Manchester City – A Season to Forget
For a team who is full of stars, Manuel Pellegrini’s man failed to deliver in every competition from the Premier League to Champions League, and from FA Cup to Capital One Cup. After winning a double in his first season as a Premier League manager, and after becoming the 1st Chilean manager to win the Premier League, his tactics were proven a complete failure as City failed to achieve anything significant throughout the campaign.
A club which is arguably one of the richest football clubs in England and Europe, their supporters would hope to have a campaign that is improved upon from the previous season, or at least proportionate to what it was the last season, but it was anything but that. City failed to defend their Premier League and Capital one Cup title, and were knocked out again by Barcelona in the Champions League. In the FA Cup, City were knocked out once again by the League one side, this time Middlesbrough, which eventually sealed their faith as a side that ended their campaign empty handed.
Unlike other teams, who had a hard time competing with Chelsea at a top because they could not get enough points against the other top sides in the league, City did pretty decent against them. City won 4, drew 3, and lost 3 in 10 matches against other top 5 sides in the league, which is pretty decent. However, their form against the lower rank teams were not up to the mark, which cost them heavily at the end of the season.
Results such as shocking defeat against Stoke at home, surprising defeats at the hands of West Ham and relegated Burnley in the league, and against Middlesbrough in FA Cup made City pay a heavy price at the end of the campaign. Against Burnley, a side who was the 1st team to get relegated during the campaign, City managed to get just 1 point out of the possible 6.
Africa Cup of Nations, which came between January and February, proved to be the typical obstacle for a team sliding down, as their main player Yaya Toure, along with the new signing Bony, was on duty for their national side, and City felt their absence at that time. Especially the absence of Toure, who is City’s main force in the middle for quite some time now, his absence made City lose key battles in the middle of the park, which eventually led to losing important points in the end. During his absence, City lost to Arsenal at Etihad, drew Chelsea and relegated Hull and went out of the FA Cup after losing to Middlesbrough at home.
Individually, Aguero, Silva and Toure stood out for City, even though Toure had a below par finish to his season. Aguero netted impressive 25 goals in the season along with 8 assists, which saw him won the Golden shoe award this year, ahead of Chelsea’s Costa and Spurs new sensation Harry Kane. Silva scored 12 goals with 7 assists and Toure scored 10 goals for the noisy neighbours. Few other players had a good season for city, such as the likes of Milner, Frank Lampard, and goalkeeper Hart who had more than just a decent season for them.
Some players had a pretty miserable season and would be looking to have a better show next time around. Likes of Demichelis and Malaga had a season to forget, along with Captain Kompany, who made a comeback after an injury and could not able to regain his prime form. His performance along with the 2 other center backs were not up to mark, as City could not able to keep clean sheets against lower ranked teams.
In all, City’s season was not a one to remember, as they finished 2nd, 8 points behind leader Chelsea. Pellegrini, who was tipped to be sacked after a dismal performance in the season, have been given another chance to prove his worth and take City back to the Premier League top. He is got his work cut out thought, as he looks to strengthen his squad in this season transfer market, by keeping stars players that he have along with one or two marquee signing that will help him to challenge for the title next season.
Verdict: (B-)