On Manchester City's Downfalls...

Alright, just like what I have been doing in my posts in the past, this post is no exception and I have to do the customary congratulation to Tottenham who have just secured the much coveted 4th spot, and in fact a possible 3rd place if they win their remaining game of the season against the already relegated Burnley and Fulham springs nasty surprises in the Emirates Stadium. That success comes at the expense of high spenders Manchester City who have been tipped all season to clinch that 4th spot and also replacing Liverpool as one of the Big Four in the Premier League this season. What went wrong? After such an obscene splurge, just like Real Madrid, they are expected to destroy everything in their path! But what went wrong with this team? The following paragraphs will show exactly why.

The first reason is of course goes back all the way to the halfway point of the season in which the Manchester City board sacked Mark Hughes who was really doing well with the newly assembled squad that he has. I mean, 35 points at the halfway point of the season is not a bad return at all. Mark Hughes was well on target. Just because he was drawing games doesn't mean that he's losing the plot. I mean, just look at Manuel Pellegrini. At around that time, Real Madrid also faced a kind of dip in form in all competitions, most famously being knocked out from the Copa del Rey by part timers Alcorcon, being thrashed severely by them in the first leg. It was such an embarrassment, and many speculated heavily that Manuel Pellegrini would be sacked soon after that cup fiasco. However, experience is indeed one's best teacher and Florentino Perez has learned his way, and he didn't sack Manuel Pellegrini. Look at Real Madrid now, they are still piling pressure on Barcelona even until the time of writing, potentially pipping them on the last day of the season if Real Madrid has their way. Barcelona fans might flame me, but that's the reality and you guys know it.But not for Manchester City, they chose to sack Mark Hughes and replace him with someone with no real experience in England besides a short playing stint with Leicester City which British commentators can't stop reminding us. This is pretty much like how US and its allies destroyed the relatively stable Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq and replacing it with severely unstable new government. Now look at Manchester City, despite a great improvement from last season's 10th place finish, this is not the kind of return you would expect with that kind of squad and with that kind of money invested. I know people would just accuse me of sour grapes and asking too many “what if” questions but yeah, that's a valid question that with how Mark Hughes won at least the home games in scintillating manner to the tune of 5-1, 4-3, 6-0 week in week out, we really ought to ask plenty of “what if” questions

The second reason, which is evident not only in last night's match, but also throughout this season even before the sacking of Mark Hughes is the very fact that this expensively assembled team have no team chemistry at all. Most of the time, and last night's match included, it is Tevez that has to do it all alone to bring City up. Even Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi can't do things alone. Even Maradona himself during his heyday won't be able to carry his team's burden on his own week in week out. In any case I certainly appreciate the fact that the Abu Dhabi United Group has come and make Manchester City a force to be reckoned with, so that we Man City fans outside Manchester are no longer being ridiculed by the massively majority Manchester United fans around us, and also this kind of squad assembled in such a short amount of time will definitely need to gel. But this is nevertheless a huge problem, and this is definitely the same problem faced by my other favorite team, Real Madrid, in which team chemistry is very minute, if not absent. However, what I am hoping is that the players, manager (whoever that might be, hopefully it will be Roberto Mancini), and the board would not be rushed to immediately overhaul the squad once again as it will only make the team chemistry issue even worse and it will be severely detrimental What City should do is that to supplement this team according to the area which needs improvement and also doing it in a consistent by gradual manner. I just hope that they remember success doesn't come instantly, not only in football, but in every aspects of the world. This is the real world football, in which teams need time to gel and thus gain that kind of team chemistry. We could see that the players sometimes still haven't got used with each other. Such as how most of the time a pass from Bellamy from instance will only hit Adebayor's heel as he makes a run too soon and the stray ball is simply collected by the opposition to launch a swift and devastating counterattack and either Man City concede a disappointing goal, or Shay Given saves the day. This is not Football Manager or Winning Eleven in which the simple use of the Editor to move players from all over the world into a team, and in the very first match, the team is already able to destroy everyone and everything. Even in the newer versions of Football Manager, team chemistry is present and a newly assembled team will not play well.

In any case, it would not be fair and it would be amateurish to start condemning Man City as if they have crashed a toddler by the team bus based on that last night's match alone. Tottenham really made us of Peter Crouch's bodily giftedness really well last night in stationing him right in front of Marton Fulop and supplying him with balls to head into goal. Other players such as Luka Modric also constantly tested Fulop. Despite that, Fulop performed quite admirably in the match, as even if he was seen as a weak link, just like Fabianski recently, he was up to the task and more often than not, I forgot that the one between the sticks was not Shay Given! Even in Peter Crouch's goal, Fulop had saved in a really admirable manner before Crouch simply tapped in the rebound into the empty net. We can't blame Fulop for that, and credit to him that the defeat was only 1-0 and not an embarrassing 4-0 or even 8-0 which would certainly result in the sacking of Roberto Mancini on the spot, perhaps on the City of Manchester pitch a la Phil Brown's team talk there last season! Also, there's no reason to blame this on Given's injury as based on what I have seen in the two games, Marton Fulop has done well in deputizing for Shay Given.

Many Manchester City fans I know also complained on how Vieira is overutilized this season and how Vieira shouldn't have played in last night's game. They also questioned why Vieira was signed at the first place. OK, for this, I have to take all of you back to January in which Man City infamously lodged a 100 million Euro bid to lure the then AC Milan's Kaka into Manchester City. Needless to say, it was flatly rejected by Kaka himself who stated that he “loved” Milan, although the real reason was of course he wanted to move to a BIGGER club such as his current club Real Madrid. In my opinion, that's precisely the reason that led to Mancini signing Vieira. We have to admit that during his heyday, there's no chance in hell that Vieira would be joining Man City. But he's in the sunset of his career, and yet his legacy is immense and his name is nevertheless remain one of the household names of football. Thus, he was signed for free to be a catalyst to attract future big names to sign for Man City, and I kind of agree that assuming that's really the reason for his signing, he shouldn't be over utilized as a player as he would be a liability instead of helping City's cause.

Another source of problem for Man City this season is the sheer volatility and flammable dressing room atmosphere. It seems that the dressing room is full of methane gas in which a slightest of spark will cause a massive explosion. I mean, just look at the City squad. Craig Bellamy, Adebayor, Tevez, Robinho, and even Stephen Ireland. You can almost predict an explosion happening sooner rather than later with these explosive characteristics on board. That's not to say that it is a bad thing on its own. But the external environment can hasten the explosion process. OK, I won't talk about Harry Redknapp's mind games as like I said, we can't solely blame City's inability to win last night to the mind games being played about Bellamy's transfer. But even stray rumors from the media such as how it's rumored that Tevez is leaving, Bellamy is having an altercation with Mancini, it might ignite a disharmony in the dressing room with the aforementioned volatile characters on board. Simple rumors can become extremely poisonous venom without a calming influence to those hot-headed characters.


All in all, I, and of course other Man City fans wherever they might be will be keeping our fingers firmly crossed that the Man City board will be making rational and well-informed decisions such as sticking with Roberto Mancini for next season and not doing any massive culling and makeover to the squad. What should be done is simply take a leaf out of Real Madrid's book and just stick to their manager despite embarrassing comments from pundits and the media, and even snipes from opposing managers when results don't go their way. They have to realize that even a 300m Euros investment would require time and patience besides massive efforts to bear fruit.

Sacking Roberto Mancini at the end of this season will only lead to Manchester City sliding down the table again as further instability will ensue and that the big players already at the club might feel unhappy about the situation and start asking to be transferred out somewhere else. Worst comes to worst, the board itself might even decide that the investment is failing, I mean given their nature to want things to happen instantly, they might not even have the necessary patience for the City project to be successful and the only way out is to abandon ship and takeover a club which qualifies to the Champions League as their own short-cut to reach Europe's Premier Competition, and the next stop for the ADUG is, TOTTENHAM! Man City fans, all of us have been warned!

Race to 4th place: 2 matches left!

Right after two heart wrenching matches involving three teams that are still fighting for the coveted 4^th spot in this season's BPL season, it has been concluded that the fight for that aforementioned coveted spot is going all the way to the wire, with the next two matches (with the exception of Aston Villa who has only one left) proving the absolute deciding factor. Basically, Tottenham managed to notch a 1-0 victory against a Bolton side who has nothing to play for as their survival has been secured in the previous week thanks to the three teams at the bottom. While Manchester City arguably clawed their way all the way from oblivion right back into contention for 4^th place by defeating fellow contenders Aston Villa 3-1 at home thanks to goals from Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Craig Bellamy.

At a glance, the race to the 4^th place are actually being contested by 4 teams, which are Tottenham, Manchester City, Aston Villa, and of course Liverpool. However, when we look beyond the always mind-boggling mathematical permutations and combinations, we could realistically see that actually it is now contested between two teams, which are none other than Tottenham and Manchester City. Furthermore, how fitting that the next match of both teams are actually a match with one another at the City of Manchester Stadium, which will be described again in great detail below.

 

Tottenham Hotspur

Besides Manchester City, they also managed to save themselves by beating Bolton 1-0 at White Hart Lane and they are at present perched on the 4^th spot, the very spot that is being contested from now all the way until the end. They currently have 67 points, and their next game as mentioned is an away match against Manchester City, followed by another away match against the already relegated Burnley.

For Tottenham, to ensure their passage to the 4^th place, nothing less than a win would be beneficial for Spurs. Although a draw would seemingly be enough for Spurs as Spurs' last match against Burnley would certainly net Harry Redknapp's men 3 full points even if the FA states that for them to win, they have to win by 3 clear goals, and that Redknapp has to field Mrs. Sandra Redknapp as his target(wo)man. While Manchester City will travel to a very tricky place (which will be appropriately discussed in the section for Manchester City). Thus, a draw would be ideal for Spurs but still, in this world, even more so in football, nothing is certain thus Spurs have to try their best to give their A-Game against Manchester City and break the Citizens' hearts in front of their passionate and long-suffering fans!

Although Manchester City have been shaky even at home, and that they are quite crippled in the goalkeeping department, it would still be a tall task to get something out of Man City at Manchester let alone claiming the full 3 points. This match is certainly anything that the match against Burnley illustrated in the previous paragraph is not.

 

Manchester City

Unlike Tottenham, nothing less than a win will do their chances to clinch the 4^th place any good. A draw will certainly put Man City's chances into extreme jeopardy and there will not be a way back this time for the Citizens. Man City have to really utilize whatever home advantage that they have against Spurs, From the fans in attendance, all the way down to the thinnest blade of grass on the stadium's pitch will have to be at their best in supporting the Man City players to bring their A-Game yet again just like how they managed to see off the tricky and dangerous challenge from Aston Villa and to come out victors against an even more dangerous Tottenham.

It is more than crucial for Man City to keep their star performers such as Bellamy, Tevez, and Adebayor motivated and firing on all cylinders for the next match against Spurs. Even more importantly, Roberto Mancini has to find a way to keep his defenders motivated and fired up, and also to formulate effective tactics and to ingrain those tactics into the defenders' minds so that they will be watertight in the match. This is extremely important as for this match, they won't be having Shay Given to bail them out if the defenders are in disarray such as how anyone watching Man City's matches regularly have become really accustomed to by now. One more thing that Man City have to do is simply to not let the recent rumors about how Roberto Mancini is planning to put the local hero Stephen Ireland up for sale at the end of the season and how he asked Tevez to leave if he is unhappy at City, not mentioning a rumored spat between him and Bellamy. Even if those dumb rumors are true, Roberto Mancini really have to dig deep into his reserve of footballing expertise to get the dressing room back before he loses it completely and thus Spurs will not need a second chance to pounce on City and thus the 4^th place.

Let's also not forget that if Man City cannot get a victory against Spurs, there is no way back as Spurs is sure to obtain 3 points against Burnley in their last match while Man city have to travel to West Ham an always tricky place to be. As although West Ham have secured their survival, somehow I believe, and I know I am not alone, Gianfranco Zola's men won't give less than 110% for that home match against Man City. Thus, other than a win, bye bye 4^th place for Man City.

Unlike the two teams mentioned above, the next two teams do not have their destinies in their own hands and will be relying on their rivals dropping massive points. But nevertheless, they are still in contention.

 

Aston Villa

With the 3-1 away defeat against Man City, Aston Villa has blown their do or die chance and now will need some sort of miracle if they are to clinch the 4^th spot. They will need Man City to be defeated against both Tottenham and West Ham while they themselves have to win against Blackburn at Villa Park. Even if they are able to win against Blackburn, hoping for Man City to drop 6 points is simply just too much. Thus, even with their mathematical chances, it's simply over for Villa. I mean, just look at Hull City's position. Mathematically, they have yet to be relegated, but realistically speaking, they have. This is pretty much the same case for Aston Villa's race to 4^th position.

 

Liverpool

This is the last contender for the 4^th place and the second team that will rely on their rivals dropping massive points. The thing is, Liverpool will need to go on a massive overdrive mode plus a generous dose of miracles to clinch the 4^th place. In any case, Liverpool have to win their remaining two matches while any teams above them must not obtain beyond 68 points. They can afford this as they have quite a competent goal difference record, but everyone staying at 67 would be the most ideal of course.

But look at Liverpool's two matches which they have to win. One is the next home match against Chelsea, while the second one, just like Tottenham is a sure fire win match against the already relegated Hull City.

But the question is about whether the beleaguered Liverpool have what it takes to inflict defeat on the champions elect Chelsea, and furthermore, by defeating Chelsea, they will be inadvertently aiding their arch enemy Man Utd to leapfrog their long standing record of the most number of titles won (18 titles) as Man Utd will be winning their 19^th, and it would mean that in light of the fact that Liverpool is still quite a long way off at the moment from another title, a 19^th title for their arch rival would mean that anyone associated with Liverpool will be having their last bastion of excuse for their recent failures taken away from them. But defeat Chelsea and Hull, they might still be able to retain their elite position as one of the Big Four and also qualify to next season's Champions League. Dilemma, dilemma, dilemma.

To sum it all up, the race towards the 4^th spot is as scintillating or even better than the title race itself since this involves double the number of contenders, but just like what I have mentioned in the above paragraphs, realistically speaking, the race is just mainly between Tottenham and Manchester City, and this race will end as the final whistle in the City of Manchester Stadium in the “Super 4^th Spot Playoff” between Manchester City and Tottenham is blown. Enjoy the ride, soccer fans around the world, and don't blink, as you guys will miss the whole package of extreme, no holds barred excitement!