As the rivalry between Manchester United and Manchester City heats up in the Premier League with the two rivals fighting each other in the race for the title, the mind games are starting to take shape, though City’s Patrick Vieira isn’t happy with how his recent comments have been taken.
In the build up to last weekend’s fixtures the former Arsenal midfielder claimed that United were desperate in bringing back Paul Scholes from retirement. Playing into the hands of Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager subtly pointed out the return of an overweight Carlos Tevez who has been on holiday for 5 months after being told he would never play for the club again, and the fact that Scholes was the best midfielder in England over the last twenty years. Even fans of League One betting will know this.
That response didn’t deter Vieira who this week claimed that Manchester United get preferential treatment from referees at Old Trafford.
City are certainly doing their best to get into the mind of United but is it really wise to go head to head with the master of mind games?
Sir Alex Ferguson has seen a lot of managers come and go and he knows how to play the psychological game better than anyone. He threatened City last week on the back of some comments made towards his team by City, and warned that he had plenty of ammunition if City wanted to get into that sort of stuff. People who bet on football need to bear this in mind.
United are in a familiar position at the top of the table and their experience will soon tell both on and off the field. City will do their best to distract the champions but they might just be safer concentrating on their own game and the job in front of them rather than getting into the mind games with the man who has won the Premier League title 12 times.