Man City primed to arrest champions’ curse
With a squad capable of ripping through opponents, not many would bet against Pep Guardiola’s men to defend their Premier League crown
MUMBAI: If Manchester City’s historic Premier League title last season is anything to go by, then Pep Guardiola’s team should dominate again.
Because apart from losing an aged Yaya Toure, not much has changed at City since the 2017-18 league campaign kick-started with a 22-game unbeaten run including a record-breaking 18 consecutive wins between August and December.
It ended with City picking up more points (100), winning more matches (32) and scoring more goals (106) than any team in a single season of the Premiership. City also finished a record 19 points ahead of second-placed Manchester United.
Belgian playmaker Kevin De Bruyne’s 16 assists were the highest in the league. In fact, City dominated the provider’s list with Leroy Sane in second position with 15 assists, David Silva and Raheem Sterling sharing the third place with 11 each.
If anything, the squad’s composition has only been boosted by the acquisition of Riyad Mahrez.
With 41 goals and 30 assists over the past three seasons, the Algerian’s joining from Leicester gives City added firepower and more wriggle room without having to compromise on Guardiola’s high standards.
EUROPEAN DEMANDS
But, while City has dominated the domestic circuit, Guardiola’s inability to win the coveted Champions League since 2011, casts some doubt on his standing as the best.
Even more so because, since his arrival in 2016, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager has managed to assemble the most expensive defence in the history of football.
John Stones (€55.6 million; ~444.2cr now), Claudio Bravo (€18m; ~143.1cr now) Benjamin Mendy (€57.5m; ~457.3cr now), Kyle Walker (€52.7m; ~419.1cr now) Danilo (€30m; ~ 238.6cr now), goalkeeper Ederson (€40m; ~318.1cr now) and Aymeric Laporte (€65m; ~517.2cr now) were all brought in for a whopping €318.8m (~2,536.9cr now).
Furthermore, for the owners who have continuously invested millions over the past decade, reshaping and enhancing the squad as per the demands of various managers, a Champions League title is yet to be won.
Should Guardiola and his team push for European glory — an achievable task given their collective prowess — there is the threat of a rival sneaking ahead on the domestic front, especially at the business end of the season.
But the Spanish manager reaffirmed his intent of maintaining the high standards in the league as City gear up to arrest the trend of the champions sliding in the following season. This decade has seen holders falter miserably in the next term. Defending champions United (in 2013-14) and Leicester (in 2016-17) both failed to qualify for the Champions League. It happened to Chelsea twice, in 2015-16 and last season.
“That is why next season we are going to be focused on the EPL in pre-season and in the first game,” Guardiola said recently.
Given his pedigree in Spain and Germany, where the 47-yearold has managed to defend league titles, one cannot completely rule out the possibility of a repeat.
BEST SUITED?
The biggest problem for Guardiola at the moment will be selecting the 11. With Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus now an established goal getter, where does that leave the club’s legendary striker Sergio Aguero, who scored a winning brace against Chelsea in the Community Shield on Sunday? Or the other way around.
After Mahrez’s expensive addition, how does Guardiola rotate between Sterling, Sane (€50.5m; ~401.9cr now) and Bernardo Silva (€50m; ~397.9cr now) and still manage to keep all his stars smiling and content. And still justify the lavish spending to the club’s management. But when it comes to keeping up the standards of a blockbuster campaign, isn’t it better to have a problem of plenty? And going by the current state of things, none other than Liverpool have managed to close that gap on them.