It’s hard not to be a little impressed by Manchester City’s start to the season. Forgetting the dull draw to Tottenham in the opening game, their season has since seen two wins, and the last one against Liverpool was especially imposing.
It’s too early in the season to be getting too excitable over a team’s results as in Man City’s case, just as it is too early in the season to get too worried about results, as in Liverpool’s case. The only thing that is clear so far is that Manchester City are beginning to click into a team rather than just a group of individuals.
Their first game against Tottenham was awful. They were ragged, unorganized, there was no single leader; they simply looked like a bunch of random players dumped together. Tottenham were unlucky not to score in that game as they played brilliantly. What was a somewhat fortuitous draw for City could have easily been a loss.
They followed that game with a slightly more convincing display in the Europa League against FC Timisoara. While the Romanian outfit doesn’t necessarily strike fear into the hearts of great football teams in Europe, it was a tricky away fixture that City played well in. Their new £24 million signing Mario Balotelli supplied the English side with a win after an impressive second half.
Then there came the game against Liverpool. It’s a little too harsh to condemn Liverpool as a sorry excuse for the football team they used to be, but it has to be said that they weren’t at their best against Manchester City Monday night. Their defending was atrocious and the team lacked competent finishing which left them leading 17-12 in goal attempts, and 5-3 in shots on goal. City had only three shots on goal, but put each of them away.
Despite Liverpool’s poor display, Man City finally showed what they are capable of. Mancini was able to field an extremely strong side while leaving some powerful players on the bench. And even though Carlos Tevez was all over the pitch and scored a brace, the star of the match was Adam Johnson. His flair and willingness to run at defenders caused Liverpool problems the whole game.
3-0 was a flattering score line, but the team gelled extremely well for the first time. New big money signings Yaya Toure and James Milner also impressed in the middle of the park and on the right flank, respectively. After such a fine showing, and still with players like David Silva, Mario Balotelli, Patrick Vieira, and Emmanuel Adebayor on the bench, it will be difficult to keep this Man City team down. It’s only the beginning of their campaign, and it will be a challenge for manager Mancini to keep all these highly paid stars happy, but the evidence is there to show that Manchester City can be a frightening prospect this season.
Jamie Myers is a writer for the popular self defense techniques website Hertao, where you can find great tips and advice from the pros.
