Juan Mata has said that he thinks the days of one club dominating English football are long gone.
“I think that’s pretty difficult right now,” he said in an exclusive interview. “To dominate as often as United did in the last 20 years is very difficult now.
“There are so many clubs with great squads, good managers, good financial situations that allows them to sign good players.
“So the level goes up and up and it’s balanced between five or six teams. So it’s difficult to dominate for a long time like United did.
“We are seeing it recently with Leicester winning the league, then Chelsea and hopefully United soon. It is very competitive.”
Pep Guardiola’s team have opened up an eight-point gap. And while Mata has been impressed with City’s start, the 29-year-old insists the packed winter fixture list could prove an opportunity to eat into their lead.
He added: “They are doing very good. They are winning so many games, scoring a lot of goals but we need to do our bit, which is try to get three points after three points and after that we are in a position where we have to wait because we are not on top.
“I think we are close and in the Premier League anything can happen in two or three weeks — especially at Christmas time when there are so many games.
“Every team can drop points and we have to be ready for that. We need to keep doing our job which is trying to keep up the pace.
“We are a group with big passion for the club and with big intentions in terms of trying to lift the Premier League again for Manchester United. That’s without a doubt.”
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