Are Manchester City going downhill?

Manchester City are currently sitting 4^th in the Premier League with 12 points, the same as rivals Manchester United in 3^rd and only one point off a surprise Everton in 2^nd after the first 6 games. Initially this seems like a good place for the league champions considering it’s still relatively early stages of the season, however, all doesn’t seem to well.

Last night in the Champions League, they scraped a draw with Borussia Dortmund thanks to a last minute penalty from Mario Balotelli after they were on the back foot for much of the game. Manager Roberto Mancini admitted after the game that goalkeeper Joe Hart saved them after he was forced to make save after save to keep them in the game, but they shouldn’t be in the position where they have to rely on their goalkeeper constantly throughout the match. Dortmund outplayed them for most of the match, they deserved the away win, and should have put more goals past City to finish the game off. City did well to put two goals past Real Madrid in the first Champions League group game at the Bernabeu, but still came out losing 3-2. That is understandable as Madrid are arguably the best team in the world at the moment, but City didn’t help the situation in defence as I feel Maicon was a bad choice. Two years ago, Maicon got run ragged by Gareth Bale when they played Tottenham in the Champions League, so what was he ever going to do against the most expensive and possibly the best player in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo? Maicon was virtually non-existent; Ronaldo went past him as if he wasn’t there.

This is where Man City are falling down this season, their defence. In their 19 home league games last season, City only conceded 12 goals. This season, with only 3 home league games played, they are already a third of the way to that total, and most of the goals conceded have come from ‘lesser’ teams such as QPR and Southampton. In fact, Manchester City are the only defending Premier League champions ever to concede a goal in all of their opening 6 games of the season. On top of this, they crashed out of the league cup in the third round at home to struggling Aston Villa, losing 4-2. They may have fielded a ‘weakened’ side, but due to the sheer amount of players City have brought in since being taken over, they still have many world class players in their B-team. Their starting XI included Tevez, Balotelli, Milner, Barry, Kolo Toure and Lescott. That is a mighty team on its own that would easily finish in the top half of the Premier League, and with many of the players in the team fighting for a place in the first team, they cannot be accused of not trying. No matter how much managers and fans may dismiss the league cup, it is still a good competition to win, silverware is silverware (take note Arsene), so there is no excuse for City to let in 4 goals at home to Aston Villa in their first game of the competition.

Manchester City aren’t playing like the champions of England; a top team, yes, but champions, no. Apart from the Villa and Dortmund games they have been playing relatively well, attacking well, scoring goals, but the constant leak of goals at the back is going to cost them. They are making it tough for themselves despite facing mediocre opponents, such as Southampton, QPR and Fulham. Luckily, they don’t play Chelsea or Man United till the end of November and December, so they have plenty of time to sort out their defensive issues and start playing like the champions they are once again. October and the beginning of November should pose no major threat to City, and they should win all the games. They should be using these games to improve and stop the goals leaking in, if not then there could easily be a surprise upset from one of their opponents, such as West Brom. The Tottenham game in mid-November should be a good challenge, as Spurs appear to be on the up after Beating United at Old Trafford, so beating Spurs would put them in perfect stead for the Chelsea game and United game not too long afterwards, which are the most important games for them this side of Christmas. They need to improve now while they still face easier opponents, to give them a chance of defending their title.