From title favorites to fourth place- What has derailed Manchester City's season?
Manchester City were placed second on the EPL table with 24 games played and just 3 short of Leicester. Five gameweeks later, they find themselves fourth and 10 points adrift of Leicester. How did the second favorites at the start of the season fall so far behind the leaders? What went wrong?
Since announcing that Pep Guardiola will be taking over next season, the Citizens have undergone a tough time. Not withstanding the League Cup win over Liverpool, the Manchester side do not look like they can comfortably finish in fourth place in the league, forget still being in the race for the title. City are still in the Champions League, but many think that they have already won the only trophy of the season in the League Cup.
Consecutive Premier League defeats at the hands of Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool had seen the Sky Blues of Manchester slide from second place to fourth within a month. In fact, this is the first time that the side has lost three consecutive league games since November of 2008 when Mark Hughes was in charge of the side. Despite the recent thumping of Aston Villa, City still sit fourth, 10 points behind leaders Leicester, albeit with a game in hand. City have struggled massively against teams with high intensity pressing, be it Liverpool (twice), Spurs or Leicester. They haven’t won a single game against a side occupying the top eight places in the table currently. West Ham United haven’t lost in the past four games in the league and are hot on City’s trails were Manchester United till last night’s defeat at West Brom, and now finding themselves three points short of City despite having played an extra game. But that doesn’t make City’s plight any lesser, especially with seasoned winners and a host of superstars among their ranks.
That is what makes their indifferent performances even more eyebrow-raising and difficult to justify. Is the team ageing, and in need of fresh blood? Did Vincent Kompany’s injury deter the title challenge? Could the side be in a better position had Kevin de Bruyne been available? Are Manuel Pellegrini’s methods too stubborn, and does he need to be tactically flexible, to adjust according to the side’s needs? Are City tactically stubborn and therefore too easy to figure out? Are the players tired from the stress of playing too many games with a depleted squad? Perhaps the most- talked about reason has been Pep Guardiola’s announcement. Has the announcement of Pep Guardiola taking over somehow destabilized the City squad?
There seem to be two arguments to that. The first being, making the manager change announcement has made Pellegrini complacent as he doesn’t have to worry about his future at the club anymore. The same can be said about the players who might also seem to be somehow relaxed and don’t feel committed to their current manager knowing he will be leaving the club at the end of the season. The counterargument to this is that the players are playing for their futures, and obviously their reputations are on the line. Surely Pep is keeping a close eye on Manchester City’s games to see who he wants to keep when he joins in the summer and who he would gladly get rid of. Besides, these are professional players who want to be successful for themselves, win medals and trophies. Any professional athlete will not get smug or cocky, let alone when a collective group is at question, just because there will be a switch in managers some months from now.
Whichever direction this witch hunting goes and whatever the reason might be, the fact is Manchester City’s Premier League season has badly gone off trail, and it’s difficult to pinpoint an individual. The side looks devoid of motivation and ideas whenever on the pitch and have looked like they are playing with a lot of exhaustion and fatigue accrued across a long season, with the number of matches taking their toll on a team which is already aging fast – the average age of the current squad is the second-highest in the EPL at 28.5. City haven’t won back- to- back league fixtures since October which is an appalling statistic for a team with title aspirations.
What does Pellegrini do in a situation like this? What competition does he target for another piece of silverware? Put all his eggs in one basket? By the looks of it, the side is done with the Premier League as far as the title is concerned with a greater focus on Europe. At the moment, finishing in the top-four has to be the priority. Manchester United, West Ham and Liverpool are not too far behind, and if one of those teams can put together a string of positive results, the table could change in a flash, which is why Man City cannot afford any goof-ups anymore. Pellegrini and his players need to put in a top performance in every match to guarantee a CL spot and though the title seems distant, a long winning streak might just see them breathe down Leicester’s throats. It is that kind of season where the margins are finer than ever.
The 62-year old Chilean will want to finish his term with the English side with a trophy, and with City already having one foot in the last 8 of the Champions League, the European big ears could be the best shot they have. This is what City have been chasing all these years spending all those millions, lay their hands on that most coveted trophy of them all.
However, considering the way they have been playing recently and the presence of in-form teams like Barcelona and PSG, is it realistic to expect them to win the trophy? Only time will tell. It is possible that Man City have won their only trophy this season, but never say never. The likes of Aguero, Silva, Kompany and Yaya can rip apart any side, and Pellegrini will be hoping they do it for two months running giving the Chilean at least one trophy before he leaves the Eastlands.