Manchester City Don’t Have Enough To Regain Premier League Title

City-Seats

It has been a mixed preseason for Manchester City.

In their last friendly fixture of the summer, City were humbled in Germany as they slumped to a 4-2 defeat at the hands of VfB Stuttgart.

That comes on the back of a lacklustre tour of Asia and Australia, that included a comprehensive 4-1 loss to Real Madrid.

Not ideal preparation for the new English Premier League season.

The rebuilding of the Man City squad hasn’t been as emphatic as it could and probably should have been and it seems some of last terms failings haven’t been fixed, as of yet.

Defensively nothing seems to have changed.

Captain Vincent Kompany had a bit of an off-season last term. City fans will hope that he can regain his form after a proper break this summer. He carries a lot of responsibility on his shoulders, because it seems as though the team toil if Kompany isn’t playing at his peak. A possible worry is that he started in the defeat against Stuttgart!

But even a Kompany playing at 80% of his ability is better than either of his partners from last season.

Argentine centre-back Martin Demichelis isn’t getting any younger and will turn thirty-five before the year is out. He really comes up short against quick and nimble opponents, makes too many mistakes and has the turning circle of a broken down tank. Still smart enough to be a useful squad member but surely can’t be relied upon for a full-time role in a team challenging for the title.

You’d think that when the Citizen’s splashed out £32m for Eliaquim Mangala, they’d have been assured of getting a defender ready for the rigour of the English game. But alas the French internationalist often looked out of his depth when he was exposed to Premier League action! He will need to have vastly improved during the break, if he’s to come in and command a first team spot for next season.

Yes youngster Jason Denayer impressed during his loan spell at Celtic last season but is the Belgian ready to play regularly for City this year? I doubt it. He still needs to toughen up and I think the smarter Premier League strikers could bully him out of certain games.

Really Man City need a new centre-half to help shore things up. John Stones has been linked but Chelsea seem to be ahead in that particular queue, if Everton are willing to sell. Plus he too is young and would be another that would cost £30m plus without having a championship winning pedigree.

Even the full-backs don’t fill you with much confidence.

Ageing right-back Bacary Sagna has hardly impressed since switching from Arsenal last summer. Seems disinterested or just not good enough anymore. A big year awaits if he wants to prove himself at City. The other right-back Pablo Zabaleta is the best out of a decent bunch. The Argentine at least gives his all for the jersey.

The two left-backs are, at best, average in my opinion. They certainly aren’t world-class.

In terns of new recruits, the signing of Raheem Sterling could be great but a lot depends on the youngster realising his full potential. The attacking England international needs to hit the ground running and continue to improve his game. After spending £49m on him, I’d imagine that City’s hierarchy will expect the twenty year old to provide double numbers in both the goals and assists columns.

I’m not convinced that Fabian Delph has been signed because of his talent rather than the fact he’s English. Is he really any better than Fernando or Fernandinho? I’m unsure. The midfielder will hope his hamstring injury, sustained against Madrid, won’t stall his Man City career before it even starts.

The fact that moody Yaya Toure couldn’t engineer a move away from the Etihad may say more about his perceived declining ability more than City wanting to keep him. Obviously a star turn in the past, City supporters will be hoping he’s ready to produce the sort of form that helped them to the league title in 2014. Can certainly be talismanic when on his game and has his the right mindset.

Question marks even surround the forward areas. Key-man Sergio Aguero remains and will score goals as long as he stays fit. The departures of Alvaro Negredo and Stevan Jovetic aren’t significant in themselves as neither striker really hit top form in the Premier League but it seems as though Edin Dzeko is also off and that means a lack of numbers.

Wilfried Bony only managed to gain two goals since his big £25m January move from Swansea. He needs to start next season off well or could be seen as a flop if City aren’t challenging come January 2016!

The signings of Patrick Roberts and Enes Unal are ones for the future with Unal already being loaned out for next term.

A big money move for Wolfsburg’s influential playmaker Kevin De Bruyne has been mentioned all summer but that deal doesn’t seem to be imminent. It also looks like long time target Paul Pogba will stay on at Juventus for another year before heading to Barcelona next summer.

In truth it seems like Manchester City are in a bit of a transition period. Manager Manuel Pellegrini has remained at the Etihad but it continually looks like the Chilean is a deadman walking as City’s board wait for Pep Guardiola to join the Premier League club in a years time.

The Bayern Munich manager has been linked with the Man City hotseat since his Barca days. Earlier this week he seemed to throw his long-term Bayern future into doubt when he said:

“I have not made a decision yet as to what is best for this club. One year is a long time.”

“I am not convinced whether it is right for the club if I were to extend my contract.”

That has lead to many in the English media to speculate that the Spaniard will finally join The Citizens in 2016 and lead a new revolution by rebuilding the squad with a hefty transfer bounty.

So does that mean that Pellegrini has been given a years wage to keep things ticking over with pretty much the same old squad he’s always had at City?

At the moment it appears that way and that could cause problems as the squad may struggle to find motivation and it could seriously undermine the Chilean’s authority.

I don’t see Manchester City falling out of the ‘Top Four’ next term but I also don’t see them having enough to challenge Chelsea for the Premier League title. That may see Arsenal and possibly Manchester rivals United taking up the mantle and over taking City in the league table.

I could be wrong, Man City are always capable of making big surprises!

One Response to “Manchester City Don’t Have Enough To Regain Premier League Title”

  1. fk u and ur article 🙂

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