Why City won it
With Manchester City newly crowned as
Premier League champions for the second time in the past three seasons
we pinpoint just how they did it. It's been a remarkable campaign by all
accounts but Manuel Pellegrini's men have proven more than worthy
winners. Here's why...
Title-winning teams tend to have a strong spine and City have
that right through the centre of the side in the shape of Joe Hart,
Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero. Although Manuel
Pellegrini only started those four players on seven occasions in the
Premier League this season, it is telling that City won all of those
matches - scoring 23 goals in the process.
These fixtures include the 4-1 derby win over Manchester United and
the 5-1 demolition of Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Perhaps most
significantly, Pellegrini was able to count on these players during the
key games in the run-in with Hart and Aguero particularly pivotal in the
3-2 victory against Everton at Goodison Park that first put City
odds-on for the title.
Coping without key men
As indicated by how rarely Pellegrini fielded the much-vaunted
spine of his team, a feature of the campaign was how well the team fared
in the absence of their star names. When Aguero was injured over the
Christmas period, City won all six of their Premier League matches. In
the 10 games Kompany was unavailable for, the team managed six clean
sheets.
In addition, City are unbeaten in the league without Toure in the
starting line-up and powered over the line despite David Silva's absence
at the most tense stage of the season. It speaks volumes for the
strength in depth at the club and, ultimately, that proved a key
differential between City and their rivals.
Not-so-weak links
That squad depth is illustrated by the key contributions from
less heralded members of the group. Edin Dzeko is still to win over some
of his critics but a tally of 26 goals in all competitions has included
that first-minute strike at Old Trafford and vital goals to help see
off Crystal Palace, Everton and Aston Villa when there was no room for a
slip up.
James Milner provided the assist for Dzeko's opener at Goodison with a
neat piece of skill to evade Leighton Baines and he too stepped up when
needed. A word too for the much-maligned Martin Demichelis whose
presence in the team in the absence of long-term injury victim Matija
Nastasic proved rather less disastrous than might have been anticipated.
Goals from everywhere
While more than half of Liverpool's league goals came courtesy
of strike duo Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, City were able to rely
upon a greater variety of sources. Indeed, Toure finishes the Premier
League campaign as the club's top scorer with 20 goals, three clear of
star striker Aguero with Dzeko not far behind with 16 of his own.
Beyond that there were three from Kompany, four from Jesus Navas,
five from Fernandinho, and seven from both David Silva and Samir Nasri.
Right from the first day of the season when four men got on the
scoresheet against Newcastle through to the 7-0 drubbing of Norwich in
which all of the goals were credited to different players, this has been
a true team effort.
Different ways to win
Seven against Norwich plus six against both Arsenal and
Tottenham, City handed out some beatings this season. There were a
couple more five-goal hauls and six further occasions in which they
scored four. But Pellegrini's team also showed an ability to grind out
victories when things weren't looking so fluid in attack too.
While Chelsea struggled to see off the weaker teams and failed to
beat four of the bottom half at home, City found a way to win those
games - winning 17 of their home fixtures including 1-0 wins over Stoke
and Palace thanks to second-half goals. They were also the top scorers
in the final 15 minutes of matches, making a consistent habit of getting
over the line when they needed to.
Got the balance right
Those achievements reflect the fact that City got the balance
right where their rivals failed. Much has been made of Liverpool's 101
goal season, but it undoubtedly came at a cost to their defensive
solidity. It's important to note that no team in the Premier League era
has conceded as many goals as the Reds did this season and gone on to
win the title.
Chelsea, meanwhile, had a strong defensive record but failed to score
enough goals at the other end. By comparison, City clearly had the best
balance - keeping 16 clean sheets in addition to scoring a century of
goals of their own.
Embracing pressure
This almost became styled as the title that nobody wanted to
win and the desire for managers to talk down their own chances certainly
became an ongoing narrative thanks to Jose Mourinho's little horse and
Brendan Rodgers' Chihuahua. One wonders whether that lack of conviction
became a self-fulfilling prophecy for these clubs.
Such are the demands at City that talking down title ambitions was
simply never an option for Pellegrini despite this being his first
season at the helm and this focus was shared by his players. "Of course
we are," Joe Hart told Sky Sports when asked whether City were title
contenders at the height of the phoney war. "I can't really comment on
any other teams but I know what we're doing and that's what we've pushed
for all season." They embraced the pressure and got their reward.
Stumbles elsewhere
Winning their last five games was a fitting finale for the
Premier League champions but the fact that 13 points rather than 15
would still have been enough to win owed much to the failures of others.
Most spectacularly, of course, there was Liverpool's implosion at
Selhurst Park and there's no getting away from the fact that seven
points from the final three games would have been enough for the Reds to
lift the title.
Chelsea too will be left wondering what might have been. Despite
beating both City and Liverpool home and away, defeats to Aston Villa,
Crystal Palace and Sunderland scuppered their hopes long before the
failure to score at home to Norwich. Even Arsenal fans might be
bemoaning key injuries and the failure to strengthen in January. They do
say you can only beat what's in front of you.
Winter wonderland
Such was the way that the challenges fizzled out, it's easy to
feel that City didn't have to be at their very best to win it. However,
in a 38-game season it doesn't matter when the points are accumulated,
only that they are, and it would be wrong to forget how relentless
City's form was during the winter.
Eight consecutive wins either side of Christmas - beginning with a
6-3 win over Arsenal and ending in the 5-1 triumph over Tottenham - got
City back on track after a difficult start as they impressively
addressed their early struggles away from home. Pellegrini's men
finished January seven points clear of Liverpool and it was the lead
built up during those winter months that did much to ensure City were
able to ride out the Reds' spring storm.
Praise for Pellegrini
Ultimately, the manager deserves immense credit for that. Of
course, plenty of money was spent in the summer but Pellegrini did a
fine job of integrating new faces and lifting old ones who'd apparently
become dispirited in the final months of the Roberto Mancini regime. The
Chilean coach managed the transition and got results in the meantime.
While Mourinho has talked of instituting a style change at Stamford
Bridge, the fluid football has been more evident at the Etihad and while
a failure to win the biggest games will be an issue to address next
season, there can be no denying that Manchester City represent stylish
champions - and that has to mean it's a job well done by Manuel
Pellegrini.
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