Troubled Man City: Heavy is the Head that Wears the Crown - kelvinmak's Blog

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Troubled Man City: Heavy is the Head that Wears the Crown Stuck

Posted on February 11, 2013 at 05:46 PM.

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After the listless 3-1 loss to Southampton over the weekend, leaving Manchester City 12 points adrift of leaders Manchester United, probably even the bluest of Sky Blues will have to admit the title's going back to the red half of the city.

What went wrong?

Players are out of form--the steely grit they've displayed for the better part of last season and the beginning of this current one has gone, giving way to sloppy mistakes like Hart's clanger and Barry's own goal--while Roberto Mancini, increasingly vocal in his frustrations with the squad, looks just short of picking fights with every one of them, Balotelli-style.

Complacency is probably the simple answer. Having finally won the title last season, that extra bit of hunger just doesn't look to be there, no matter how much Mancini tries to light a fire under them. More importantly, however, it's the complacency stemming from the lack of internal competition that has really held City back. Mancini can talk all he wants, but if he can't back up his threats by actually sitting players, it's all for naught. (Incidentally, this is the way in which their bitter rivals, Manchester United have cajoled their players, year in and year out, to give their all-- Sir Alex Ferguson has pretty much replacements in every position, and when the players don't perform, they sit. And United's got a full trophy cabinet to show for it.)

No such luxury in the City squad. David Silva, for all his glittering play last year, has dipped horribly in form, while Samir Nasri looks increasingly disinterested with every game he plays. Yet there's very little chance of them watching games from the bench-- after all, it's hard to imagine David Silva worrying about his starting spot if he gets replaced by Maicon, as he did during the Southampton game. You'd think that being bankrolled by one of the world's wealthiest families would result in City being spoiled by an embarrassment of riches. Not quite. And it has only gotten worse since Vincent Kompany's injury, with nobody of the same quality or authority stepping in and marshaling the backline.

The club is now paying for its impatience earlier on-- though it needs to be said that such impatience ultimately brought home a Premier League title, just four years after the current ownership took over. Defending it, however, is a different story. In buying a whole squad of established stars in their prime, City spent lot more money than if they set out to play the long game (developing its youth system, buying promising youngsters) from the get go. Now ownership, whether it's due to UEFA's fair play rules or, you know, sanity, won't spend as much anymore. And it's left Mancini is stuck with a team of players who don't have strong allegiances to the club, and, it seems after winning a title, aren't up to shifting up a gear to defend it.

The solution? It may sound cynical, but for the team to win in the next few years, the only way really is to keep spending (though how much more they can spend, exactly, is a good question with another set of looming financial restrictions), and in the long-term wait for its much anticipated, Barcelona style production line of youngsters to kick in.

Yes, you read that right, after a net spend of 180 million pounds in transfers in the past three seasons, Manchester City needs to spend again.

(Photo via The Premier League)

Comments

# 1 Sceptic21 @ Feb 11

Good article. City isn't winning the league, but it's not like they are garbage. They are still in 2nd place. It is just unfortunate because with 12 games left, United is up by 12 points, and the only other team that has a legit shot at the title is City.

So, with 12 games remaining, it's already a two team race....kinda. I don't see the excitement in that.

# 2 Tickkid @ Feb 11

It amazes me that you can be second in a major sports league, after winning a championship the year before, and actually have people wanting to fire the manager, and change the roster. I mean, I get it - the hardware is all that matters - but it is just an amazing thing.

# 3 gigadkc @ Feb 12

I guess that's what happens when you have a team full of nomads. Nobody's there to stay, they're just there because of the money.

@Tickkid: it's not always about where you are or where you finish. City has so much talent but they're wasting all of it. Look at their performance in the CL: they f*ckin sucked and had no chance against Dortmund and also struggled against a Real Madrid team that is way weaker than they were the year before.
City's tactics are older than Methuselah and they're just boring to watch most times. Yeah, English football is struggling big time when it comes to tactics and they're lightyears behind Spanish or German teams but City tops everything. You watch City play and think you travelled back in time to the early/mid 90s.