Alistair you have covered a host of big games in your role as our CITY+ commentator and across the course of your distinguished career but where does the first ever all-Manchester FA Cup final rank for you in terms of special occasions?
It’s right up there. It’s never happened before, so when you get the first of anything, it adds excitement. It was like the first Champions League final for City.
When you have the first of something, it is always special. For that reason alone, it is something I am very much looking forward to.
There was a sense of inevitability about it because they’ve met several times in semi-finals, especially the League Cup.
So there was an inevitability that instead of meeting in a semi, the time would come where they meet in the final. The odds said that at some point it would happen.
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For me to be commentating on the first ever all-Manchester FA Cup final is something I’m so looking forward to. It’s certainly up there with one of the great experiences I’ve had in my life.
Given that City are going for the Treble – and that United are the only Club to have so far achieved that feat - does that lend the match even greater significance?
There was something ofa Holy Grail-ish feeling of United getting the Treble in 1999, and the thought it would never be repeated. United could prevent that City Treble, so it definitely matters to them.
On this occasion, it means so much to United fans, because they have the opportunity of preventing City from getting the thing that only United have achieved in English football.
But it obviously means a lot to City fans too.
To win the Treble would be an incredible achievement. City won a different treble in 2019, so they do have a notable treble already.
But the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League is something even the great Liverpool side didn’t manage when they were dominant under Bob Paisley. It is a special Treble.
Obviously, whoever City would have met in the FA Cup final, it would still have been special.
But of course, it’s United, so it would become the most unbelievable Treble because it would mean having beaten United on the way to it.
Of course, there have been many huge derbies down the years – but does this feel as if it could be the biggest ever given what is at stake for both sides?
It will be enormous. But there have been some momentous derbies before of course.
When City beat United in the FA Cup semi-final in 2011, it smashed the glass ceiling. It was a pivotal moment in the club’s history. From then on, City did not look back. That felt enormous.
Then the Monday night win over United in the Premier League in 2012 felt even bigger. So I don’t think this can framed as being the biggest ever, but it becomes enormous because it’s the second leg on the way to a potential historic Treble.
If City win, and then beat Inter, then it takes on an even greater significance.
For me, it’s equal top, with the 2011 FA Cup semi-final and 2012 Premier League Monday night game.
And for City is it important to try and put all thoughts of the Champions League final aside and to focus on the FA Cup final alone?
I think Pep Guardiola is very good at that. He is exceptionally good at saying he is not thinking of the next thing.
He’s been very keen to stress that yeah, if someone has a niggle he won’t risk them, but he still wants to see a good performance every time.
He’ll think this is a Cup final, United are a good side, and I need to pick my best side to win this final.
So, I’ll be amazed if any minds are on the Champions League final ahead of the preparation for the FA Cup final. I don’t see that being the case.
The bottom line is, I can’t see City going into the FA Cup final, with the approach being that they can play a slightly different team.
I can’t see the focus changing at all. Not at all.
Both sides won the league derbies on home soil this season. Will those games have any bearing on the final in your view?
I doubt it. City were so far ahead of United in the derby at the Etihad last October. The gap was enormous.
City were also far the better team at Old Trafford in January, but in that period where the controversial Bruno Fernandes equaliser went in, I think there was such a sense of injustice, so in that melee, that crucial five-minute period, they conceded the second goal and lost.
But I don’t think either game will have any bearing on the final.
They were seven months ago and four months ago, and United are a far better team than when they came to the Etihad. Erik ten Hag has got formulas working now. They were not ready for City in the first derby at the Etihad.
Wembley also has its own unique pitch, it’s big and heavy. It’s a bit of a leveller, so I don’t think we gain any clues from the first two derbies of the season.
How do you assess both teams going into the game, starting with City. It has been an extraordinary season even by our standards hasn’t it?
Every time City win the league, it is an extraordinary season for different reasons.
In previous years because Liverpool were exceptional, this season because Arsenal have been exceptional.
Was there a turning point? I think there was. I think Pep’s post-match press conference after the 4-2 win over Spurs in January where he referenced ‘happy flowers’ was kind of a turning point for me.
They lost just once after that before claiming the title and I don’t think that’s a coincidence. Pep is always a fantastic psychologist. Remember, City came from 2-0 down at half-time to beat a bogey team 4-2.
Everyone came in, in a happy mood, and Pep said I think we’re all too cosy and too relaxed.
It’s been an extraordinary season because at one point it looked like they were not going to get close to Arsenal.
However, City, in the business part of the season, have just been unbelievable.
Apart from one poor Carabao Cup performance against Southampton, the level of performance has been extraordinary and that has made this season so special.
They’ve got through all the games because they keep reaching that level of performance and we almost take it for granted.
But that wake-up call from Pep after the Spurs game was quite a pivotal moment for me. It had the desired effect.
I think the fans responded too. The fans’ engagement changed too. It impacted everyone.
And have any individual contributions particularly caught your eye?
The answer is, many! Nathan Ake has been unbelievable. I don’t think we’d seen the very best of him prior to this season, though we had seen glimpses of it.
This season he has emerged as an outstanding footballer. We always knew he was so talented, but because he’s largely stayed injury free, and got in the team, he’s been outstanding.
Rodri has been 9.95 out of 10 every week. Kalvin Phillips is playing understudy to the best holding midfielder in the world right now. The arrival of Phillips has helped Rodri, because he now has a ready-made England international waiting in the wings.
He has responded to that with an extraordinary level of performance. He was outstanding at centre-half in the World Cup too. He’s been off the scale for me - just unbelievable.
You also have to look at Erling Haaland’s goal-scoring records of course, which are quite astonishing, but I do think Rodri has been off the scale.
Kevin De Bruyne this season, at times, has been unplayable. There are times when I watch him and it’s scary how well he’s playing. At certain times, he’s probably been the best I’ve seen him in his entire career.
Ruben Dias has been a revelation since he returned from injury. You can see the clips in the dressing room and you see how much of a figure he is off the field as well as on it.
I do see him, when Ilkay Gundogan leaves or retires, becoming the club captain and I think he could be a Vincent Kompany-like captain for the next ten or so years. He’s an incredible leader.
John Stones playing in midfield, what an extraordinary feat that has been too. He looks like he’s played in midfield all his life - astonishing!
Then there is Jack Grealish. I thought he was good last season, but this year wow! Was this the player Pep saw at Villa? Absolutely! We’ve seen it this season. He’s become almost the first name on the team sheet.
I love what Bernardo Silva has done this season too, unbelievable. I’ve singled out like eight players there! It says everything, it’s been a real team effort.
You have to give enormous praise to players like Rico Lewis too, incredible. And Kyle Walker has really responded to the challenge of Lewis.
This shows why you need a squad. There are several players I have not mentioned and that is not deliberate!
A word too about Pep Guardiola. Where does Pep rank for you in the pantheon of great managers?
It’s a wonderful debate, isn’t it?
Sir Alex Ferguson’s record is unparalleled, and being at one club for 26 years, and winning 13 Premier League titles is absolutely incredible, the numbers are off the scale. He is the greatest UK manager there has ever been.
Internationally, Guardiola is the best manager. It’s not just the number of trophies he’s won, but also the fact that he has changed the attitude that people have towards how the game can be played.
You look at teams like Brighton. What they’re doing probably comes from seeing Pep Guardiola’s football at City.
You can see so many Premier League teams trying to do what Guardiola has done. Arsenal are doing it.
Sir Alex Ferguson was an exceptional man-motivator and had an exceptional ability to get the best out of people, but I don’t think he changed the face of football. He got players who suited his system and then moved them on when he felt the time was right.
Pep has had a change of philosophy and how the game is played. You talk maybe of Johan Cruyff as the previous man in coaching who changed football, and the Dutch manager in the 70’s, Rinus Michels, was the one prior to that.
Pep Guardiola has not only won things but has also changed how we think of the game as a whole.
For me in my lifetime, he is the most influential manager that I’ve ever seen. When I think of the greats, I think of Ferguson and Guardiola.
I was lucky to be around Ferguson a lot and you sensed greatness around him. You could see what he was about and how he cared so much about the club beyond the first team.
I get that impression with Pep now.
He is so much part of the fabric of the club, which is why he has spent so long here compared to his time at Barcelona and Bayern.
Likewise, what have you have made of Manchester United this season under Erik ten Hag?
They have definitely improved, there’s no doubt about that but I think they can still have some pretty odd days at the office. That comes with Erik ten Hag having had only a certain amount of time with the team.
They are taking two steps forwards and one back, whereas before they were taking one step forward and two steps back.
He needs more time to get them to hit the levels that he wants and the bravery on the ball that he expects.
They are massively better than when he first got hold of them. But he has not had enough time yet to get them to reach the levels he wants week in, week out.
His appointment has been a very shrewd one. The signings he has made, you can see what he wants to do.
There is a formula and there is a philosophy.
United are very street smart, they know how to win a football match, like in the Carabao Cup final. They were very good against Newcastle that day.
They did it, and that is what makes them so dangerous.
Stopping City is not easy for any team in the world, so United will know what they need to do to try and stop City and they have some of the players to be able to do that.
But everything has to go right on the day, otherwise you will lose. That’s because City are reaching such incredible levels.
Of course, City will be favourites, but in a one-off final at Wembley, it’s like a heavyweight boxing fight. Someone hits a very good haymaker, and you can win against the odds.
United only have one match to focus on whereas City have a huge match the following Saturday.
In terms of United’s side which players will City need to keep a particular watchful eye on?
Bruno Fernandes is their Kevin De Bruyne. He makes them tick. He plays the lovely balls into the path of Marcus Rashford. Rashford is outstanding at the moment, and he is always a danger.
He is always able to put on a surge of pace and get away from defenders. If the ammunition to him is right, then he can always score a goal.
The Fernandes/Rashford axis is absolutely something to be fearful of. On their day they can both change a football match.
United are very good out of possession and they will expect to be out of possession in the final.
Ten Hag has had long enough to have them to work how he wants them to play. They’re a good team out of possession, they can absorb pressure and stay tight. They’re pretty well organised in that regard.
Casemiro is a good protector of the back four. David De Gea, still shows that on his day he is an incredible goalkeeper.
So their spine is very good. Luke Shaw when deployed at centre-half has been playing really well and City have got to be careful of that.
United will be very good on the break and they have a very impressive transition, So City will need to be careful of that. They can change defence into attack in an instant.
For someone who was watching and commentating on the Club all the way back to the 1990s when we were in Division Two, could you have ever imagined then you would be preparing to commentate on Manchester City standing just two games away from potential history?
I can’t imagine anyone in their right mind will have predicted that. Nerves is knowing you might get relegated to the third tier of English football! That’s when you’re nervous.
This is exciting, this is exhilarating, this is stunning!
The last thing you would have thought was City even being competitive in the Premier League. The thought of that was unbelievable.
When they started to become competitive, they came seventh under Stuart Pearce and that was great. You would never have expected them to be where they are.
I think Sheikh Mansour’s investment in the club and Khaldoon Al Mubarak’s guidance has changed people’s lives really.
We were watching a pretty ordinary team, with aspirations of maybe winning a knockout cup competition.
Now we’re watching the greatest side that I can remember in terms of the level they’re playing at and on the verge of a Treble that I thought would never be repeated.
So the answer to your question is no, I never saw this coming.
When Sheikh Mansour took over and I heard the aspirations of Khaldoon, I thought they have a chance here, they might compete to get in the Champions League. But the thought of them being where they are now was fanciful to me.
1999 was the epitome of the contrast between City and United, United went for the Treble and City were 2-0 down to Gillingham in League One play-off final and looking likely to stay in the third division of English football.
Now we’re talking about City repeating something that nobody would ever think would be repeated.
Finally, Alistair if you had to make a prediction what does your instinct tell you in terms of Saturday?
It’s so hard to predict a game like this. There is no logical reason why City should not win. But it is a one-off FA Cup final.
My memories as a kid are of watching the FA Cup final and seeing Southampton beat United in 1976 when nobody expected it. Sunderland beating Leeds too in 1973 when again nobody predicted it.
Cup finals sometimes are exactly what they say on the tin. Teams with no chance can win one-off finals.
Logically, you can’t see anything besides a City win. But the occasion means it’s a difficult one to call.
I hate making predictions. City could easily win the game handsomely and a lot of United fans fear that.
But you probably can’t see that happening because of all the circumstances of it. United will probably sit in and try to nick a goal.
So, I genuinely cannot predict it. I cannot do it. History has shown us too many times that one-off games can go in any direction.
What I will say though is that if City play like they did against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final second leg, then the FA Cup final will be over.
And we know that is a possibility!
The opinions published here are personal to the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views of Manchester City Football Club.
