Inter Milan in Istanbul.
City have been good enough to win the Champions League for years now. They should have done it already. They have forged clear of United and the rest, and are on their way to becoming one of the greatest club teams we have seen.
Yes, they have the deepest pockets, but other clubs — including United — have also spent significant money, just nowhere near as well as City. Their recruitment has been excellent. And that is the biggest reason why they are so far ahead of United.
It’s our business to make it sound a lot more complicated than it is, but it’s that simple, they have bought better players over a longer period.
City won’t be distracted about next week’s Champions League final as they look to secure a historic Treble
Casemiro (right) is a fine player but does not lay a glove on Man City’s Rodri in midfield
United have suffered for 10 years since Sir Alex Ferguson left because their recruitment has been poor
United have suffered for 10 years because their recruitment has not been good enough. For too long, they had non-football people making big footballing decisions. The Glazers come in for a lot of criticism, but they have funded managers to the tune of £2billion since they bought the club. City have spent roughly the same in that time.
United are one of the great football clubs of the world. They can always attract the best players. But they have had a dreadful period by the high standards that were set under Sir Alex Ferguson. That is a hard thing for supporters to accept. Since Fergie and chief executive David Gill left in 2013, their dealings in the transfer market have been a mess.
I would need a whole other column to detail all of the things United need to catch up to City, on and off the pitch. Because with their stature and means, they should be challenging for the Premier League and Champions League every season.
At present, they are half a team away from being close, and a full team away from being an equal of Manchester City.
HAALAND’S BOOTS ARE NOTHING NEW
I read about Erling Haaland’s boots in this newspaper on Thursday and how they weigh so little and ‘fit like a slipper’. That’s nothing new, my boots felt the same more than 30 years ago!
Towards the end of my career, they started making them out of kangaroo leather, and that was a game-changer. You did not know you were wearing them, they were wafer-thin and would tear more easily. But I never thought they increased the risk of injury, they were good boots.
Saying that, I was sponsored by a certain company, only I wasn’t that keen on the boots they made. So, I’d buy a pair of adidas boots and I’d have them redesigned with the logo from the brand who were paying me! It was a long time ago, I can own up to that now.
However, I certainly wasn’t earning the £19.3million that Haaland does!
Erling Haaland smashed numerous records on way to the golden boot with 36 league goals
His own boots cost £244 and weigh just 204g, which is less than a couple of hake fillets
The synthetic material is a world away from the old leather of yesteryear but it remains sturdy
YOUR GENEROSITY HAS BEEN INCREDIBLE
I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of people and the response since I announced last week that I would be swimming the Channel as part of a relay team to raise money for charity.
We have had sufferers of Epidermolysis Bullosa, the life-threatening skin condition, contact us to say they no longer feel left behind and isolated. When you hear that, it makes everything worthwhile. They felt no one cared, that they were suffering from this terrible affliction and were ignored.
I have been privileged throughout my life, and working on Sky for the last 15 years has helped enormously, in terms of my profile. I have a great deal to thank them for in that regard. Lindsay at DEBRA, the charity of which I’m vice-president, has co-ordinated everything for me, and she has been a true soldier on this. The money raised already has been incredible.
Hopefully, this reinforces the power of football when it comes to helping others.
WHAT HAPPENED IN BUDAPEST WAS UNACCEPTABLE
As a referee, you expect to take flak, because most matches have a winner and a loser.
But what happened to Anthony Taylor and his family as they were leaving through the airport in Budapest this week was totally unacceptable.
He had refereed a pretty feisty Europa League final between Sevilla and Roma. But Roma boss Jose Mourinho should be extremely disappointed with his own actions, after he abused Taylor in the car park following the game.
To then see Taylor and his family targeted the next day by Italian fans in the airport was shocking, that crossed a line.
Referee Anthony Taylor was ambushed by furious Roma supporters at the airport in Budapest
Jose Mourinho raged after his side’s last-gasp loss and later confronted Taylor in the car park
