When Manchester City are on it they are one of the finest teams in the country to watch, sick passing, pacy runners and some incredible finishing. With this being said however, they have looked second best to Liverpool for a while now and rather than looking hungrier to get back to the top, they look a little as though they are going the other way. I was chatting about this with industry expert Bryan Cumby last month, and he believes that City are miles off the title this year, something which I completely agree with, and this is why.
Defensive Woes
Pep Guardiola has spent an insane amount of money on defenders at that club and in reality there is only Laporte and Kyle Walker which have really come off, the rest just aren’t up to scratch. Ederson is a phenomenal keeper but he needs some level of protection in front of him, which he just hasn’t had since Vincent Kompany left. Unless City are able to shore up their defense, they will struggle. The pressure is very much on Nathan Ake to do well here.
Missing a Beat
The loss of David Silva has been far more of an impact that many thought, and they just lack that killer pass so often during a game. Sterling and De Bruyne always link up well, so too Foden and Mahrez, but they are often at risk of overpassing and they miss chances as a result. Teams have now learned how to set up against City and that has caused them some problems.
Strikers
Sergio Aguero is one of the best foreigners to have ever played in the Premier League and whilst he is still an absolute assassin, Father Time is not on his side. As the years have gone on, Aguero’s injury list has grown and it is fair to say that he will not be available for 38 games of the season. In my view Gabriel Jesus has never been good enough as a back up, or to put pressure on Aguero’s position. This leaves Sterling, Mahrez and KDB to pick up the slack, which is tough given none are strikers.
Same Old Way
Just before Pochettino was fired as Spurs manager, a pundit said that players will only react to the same style of training so many times. This feels like what has happened to these City players as they attempt to play the Guardiola ‘way’, they seem to be bored and not everyone is on the same page. When Klopp’s Liverpool started playing that electrifying football, there should have been a response from Pep and his team, and head to head there was. The issue which the Citizens have had however, is that they have not been able to find the way to win, when things aren’t going smoothly, something which Liverpool did fantastically well.
City will struggle for a title challenge this year, but you know for a fact they’ll be back the season after.
