Man City’s unlikely allies can help settle long-standing Manchester United debate

The Machester bragging rights have been comfortably settled in the blue half of the city for the best part of a decade now.

Manchester United fans will tell you they'll soon have waited nine horrendous, excruciating, painful years since they last saw their side crowned champions of England (cry me a river), while City could be just months away from notching their fifth Premier League title since their cross-town rivals' last coronation.

Given City's dominance in recent years, United fans have been forced to take a trip down good old memory lane whenever trying to convince those of a sky blue persuasion that United are still the best team in Manchester.

There'll forever be a place in football discourse for nostalgia - it's one of the best things about the game - but the problem is our memories can often become a little fuzzy over time.

Take Kevin Keegan's rampant Newcastle side of 1995/96 for example. The so-called 'Entertainers' bagged just 66 Premier League goals that season, only the third-highest tally in the league and just two more than sixth-placed Everton.

Arsenal's 'Invincibles' are widely regarded as one of the best Premier League sides ever, yet their tally of four wins from their final nine league games of the season isn't exactly worthy of such a title, while six defeats away from league duty - two of which came against mid-table also-rans Middlesbrough in the League Cup - hardly smacks of a side deserving of a place in the history books.

Much like the aforementioned Arsenal team of 2003/04, United's treble-winning side will forever be used as a stick to beat City fans with when they claim to support one of the best sides the English top-flight has ever seen. But were United's 1999 side actually that good?

A