Manchester City: A Blue Moon Rising

Manchester United have almost sealed their 19th title, with just one point required from their next two games against Blackburn and Blackpool, which frankly, just seems like a formality. So, they have finally achieved their aim of getting the 19th and overtaking Liverpool. Which takes me to Liverpool, ah, well, they have been the best team in the final stages of the EPL. King Kenny has surely turned the things around in his reign, and Luis Suarez has taken the Premier League by storm. However, their resurgence was too late, and hence they could not have a good shot at the 4th position, which would give them the CL chance. Which brings me to the article. So, Manchester City after two summers of great spending, they have finally got the CL spot. With 65 points from 36 games, and Liverpool and Spurs on 58 and 56 from the same number of games respectively, Manchester City have no chance of losing their 4th spot. And, they have a chance for the third spot, with Arsenal dropping points this weekend resulting in them having 67 in 36 games. So, the race for the secured spot in the CL is on. Anyway, lets analyse how Manchester City have qualified for the Champions League.

Tevez has been an integral part of City's rise

The Sheikh Mansour owned club, has been spending big, and have finally got their money’s worth. And with them qualifying for the UCL, they got all the more money to spend, and I personally, am expecting more money splashing out for top-class players. Mancini has recently said that he wants Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas. And Fabregas, who is now getting visibly irritated at the lack of silverware, would want to move away from The Emirates, but would he go to Manchester City, I’m not quite sure. Manchester City finished 5th last season, just missing out on the 4th spot to Tottenham, and their summer signings proved how badly they wanted to be at the top. Having signed big names like Carlos Tevez, Gareth Barry, Joleon Lescott, Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure, they went way ahead this time, and spent a lot to get players like Yaya Toure, David Silva, Mario Balotelli, Jerome Boateng, James Milner and Aleksander Kolarov to the club. They had the players, now it was time to string a team together.

After not meeting the expectations of the club owners, Mark Hughes was promptly sacked, and former Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini was put in charge of the proceedings at the Eastlands. Mancini was probably the right choice because of his team building tactics at his former clubs, and that is what City needed. Let us talk about this season. Having acquired the services of a dozen players in two seasons, they were bound to let some people go. Adebayor, Bridge, Santa Cruz and Bellamy went out on loans, whereas Robinho, Petrov, Benjani and Ireland were sold or released. Now, it was for Mancini to get a good starting 11. He played with a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Tevez at the front, and Milner, Silva, Yaya Toure in the attacking side of midfield. Barry and de Jong played in front if the defense line of Kolarov, Kolo Toure, Kompany and Richards. And yes, he had more than a formidable bench with Dzeko(A January signing), Jo and Balotelli in attack, and players like Viera, Johnson, Wright Philipps, Zabaleta in his midfield options, and a good defensive bench consisting of Joleon Lescott, Boyata and Bridge( who was eventually loaned out). So, Mancini had a lot of options, mainly attacking, but his approach was different.

A highly criticized, yet effective approach was used by Mancini. He had a simple theory. Defend deep against the stronger teams harnessing his team’s physical prowess, try to hit them on the counter and play it safe. Not a very attractive brand of football, is it? They did go all guns blazing a few times, but all against weaker teams like Sunderland(5-0) and Aston Villa ( 4-0) . Their season started off with a dull draw against Spurs, but in their very next match they were convincing winners against a struggling Liverpool side(3-0). So, they took 4 points out of 7 against the big sides, which was three more points than they had managed last season. City then stuttered for a couple of games against Sunderland (away) and Blackburn (at home), bagging only a single home point out of the six despite completely dominating both games, with (according to Mancini) at least 25 missed chances in the Blackburn game alone. City got itself back on a winning track again with a 0–2 away win against Wigan, which was the first time the team had ever won at the DW Stadium, breaking what some supporters had labeled a jinx for this fixture. Then came their biggest challenge, Chelsea. And City had major injury concerns with Jérôme Boateng missing out on the first six weeks of the new season due to a knee injury he picked up playing for Germany, while Aleksandar Kolarov seriously damaged his ankle ligaments in the opening match of the season against Spurs. The loss of Boateng and Kolarov – taken together with recent injuries to Richards, Bridge and Lescott meant that Roberto Mancini found himself without five of his eight main back four defenders going into City’s home match against Chelsea, causing him to claim that he had a defensive injury crisis for that game. Nevertheless, City still managed to win convincingly due to a stellar defensive performance from the make shift back four (Boyata, Toure, Kompany, Zabaleta) that Mancini was able to field. Against the next top 4 side they met, Arsenal, they agonizingly lost 3-0 at home, and coupled with the shock loss at Wolverhampton, showed how inconsistent City were and how they needed to get a move on. They then hosted their city rivals, The Red side of Manchester, Man United, and held them to a goalless draw. Yes, as you would expect Mancini employed their defensive (some would call them negative) tactics, and was effective in holding United off. City picked up 11 points in the next 5 games before losing to Everton 2-1 at home (They then want on to lose the reverse fixture as well). They then hit a good patch, winning convincingly at Newcastle, Villa and Blackpool . Next, they met Arsenal again, and were successful in applying their tactics again, and held Arsenal to a goalless draw at the Emirates. After the new year, they have been largely inconsistent, winning, losing, having goalless draws, but never going on a good winning streak. They lost 2-1 at the reverse Derby fixture through the goal of the season by Wayne Rooney, marking his return to form. They drew at Birmingham 2-2 and at home against Fulham 1-1 , in games which they were touted to win easily. They lost at the reverse fixture at the Bridge, when Chelsea defeated them convincingly 2-0. The very next week, they drubbed Sunderland 5-0, and just 7 days later, lost to Liverpool 3-0. Such has been their inconsistency. They then won their next two games by 1-0, before losing to Everton. Next came the repeat of their first match in the league, against Tottenham at home. If they won this, they would secure their 4th position. And win they did, due to a solitary own goal by Peter Crouch. A fast paced match in the first half, City went on the defensive in the second.

Manchester City have been inconsistent, but what has helped them is those points against the big sides. Spurs, presently 6th , have played a more attacking and attractive football, but they haven’t been able to make it count when it mattered, against the big sides, and against the sides they should have dispatched easily. Mancini’s tactics have worked, with City conceding only 33 goals this season, just 3 more than Chelsea who have the least goals conceded which has helped their cause of playing in the Champions League next year. City also have the highest number of clean sheets this season with 16 of them. They have a good home record with 12 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses, whereas away from home, they have been decent with 7 wins, 4 draws, but 7 losses. They have the most number of cards this season, with 73 yellows and 5 reds. But, you would expect this from a team which is trying to contain, won’t you?

Manchester City: Finally getting their act together

Some of their players have really stepped up this time, and helped Man City achieve their dream. Here are some of them.

1. Carlos Tevez : 19 goals in the league, making him 2nd in the list of top goal scorers in the league this season, just two behind Dimitar Berbatov. He is City’s skipper and their go to man, and has scored some crucial goals. In their 1-0 win over Chelsea, it was this man who scored a wonderful solo goal. Yes, there was some transfer speculation that he might leave because of some personal reasons, but all that was handled, and he became Manchester City’s second fastest player to reach 50 goals in 73 matches for the club behind Derek Kevan’s record of 64 games.

2. Yaya Toure : Under Mancini, Yaya Toure took up a more attacking position and turned provider for Carlos Tevez on many an occasion. He has scored some important goals, having scored 6 in 33 matches for the Citizens. More important are his 7 assists in the league. His most important goal came against Manchester United when his solitary goal sent City into the finals of the FA CUP.

3. David Silva : With 9 assists this season, Silva has been their main playmaker this season. The man from Spain has settled in England fairly easily, and his tricks and through balls have disturbed many a defenders. Add to it 4 valuable goals he has scored for City in 31 games.

4. Gareth Barry : He has been their most consistent performer, playing just in front of the defense line. He has made passes, and helped the defense. He is probably the best defensive midfielder England have right now.

With young players like James Milner and Andy Johnson having impressed this season , and Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko finally looking like they have settled in England, Manchester City are looking good, and may take the Champions League by storm. Mancini’s tactics have been highly criticized, but nonetheless effective. He has taken Manchester City into the Champions League, and that is what will matter. Not how they did it and what tactics they used. The fact of the matter is Manchester will be having two sides to represent them in the Champions League next season. The Blue Moon certainly is rising