Manchester City: A timely joy or serious contenders?
We saw on the weekend after the display at the Eastlands that Manchester City clearly have what it takes to take on the big guns. They showed such glimpses last season as well. Managing what no team from the so called big four came even close to achieving,
with a double win over the champions Chelsea.
People at the start of the season could yet again be blamed for being naïve as they solely believed that while Manchester could be a strong contender, it would be in the shape of the Red Devils challenging the west London club. However, City shouldn’t have
been taken lightly.
Manchester City, no doubt have a strong squad at their disposal and it could be argued that the Multimillion pound club – Correction, the limitless resourced club - has what it takes to challenge anyone in the league. They have the bench strength to cover up
for any injuries that they might encounter later on as the season progresses. City have a young squad with the likes of Milner and Balotelli providing much needed flair in attack, along with the experience of the Toure brothers, David Silva and Carlos Tevez.
The problem for Manchester City currently, is not the right set of players to challenge for the top honors, but the team lacks focus or the cutting edge when it faces lesser teams – Reminds you of a certain Arsenal? With the season still young, City has already
been seen to embarrass itself, losing to Sunderland with a late Darren Bent Penalty and dropping points at home against Blackburn. The team isn’t consistent enough to be considered genuine title contenders according to the most shrewd of critics. However,
having said that, there are flashes of brilliance; the collective display when Liverpool came to the city of Manchester stadium and went home with a 3-0 defeat, and the victory over Chelsea last Sunday further showed that the team has quality. On their day
Manchester city can beat anybody, surely Sir Alex has something to say on that.
The importance of winning games against the lesser teams is great. People say that winning against the big four is crucial in order to win the league, but an equal percentage believes that it is the mid table teams that have a huge say in the destination of
the title. Gone are the days when there were only four teams with realistic title or European ambitions, now there are about seven or eight teams fighting it out.
The Spurs have stepped up into the big league since the advent of last season, Everton have usually flexed their muscles. Aston Villa, even though no longer enjoy the services of Martin O’Neill, can be expected to step up with Houllier taking charge. Competition
has increased; the BPL today is different from the premier league of the nineties or the early 2000’s. The competition now is extremely tough and each and every point has to be fought for and is crucial in determining where you end up come May.
Manchester City is aware of this fact too; they need to pick up points against ‘lesser’ teams. Manchester city’s captain Carlos Tevez talked about it after scoring the winning goal against Chelsea. He said:
“We always play very well against the big teams but the important thing now is we concentrate and play the same game against the smaller teams. If we can do that, it will take us to the next level. This was a great result in the battle for the Championship.
It was really important we won”
Mancini has a role to play here; he should be more responsible and stop making pessimistic statements that reflect Chelsea winning the league easily this time around as well. Mind games? Perhaps, but the Italian needs to learn that such comments in post
match interviews don’t go well with either the board or the team. Such an attitude from the manager of arguably the richest club in the world might reflect his lack of ambition -Something that the rich owners might not be willing to tolerant in the long run.
The former Inter coach either needs to be more tactful, or get a better English teacher or else he is bound to be shown the backdoor like his predecessors, Sven Goran Ericsson and Mark Hughes.
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