EPL 2017/18: 5 reasons why Manchester City won't win the title this season

Manchester City are being branded as the favourites for this season’s Premier League title. Pep Guardiola has spent an enormous sum of money to assemble a team ready to win England’s richest prize. The Sky blues only finished 4th last season in what was deemed a disappointing debut for Pep Guardiola in English football.

Many have backed the Spaniard to correct his wrongs in his 2nd season and storm the Premier League. Chelsea’s shambolic opening day of their title defence only reassured everybody that the title is now Manchester City’s to lose.

Here are 5 reasons why Manchester City will not win the EPL this year.

---

#5 Ageing CMs

Pep may have weeded out the ageing full-backs at the club, but his midfielders are just as much a problem. The midfield is often branded as the engine of a team, they are the heart and soul of a team, meaning they must have sufficient energy to power the team.

Yaya Toure, Fernando, David Silva and Fernandinho have an average age of 31.75, which directly contrasts the youthful exuberance of their attack. A slow midfield cannot work in a Pep Guardiola team as he demands 100% effort from all his players throughout the 90 minutes.

An ageing midfield does not allow Pep to fully implement his style of play, at some time that will cost him this season.

#4 Poor defence

Manchester City conceded 39 PL goals last season

Despite spending over £432million in the past three summer transfer windows combined, Pep Guardiola still hasn’t assembled a competent defence. John Stones has often been highlighted for his ball skills rather his defending, as his defensive ability is nothing to be admired.

Vincent Kompany, although he’s known to be a great leader, has often cost his team due to his irrational positioning. And last but not least, Nicolas Otamendi has been highlighted as a defender that doesn’t know how to defend in 1v1 situations. And with all those defensive flaws, the Spaniard still hasn’t gone out to address them in the market.

The Spaniard believes that attack is the best form of defence, if you can control the ball you limit the amount of time you have to spend defending. However, in the Premier League, such a philosophy cannot be maintained because Premier League teams excel on the counter attack.

#3 No regista

Lack of a good regista could shackle Pep's ideology

Pep Guardiola teams of the past have all portrayed beautiful football through their passing. The way they circulate the ball around the pitch beggars belief as opposing teams struggle work out their passing patterns.

To implement such a brand of football, Pep Guardiola needs a regista in his team to conduct the midfield. At Barcelona, he had Sergio Busquets and at Bayern Munich, he had Xabi Alonso, at Manchester City he doesn't really have one. The closest anyone comes to the aforementioned duo is Ilkay Gundogan, but his injury record is abysmal.

City can own as many attacking players as they like, if there’s no one in the middle to help control the flow of play, it will be rendered useless. Registas sit in between the midfield and defensive lines, helping to circulate the ball around the team at a pace that aims to catch the opposing team out.

#2 Pep's biggest foe arguably has a better balanced team

Romelu Lukaku scored 2 goals on his PL debut

Whether the majority want to admit it or not, Manchester United will be THE team to beat this season. The Manchester club like their city rivals have spent a large chunk of money this summer, £147.96million to be exact. The Portuguese icon has bought himself a new spine at Old Trafford, a spine that compliments the signings from last season.

A 30-goal-a-season striker in Romelu Lukaku mixed with the defensive security imposed by Mati? is a recipe for nothing but success. Victor Lindelof’s arrival gives Eric Bailly a competent centre back partnership, a partnership that could go close to the Ferdinand-Vidic pairing.

José Mourinho has always excelled in his second season at various clubs, rarely does he make the same mistakes he does from the first season. Mourinho and United are ready this campaign and the Portuguese’s ruthlessness will undoubtedly get in the way of Pep reaching the summit of the league.

#1 Too many attacking players to keep happy

Sterling contributed to 13 goals in 33 PL apps in 2016/17

Manchester City are the most blessed side in the league when it pertains to attacking talent. Fighting for the front 5 positions are; Gabriel Jesus, Sergio Agüero, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, David Silva, Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling. Guardiola has the cream of the crop to choose from at the Etihad.

These are all players of world-class ability and there’s no way the Spaniard can gift them all with the sufficient playing time that their ability deserves. At some time in the season, one of these players is going to get frustrated and force Pep to select them even when his game plan says differently.

Every attacking player offers something different in Pep’s eyes and because of that, he moulds his philosophies to the personnel available. He employs different systems for different opponents meaning some player’s skill sets may be more suited regularly than others, which will eventually lead to unhappiness in the squad.