Red Rebels: The New Manchester United

Although Manchester City were still playing their home matches at Gigg Lane in Bury, Sulaiman Al-Fahim had never believed the ageing ground suited the ambitions of the club's new owners.

Apart from matchdays, almost all of Manchester City's football and administrative work remained based in Manchester.

The ownership group had even rented temporary offices near the site of the new stadium while construction progressed.

It was inside the press room of that temporary headquarters that journalists now seemed determined to wear out their cameras, flashes exploding continuously as three men took their seats behind the microphones.

Several reporters looked as though they could hardly believe what they were seeing.

Alongside Khaldoon Al Mubarak and Frank Arnesen sat one of the most recognisable managers in European football.

Louis van Gaal.

"Wasn't he technical director at Ajax?"

"How on earth did Manchester City get him?"

Questions spread rapidly through the room.

For the press, however, disbelief quickly gave way to excitement. The more dramatic the Premier League became, the better.

Look at the managers now operating in England.

Mourinho.

Ferguson.

Wenger.

Van Gaal.

Benítez.

Ancelotti.

Add respected British managers such as David Moyes and Martin O'Neill, and suddenly the Premier League's technical areas looked almost as star-studded as the squads on the pitch.

And the ownership boom showed no sign of slowing.

Reports suggested that after failing to buy Manchester City, Thaksin Shinawatra was now examining other Premier League clubs as possible takeover targets.

Several established sides were said to be under consideration.

More money was coming.

More owners were coming.

And the league was changing rapidly.

Van Gaal, whose managerial record required no introduction, looked completely comfortable in front of the cameras.

"I came to England because I wanted another challenge," he said. "The Premier League is regarded as one of the most demanding competitions in the world, and I want to test myself here."

A reporter immediately asked the obvious question.

"Why Manchester City?"

Van Gaal barely hesitated.

"Because the board presented me with a long-term project I believe in. They have ambition, they have resources, and they are prepared to give me the support required to build something properly."

He leaned back slightly.

"For a coach, that is a very attractive opportunity."

The next question came quickly.

"Your first league match will be against New Manchester United and José Mourinho, who worked under you at Barcelona. What do you make of Mourinho now, and do you believe you can beat him immediately?"

Van Gaal smiled.

"José has done very well."

There was no irony in his voice.

"He has been at New Manchester United for several years, he has invested a great deal of work into that team, and he has already proved himself. They are one of the strongest sides in England and one of the most difficult teams in Europe to play against."

He paused.

"But I don't believe any football team is unbeatable."

The reporters leaned forward.

"So you're confident Manchester City can beat them?"

Van Gaal's smile remained.

"There is no team in the world that wins forever. What New Manchester United have achieved is extraordinary, but football does not guarantee outcomes."

Then his tone became more practical.

"Can Manchester City beat them? Of course. Anything is possible in one match."

He shrugged.

"But I arrived only recently. I am a coach, not a magician. I cannot simply say a few words and transform a team fighting near the bottom of the table into one capable of dominating the league leaders overnight."

The answer was sensible enough to disappoint half the room.

Several journalists had clearly been hoping for something inflammatory.

Van Gaal gave them nothing.

So the questions moved on.

Transfers.

Manchester City's squad.

What needed changing?

Van Gaal was unusually direct.

"There are problems throughout the team," he said. "If we want greater consistency, we need to strengthen several positions."

"Which positions?"

"Striker. Midfield. Defence. Goalkeeper."

The room broke into laughter.

In other words, almost the entire spine of the side.

Mubarak and Arnesen exchanged amused looks.

Arnesen then confirmed that the club and its new manager had already discussed recruitment extensively.

"We understand what Louis wants," he said. "Those conversations have gone very well."

Mubarak nodded.

"We will strengthen the team."

A reporter immediately asked whether that meant the superstar signings Al-Fahim had previously hinted at.

Arnesen was more cautious.

"The January market is difficult. Clubs do not normally want to sell their best players halfway through a season, and Louis has only just arrived. We need to make decisions together."

"So there won't be any major transfers?"

"I said there probably won't be major activity."

That qualification was all the press needed.

What counted as "major" for Manchester City now?

The club had just appointed Louis van Gaal.

With Abu Dhabi money behind them, signing several established internationals might no longer qualify as an extraordinary move at all.

Within hours, the newspapers were compiling lists of potential targets.

Most were familiar names recycled from the summer.

This time, however, the Dutch connection added a few new possibilities.

Wesley Sneijder.

Rafael van der Vaart.

Two of Ajax's brightest young stars were immediately placed near the top of the speculation.

Ethan watched the press conference from Manchester.

Van Gaal's arrival gave him another powerful reminder of how much the football world around him had changed.

This was no longer the history he remembered.

The further events diverged from his previous life, the less useful simple foreknowledge became.

That inevitably created a sense of unease.

But the conclusion was also obvious.

He could no longer depend on knowing what was supposed to happen next.

New Manchester United simply had to keep improving.

Fortunately, Ethan believed the club had already built the foundations required to survive almost any challenge.

The squad was strong.

Newton Heath was elite.

The Lab, scouting department, academy, commercial operation and stadium infrastructure were all established.

New Manchester United no longer needed to rely on surprise or foresight.

They were strong enough to compete on their own merits.

"The Abu Dhabi group have played this very well," Mark Davey said.

His instinct was naturally commercial.

As one of the most highly regarded football executives in the country, Davey had become one of Ethan's most important lieutenants.

He and Gardner had both attracted approaches from rival clubs, including Manchester City.

Both had refused.

That alone had reminded Ethan how dramatically New Manchester United's position had changed.

Once, they had been an obscure lower-league club trying to convince people to take them seriously.

Now their players, coaches, scouts and executives were all being targeted by Europe's biggest clubs.

They were Premier League champions.

They remained unbeaten in league football.

They had won in Europe.

And the entire football industry was studying how they operated.

Ethan understood what Davey meant about Abu Dhabi's strategy.

The consortium could, in theory, have pursued Manchester United or Arsenal.

They had not.

Why?

Because buying an established giant created less immediate drama.

Manchester United already attracted global attention.

Arsenal were already one of England's leading clubs.

If either suddenly spent heavily on elite players, people would notice, but it would not fundamentally change the way the club was perceived.

Manchester City were different.

They had lived in Manchester United's shadow for years.

Recently, they had fallen so far that they were temporarily playing in Bury.

They were hovering near the relegation places.

Now imagine that club suddenly becoming one of the richest teams in football.

Imagine them appointing a manager of Van Gaal's stature.

Imagine them buying famous players.

Every move became news.

Every signing became evidence of transformation.

Every announcement amplified the ownership group's profile.

From the moment Abu Dhabi acquired Manchester City and announced enormous investment plans, Al-Fahim's name had become familiar to football supporters around the world.

Hiring Van Gaal only magnified the effect.

The next stage was obvious.

Players.

Ethan suspected that somewhere inside Mubarak and Arnesen's offices there was already a carefully planned timetable.

When to announce the takeover.

When to recruit Arnesen.

When to appoint the manager.

When to reveal the first major signing.

Nothing about it looked accidental.

And if Van Gaal had refused?

Ethan doubted the project would have stopped.

They would simply have appointed another manager with comparable status.

The objective was not merely to spend money.

It was to establish credibility.

Al-Fahim and the Abu Dhabi investors were not naive enough to believe that money alone could build a successful football club.

That was why they had not tried to run the team personally.

They had put Mubarak in charge.

Mubarak had brought in Arnesen.

Arnesen had appointed Van Gaal.

The chain of responsibility made sense.

Now everything depended on whether Van Gaal could turn Manchester City into a serious Premier League force, perhaps eventually even a European heavyweight.

If he could, Manchester City would become far more than a football investment.

They would become a global showcase for Abu Dhabi.

To achieve that, however, the squad had to improve.

Ethan had heard no reliable transfer information yet.

He also doubted Manchester City would do anything spectacular in January.

They might address one or two urgent positions, but a Chelsea-style spending spree was unlikely.

There simply was not enough time.

Top clubs rarely sold their best players in the middle of the season.

Major transfers required negotiation, replacement planning and often months of groundwork.

A one-month winter window made that difficult.

The more likely scenario was that Manchester City would begin working now on the following summer.

And Ethan suspected they would want at least one signing capable of dominating headlines across Europe, accompanied by several others who could immediately raise the level of the team.

The only question was who.

Mourinho's public reaction to Van Gaal was respectful.

"He's a world-class manager," Mourinho said. "His ability is beyond question, and Manchester City will change under him."

When the conversation turned to the derby, however, the respect ended.

"We will win."

The reporters immediately looked up.

Mourinho continued.

"Louis knows me very well, yes. But he knows the José Mourinho who worked for him at Barcelona."

His expression hardened.

"He does not know this team as well as I do."

"New Manchester United will show him the difference."

For all his public confidence, Mourinho's behaviour at Newton Heath revealed how seriously he was taking the match.

Training became even more intense.

His instructions were sharper.

His standards rose another level.

Van Gaal had clearly affected him.

So did Barcelona.

Both represented important parts of Mourinho's past, and his competitive nature made him desperate to prove that he had moved beyond them.

For the Manchester derby, he selected what was probably New Manchester United's strongest available eleven.

Drogba led the line.

Ronaldo and Robben started on the wings.

Kaká played behind the striker.

Beckham and De Rossi formed the midfield pair.

Evra started at left-back, with Terry and Curtis in central defence and Maicon on the right.

Čech was in goal.

Maicon's rise had been one of the season's quieter developments.

His attacking quality had never been in doubt, but his defending had improved significantly.

During the period when Kolo Touré required careful management around Ramadan, Maicon had taken his opportunity and performed so well that the position became his.

Kolo returned.

Maicon stayed.

Now, inside the away dressing room at Gigg Lane, Mourinho looked across at his players.

There was an intensity in the room that required no speech.

They knew what was at stake.

Victory would give New Manchester United three more points.

It would also extend their unbeaten Premier League run to 58 matches.

That would equal the legendary record established by Fabio Capello's AC Milan.

Mourinho wanted it badly.

So did the players.

They were no longer merely chasing trophies.

They wanted records.

They wanted history.

They wanted to build something that would still be discussed years after they were gone.

And if they were going to create their own legend, it had to begin with this match.

(To be continued.)

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