3 Reasons why Manchester City will retain the Premier League title

Manchester City romped past the competition in the previous season to lift their maiden Premier League trophy under Pep Guardiola. The Manchester side was head and shoulders above the trailing herd - including their city rivals who finished a considerable 19 points behind on second.

After taking over at the Etihad Stadium in 2016, Guardiola failed to win the league for the first time in his managerial career following his heroics in Spain with Barcelona and in Germany with Bayern Munich.

Many thought that Guardiola had finally taken up a challenge with Manchester City, after what they perceived to be a walk in the park with two of the biggest clubs in Europe with many claiming that the Spaniard would be unable to replicate his success in England.

Not only were they proven wrong, they were also made to eat their words as they witnessed one of the most scintillating teams in recent history reign supreme.

With the new season almost upon us, we look at three reasons why the unstoppable City juggernaut will most-likely blow away the competition in 2018-19 Premier League as well:

---

#3 It's always about processes with Pep

The man with the 'Golden Touch'.

It's hard to imagine that not so long ago, people were speculating about the Spaniard's future in Manchester after his side finished 3rd in the 2017-18 Premier League. They were quick to write him off in the toughest league in the world - a bridge too far for even the obsessive-compulsive manager.

What they failed to notice is that Pep Guardiola has a very different way of functioning and analyzing results. When you take over a club, you cannot in all probability expect to land the league in your first go - more so in a fiercely contested league like the one in England.

Guardiola had already set his own target - of achieving 80 points in the campaign - and set out to work. By the end of the season, City were just 2 points shy of that target. An impressive feat that went under the radar.

Once he'd managed to get that close to his goal, the manager could then be confident of trying to implement his philosophy with full effect, knowing that the basis of his foundations were solid. And that's exactly what we saw the next campaign as City went on to play some of the most memorable football in the history of the competition.

The tactical astuteness of Guardiola, coupled with his desire to play the right way is not the result of some nonsensical whim. Instead, it finds a basis in processes. Methods that seek to always make the team better at what they do. And we reckon, that will be evident again next season. It is genuinely scary to imagine how much better they might be next season - a trend we've seen with all of his previous sides.

#2 Youth and vitality

Manchester City have some of the most promising talents in their side.

Manchester City are no strangers to parting with huge sums of money in the quest to land silverware. The Golden Era of the Manchester side began as a result of investing heavily in the club and in acquiring world-class talents.

The entry of Yaya Toure, David Silva, and Sergio Aguero was key to the success they've since achieved. Although City have not really altered their modus operandi - of spending ludicrous sums of money - in the transfer market, but the players they've gone for in recent times haven't really been established names like their predecessors.

Although Kevin de Bruyne and Raheem Sterling cost in excess of a £100 million, they were huge gambles and were relatively young and inexperienced. You could notice a shift in policy in terms of the players the club targeted as they sought to infuse into an increasingly aging squad.

Add to that the signings of John Stones, Kyle Walker, Leroy Sane, and Gabriel Jesus, and you find that the average age of the squad is an impressive 25.5 years - 2 years lower than the Chelsea unit that went all the way the season before.

With youth comes greater drive - which diminishes as players grow older and win titles as Chelsea found out to devastating effect in their attempt to retain the title.

#1 The core remains the same

The old guard has served Manchester City well.

Although there has been significant turnover in personnel at the Etihad the core of the side has largely remained the same. The spine of the side consists of Vincent Kompany at the back, Fernandinho in the middle, Silva pulling the strings in attack, and Sergio Aguero up front.

This has been vital to the continued success that the club has seen, refuting the claim that they were one-hit wonders when they won their first title back in 2012. Kompany has the experience to marshal the defence comprising of youngsters, the presence of Fernandinho and Silva allows the likes of Sterling and KDB to express themselves further up the pitch.

Aguero, similarly, has been vital to the progress that the likes of Jesus and Sane have shown in the sky blue for City. Not only have the old-timers been central to the excellent performances, they've also been essential to the growth of the youngsters. This will be important as we see the passing of the torch, particularly next season, with the established names in the side nearing the end of their careers.

The perfect mixture of youth an experience will undoubtedly put them in prime position, to replicate the success of the previous campaign, in the following season.