Manchester City ended last season trophyless and it would be fair to consider the 2014-15 campaign as nothing more than mediocre. A few new signings matched with a renewed hunger to win back the title, will Pellegrini’s men taste success once again this season?
Summer transfer window
After an unusually quiet start in the transfer market, Manchester City managed to sign three players within a matter of a couple of weeks. Most notable was the arrival of Raheem Sterling from Liverpool, for a monstrous fee of £49 million. Besides the 20-year-old, they have also signed Fabian Delph from Aston Villa and also completing the signings of youngsters in the form of Patrick Roberts, Enes Unal and David Faupala.
A number of players also departed the Etihad, with the likes of Micah Richards, Frank Lampard and James Milner all leaving upon their contracts expiring. Alvaro Negredo joined Valencia while Dedryck Boyata, Matijia Nastasic, Scott Sinclair, John Guidetti and Karim Rekik were the others to depart the Eastlands club.
Last season
Despite finishing second in the league last season, Manuel Pellegrini would consider the season a disappointment without adding any silverware. City were eliminated in the fourth round of both the Capital One Cup as well as the FA cup, while they were knocked out of the Champions League in the last 16. The only positive that Pellegrini could have taken out of the season was the individual performances of some of his players. Sergio Aguero won the Premier League Golden Boot and Joe Hart won the league’s Golden Glove award, while David Silva also enjoyed a fantastic season.
Considering City’s standards, it was a fairly lacklustre attempt at defending the title, but it would not be ideal to rule them out as contenders this season.
Manager
After a disastrous defensive performance last season, Pellegrini will be hopeful to tighten things up at the back but the failure to sign any defender would imply that he will keep faith in his current crop. Pellegrini would also want his midfielders to put in some more defensive work to help provide a cover for his back four. The likes of Yaya Toure, Fernandinho, Fernando and Delph will be key in this aspect.
A fit Aguero and the brilliance of Sterling and Silva will make for a devastating attacking trio and Pellegrini will be well aware of that. With his job hanging in the balance, there will be a lot of pressure on the Chilean to deliver silverware to the owners after poor last season.
Strengths
City’s strengths undoubtedly is in their attacking play, which was often flawless last season. Aguero will be key once again and the team will be counting on the Argentinian to have a repeat performance of last season. Wilfried Bony will work as an excellent cover to the injury-prone Aguero.
The skill and speed of Silva and Sterling will also be a vital asset to City especially in counter-attacks. Their strength in depth will also prove to be important as they look forward to a busy season.
Weaknesses
City’s weakness definitely lies in their defence. Even if they are to perform better than they did last season, they do not have much cover if injury strikes. Kompany missed a lot of last season which forced Martin Demichelis and Eliaquim Mangala to fill in. If City fail to sign another centre-half, they might be in for a torrid time once again.
Toure’s performance might also be a factor that might have a negative impact on the side. The ageing midfielder looked tired and sloppy in pre-season and if he is not fit and raring to go it could prove to be quite a catastrophe in the midfield.
Key player
With Aguero already injured before the season has begun, City will be relying heavily on their big money signing – Sterling. He scored 11 times in the 50-odd appearances last season and if he can replicate his form shown at Liverpool, there might not be too much need to be so wary of Aguero’s injury concerns. The Englishman’s ability to unlock defences in a heartbeat and work his way into the box will suit City’s style of attacking play. He possesses an eye for goal along with the vision and skill to set them up as well.
Now, with a stronger midfield as well as fantastic strikers to work with, City fans can expect Sterling to be the exact catalyst that they were missing last season.
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Best XI
(Formation 4-2-3-1): Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Mangala, Kolarov, Y.Toure, Delph, Nasri, Sterling, Silva, Aguero.
Prediction
City will be looking to challenge on all fronts as they have done in the past few seasons and even with the talent that the club have brought in so far, there are still a few areas that must be strengthened before the weekend. Keeping players like Kompany and Aguero fit throughout the campaign will be serious challenge, considering that both players have struggled with injury in the recent seasons.
The teams around them like Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United all look to have a slight edge over City, but the Sky Blues still have it in them to scrape into the top four. The title might be a little out of the Eastlands club’s reach but there is no doubt that if all goes their way, they do possess the quality to win it.
Prediction position: 3rd
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