Daily Mirror

SUBSTANCE & STYLE

No Trebles or Doubles, no European Cup, but Guardiola’s title-winning City played with a beauty and flair the like of which we’ve never seen before

- BY ANDY DUNN Chief Sports Writer

THEY were not invincible, there was no Double of the blue chip variety, their European campaign was essentiall­y a disappoint­ment.

But this title-winning Manchester City team WILL go down as one of the finest in English club football.

The actual scale of the achievemen­t is way down the pecking order.

Think of those that have won it against the odds – Nottingham Forest in 197778 after coming up from the Second Division and Leicester City a couple of seasons ago.

But City have done it with a flair and adventure this generation of football followers have not seen.

Most at the Etihad, though, would concede this wonderful side has a lot to prove, in trophy terms, if they are to be bracketed with the acknowledg­ed greats.

Even selecting just one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s vintages to compare this City with is a fiendishly tough task.

The United side, for example, that followed up the Treble in 1999 by winning the Premier League by 18 points the following season sets a lofty standard.

But the team that triumphed in three consecutiv­e seasons – 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09 – is probably the benchmark to measure against.

It could be argued the strength in depth at the top of the league is greater now than it was then, that each one of the Big Six has a highly accomplish­ed team.

But that era of success for Ferguson came at a time when English clubs were strong in Europe and United added a Champions League title to their domestic success in 2008. And that is why, strictly in terms of achievemen­t, Pep Guardiola’s team’s place in the pantheon of English champions is not an overly-elevated one. The Liverpool of the late Seventies and Eighties was a supremely dominant force. Although they won the EFL Cup, the demands of competing on several fronts took its toll on City, losing to Wigan in the FA Cup and being despatched from Europe in emphatic fashion by a domestic rival. Succumbing to those mental and physical pressures puts United’s Treble-winning feat

into its magnificen­t context. It sets that team apart and Liverpool went close in 1977, winning the league and the European Cup but losing unluckily in the FA Cup final to United.

And when the great champions are chronicled, the Everton of the midEightie­s should not the overlooked.

In 1985, Howard Kendall’s team secured the title with five games to spare, went on to win the European Cup Winners’ Cup after an epic defeat for Bayern Munich in the semifinals and were only beaten in extra time by Manchester United in the FA Cup final.

City’s failure in Europe and in the flagship, domestic knockout competitio­n is what handicaps them in any debate about levels of greatness.

Yet for the four decades I can properly remember watching football, there has been no title-winner who has played a more bewitching brand of football.

Bill Nicholson’s Doublewinn­ing Tottenham were before my time but 115 goals in 42 league games tells its own story.

City, though, could well score 115 in 38 matches this season if they do not take their foot off the pedal.

Records are there to be broken but statistics only tell half the story.

Arsenal’s unbeaten season might not be replicated but City have won two more games than the Gunners did in that campaign. They have also, in 33 games, scored 20 more goals than Arsene Wenger’s side did over 38.

The Arsenal of Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira et al were exhilarati­ng but this City beats them for style.

And there’s the rub. In terms of magnitude of achievemen­t, this win ranks way below Leicester City’s remarkable success.

Club with huge wage bill and huge financial resources wins Premier League title. No surprise.

Yet merely for the breathless beauty of their football, the Manchester City of 2017-18 deserve to be ranked amongst the greatest champions.

 ??  ?? Fergie’s Treble Wenger’s Invincible­s
Fergie’s Treble Wenger’s Invincible­s
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