City’s stranglehold leaves challengers scrambling simply to stay in touch
Liverpool could deliver a genuine title race but Guardiola is well placed to conquer England again, says Jason Burt
No team have ever finished as far ahead as Manchester City did last season and not retained the Premier League title. Nineteen points. That was the daunting gap between City and Manchester United but it felt a world apart in terms of the football they played and the dimensions between them. Even the statistics, as great as they are, do not equate to the gulf.
No team have ever previously hit a century of points as City did. Before last season, the biggest gap between first and second in the Premier League era was 18 points. That was achieved by United in 1999-2000 and they retained the title the following campaign in the middle of a run of three consecutive crowns.
And that is the challenge for City. To become the first team, since United in 2009, to retain the league title and as their demanding manager Pep Guardiola has outlined: to do it not just again but better.
A glimpse has already been offered. Guardiola spoke about the hunger to win more titles, to go again, before the Community Shield against Chelsea last Sunday and City captain Vincent Kompany, one of those who returned early from his postworld Cup holiday, has revealed the mindset within the squad.
In fact, in one phrase, Kompany encapsulated Guardiola’s approach. “We prepared for Chelsea like it was a Champions League final and I like that,” the 32-year-old defender said.
Kompany maintains that, despite boasting players such as Kevin
De Bruyne, Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling, this City team are no more talented than their previous title-winning sides. And it is true that the core, in effect, is the same, with him, Sergio Aguero and David Silva all still contributing hugely, six years after their first championship. But there are clear differences in Guardiola’s intense and meticulous preparation and the depth of the squad. “What drives us is competition. It is ruthless. There is no choice really. There are a lot of hungry lads who want to play,” Kompany said. All at City expect the gap to be reduced, it surely has to be, but what they are demanding is that it only happens because their rivals get better: not that they drop off. City have strengthened, with the adornment of £60 million Riyad Mahrez, and the return of full-back Benjamin Mendy but the Community Shield highlighted two distinct things: the desire of even experienced, older players such as Kompany and Aguero to go again and, at the other end of the scale in terms of their careers, the determination of Bernardo Silva and, even younger, the 18-year-old Phil Foden to be part of the project.
It is no bold statement to say that City are the ones to beat and over a 38-game season it is difficult to see them not gaining enough points to be at the top of the table. Into this come the challengers and there is a widespread sense, that I first put forward last January after the 4-3 league defeat they inflicted on City, that Liverpool are best placed to give us all something we all want to see: a title race.
We have not had one of those, really, since Liverpool last went close five years ago, when Manuel Pellegrini’s City edged them out and Steven Gerrard’s last chance of being a league winner came and went with one slip of a boot on Anfield’s greasy turf.
Even though Liverpool are coming from further back – they finished 25 points behind City in fourth place last season – they have two powerful factors going for them: the incredible momentum built from reaching the Champions League final and the astute signings made this calendar year, starting with bringing in Virgil van Dijk for £75million last January to build on Jurgen Klopp’s work.
Liverpool’s ambitions have been swelling for some time. Andy Carroll’s £35million signing in 2011 had stood as the club’s transfer record for six years, but it has now been exceeded on six occasions. The most recent record was also, perhaps, the most significant of all in goalkeeper Alisson Becker. He may just have the same effect on Liverpool as his fellow Brazilian Ederson had on City last year.
United, despite Jose Mourinho’s complaints, the third-season syndrome debate and the gloomy atmosphere he has created, cannot be written off. Not with him and not with David De Gea, Paul Pogba, Alexis Sanchez, Romelu Lukaku and the Brazilian Fred, who is expected to be an important midfield addition. Then again, it would also be no surprise to see Mourinho fail to complete the campaign and leave.
Outside the North-west, the London triumvirate of Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Arsenal are shrouded in uncertainties, not least with new managers in place. It feels like a transitional campaign for them, while Chelsea must also give Maurizio Sarri the time he needs to remodel his side.
At Spurs it is essentially the same team – will keeping that together be a greater achievement than making signings? That is one question, but another is the effect of moving to their new stadium.
So the priority for the London clubs – and maybe Everton can challenge this – will be finishing in the Champions League places. For the North-west’s big three it will be becoming champions.
Beyond that? It is a battle to stay up and, for the more successful, to be this season’s Burnley. That is made all the more tricky by the sense that both Wolves and Fulham could be strong additions to a league that was dominated by City. Hopefully the standards will rise and with it a challenge.
‘It is ruthless at City. There are a lot of hungry players who want to play’