City to win but is it one of Pep’s last hurrahs?

Call it ‘The Unnecessary Final’.

Tomorrow night (10pm Malaysian time) sees the second successive FA Cup final at Wembley that is also a ‘Manchester derby’.

With the EPL season done and dusted, the managerial merry-go-round already under way and the rumour mill in overdrive, this match has a superfluous feel.

United need to win it to get into Europe, but I’d like to bet that whoever is managing them next season (and more on that later) will be secretly hoping they don’t make it.

Better to spend valuable time on the training ground than waste it at airports amid the Thursday-Sunday grind.

The Europa League feels like a second-rate competition anyway until the later stages.

City certainly don’t need another game having captured their fourth league title in a row.

And unlike recent seasons, they won’t be treating this as a warm-up for the Champions League final to come.

In fact, they might just prefer to put their feet up, having become tired of underlining their superiority over their neighbours yet again.

It’s a measure of how much the FA Cup has declined that it can feel this way on the occasion of its 143rd final.

Once the glittering jewel in the English football crown, it has now been systematically downgraded as the power of the EPL has risen.

And very soon there will be more important issues at stake for both sides.

For City, next season will be the last in Pep Guardiola’s contract.

After making history last Sunday, the great man declared: “This is our period.”

With six EPL crowns in seven years, it was a statement of the obvious.

But then he wondered aloud “where will the motivation come from?”

It could come – but don’t hold your breath – when City finally learn their fate over the 115 charges hanging over them.

The longer the case, which began in 2018, drags on, the more the sense that City will be exonerated.

After all, it’s the club’s lawyers who are stalling. Are they also calling the shots?

But now it may finally be decided next season, the prospect of punishment – if found guilty – has to be taken seriously.

And that is another reason for feeling it could be the beginning of the end.

So was Pep also subtly warning that ‘our period’ won’t last forever?

He has warned that he would leave if he found the club had been lying to him (about the charges), while saying he’d stick by them even if relegated.

It could well be that with his contract expiring, the end of next season will be a convenient time to leave.

Tomorrow, City have the incentive of joining United and Arsenal in the exclusive club of those who have won three league and cup doubles.

And being the pro that he is, the Catalan did his best to talk up the game: “It is an absolute privilege to be here with a chance to win this beautiful trophy once again,” he said.

“Last season we played United here in the first ever Manchester derby in a Cup Final. To be back less than 12 months later, facing United again, is amazing.

“My players look focused and ready. I can’t wait for the game to start.”

Pep doesn’t like losing so we can expect him to have his players in the mood whatever the context.

Local bragging rights still count for something, and City fans will relish another chance to put one over their former tormentors.

Last year, Ilkay Gundogan’s 12-second goal allowed them to take the foot of the gas before their date with destiny in the Champions League final.

They coasted to a 2-1 win at Wembley so the hope is that with no more fixtures, they may go for broke this time.

Given the gulf in class between the two squads, it is hard to see how United can lay a glove on Pep’s men, but this is the FA Cup.

Indeed, by the unforgettable way they’ve reached the final, United may even feel that their name is on the trophy.

They squandered a two-goal cushion against little Newport, and needed an 89th minute winner against Forest before winning an epic against Liverpool.

Then they needed a toe-nail VAR offside to save them in the semi-final against Coventry.

It’s just this sort of drama that makes teams think they can win the thing.

The notion they have to do so (for the 13th time) for Ten Hag to keep his job is a fallacy.

Winning it didn’t save his compatriot Louis van Gaal and it won’t save him if Jim Ratcliffe’s mind is made up.

But there is no sign of anyone waiting in the wings, and although the bookies have made Mauricio Pochettino favourite for the post, he seems an unlikely choice for the new co-owner.

It may well be that the Dutchman stays whatever the result and the focus is on revamping the side.

With all but four of the first-team squad available for offers, it promises to be a busy summer at Old Trafford.

As for the game, even if United have more incentive, City have more class.

However, in the greater scheme of things, it could soon be that City will be facing a more uncertain future.

And if Ratcliffe gets things right at United, we may just be one more season before the tide starts to turn.

Whatever happens at Wembley.

 

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.