Pep Guardiola has seen a big difference in Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United with their FA Cup final rivals a ‘different team’ these days compared to the start of the season.
Today marks the seven month anniversary since Erik Ten Hag’s side went down 6-3 at the Etihad; Phil Foden and Erling Haaland notching a hat-trick apiece during a very one-sided Manchester derby.
But from October to June, the Red Devils have picked up one piece of silverware, secured a top four spot, and won more games in all competitions than pretty much every club on the continent, all the while playing the sort of clear, coherent style of football – well, for the most part at least – that was missing even during the best days of the Ole Gunnar Solksjaer era.
And Guardiola is under no illusions that his City side will face a team transformed from that October hammering as United look to stop their local rivals from completing two-thirds of a historic treble on Saturday afternoon.
Erik ten Hag vs Pep Guardiola in FA Cup final
“The question is what are Manchester United doing in the last four, five, six months? It’s a different team to what we faced at the beginning of the season when we beat them here,” Guardiola tells the City website.
“Their patterns are clearer, and the quality they have is United.
“We are here and we have done well against them but it’s United. The quality of the players has always been here. Always they were good.”
You’d never believe it – if you’d spent much of the last week listening to the seemingly endless supply of pundits suggesting that this will be a bit of a walkover for Erling Haaland and co – that United actually defeated City the last time the two sides met in January.
And, that controversial Bruno Fernandes equaliser aside, it was a victory very much deserved.
“They were much better when we played there (at Old Trafford) and lost,” Guardiola accepts. “But I think we played good. It was a defeat, but it’s football.
“I had the feeling the team – from the beginning of the season to now – has improved. That’s the reality.”
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