With Pep Guardiola’s arrival imminent, Manchester City are battling viciously for a top four position with the title almost mathematically out of their reach.
That said, City are enjoying their most successful European season to date picking up a strong 2-2 draw in their Champions League quarter-final first leg away to French heavyweights, Paris Saint German.
The return of Kevin De Bruyne has given the Citizens a huge boost as they head into the final stages of the season after missing a period which coincidided with City’s drop in form.
The biggest concern for City is fellow top four chasers Manchester United and West Ham making substantial yards in the league, with both sides having the beating of any on their day.
United in particular are only one point behind the Sky Blues who have a trip to Chelsea and a home clash with Arsenal before their season is up.
If City are to repeat the success of their title winning campaigns, these are five problems Pep will need address before the start of next season……
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PRESS THE IMAGE BELOW TO SEE THE FIVE PROBLEMS!
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Defensive problems without Kompany
Martin Demichelis has played over 70 appearances for City and I don’t think I’ve watched him have a game without a blunder or a mistake.
Eliaquim Mangala and Nicolas Otamendi have had mixed performances when played as a partnership.
In City’s 2-1 defeat to Arsenal in December, Mangala and Otemendi made a series of schoolboy errors, failing to make a routine clearances with Mangala in particular fizzing ball at Fernandinho inside the City half which led to an Arsenal goal.
Goalkeeper Joe Hart wears the armband when club captain Vincent Kompany is absent but it is clear the Belgian’s on pitch discipline is missed.
Guardiola is walking into a club with £120million+ worth of defensive options. City can’t rely on Kompany to stay fit for a firm defence; whether Guardiola will choose to show the door to some of the usual suspects remains to be seen but he will need to address this issue on entry.
Get Sterling playing to potential
Sterling has bagged only six goals and two assists in 22 league appearances for City this season.
That’s not the sort of stats that Pellegrini would have been hoping for after his bosses fished out £50million for the 21 year-old last summer.
But the ambition is there for Sterling, in late 2014 he spoke about his desire to join Ronaldo as one the world’s best one day.
Pellegrini has deployed Sterling wide left for the most part of the season, but when deployed in more forward and central postions the winger has scored five goals in all competitions.
With Guardiola he will undoubtedly improve his development and the new manager will want to get Sterling playing with a smile on his face.
Better results against top teams
City have picked up just six points from a possible 30 against top eight opposition this year.
They haven’t registered a win against Spurs, Arsenal, Manchester United or Chelsea all season.
It makes a vast difference from the domination in the big games shown over the past few seasons for the Citizens.
Guardiola will need to assess the mentality of some of his players he is due to inherit.
If the squad stays the same as this year, the average age of the team will be in top three highest in the league. Another highlight that reinforcements are needed in the camp.
Competing on all fronts
City won the Capital One Cup for the second time in the last four seasons but, as mentioned before, they are struggling for a top four place and are more than likely to miss out on winning the League.
They were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup to Chelsea where Pellegrini came under scrutiny for playing an inexperienced side.
There’s been treble talk for City since their maiden League win but after Feburary their results seem to drop finding themselves competing for less silverware then they’d like.
After winning a treble multiple times in his career, Guardiola will surely raise questions of the depth in the squad.
Consistency
Amazingly, City haven’t won back to back league games since October and it’s no wonder they are not in the title race.
A series of draws against lower table clubs and their aforementioned dire run against top teams this season will worry incoming Guardiola who thrives on taking every game as a cup final with 100% effort.
City’s season will now be assessed on their Champions League bid, but Pellegrini must find a way to secure their European top tier status in the process or the Sky Blues run the risk of playing in the Europa League next year.
