Manchester City ‘best team in Europe’

Opinion

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This article was published 23/12/2017 (2820 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Put aside for just a moment, if you can, whatever it is you feel about Manchester City. That is, of course, unless you’re a fan of the Premier League leaders — and the numbers are growing by the week — in which case, you can read these lines with pleasure, pride or whatever it is you experience when your team is quite unlike anything the Premier League has ever seen.

“They are the best team in Europe,” remarked Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino last month — six weeks before they thumped his side 4-1. “For me, one of the best sides I’ve come across,” gushed former Swansea boss Paul Clement, who watched helplessly as his players succumbed to a 4-0 defeat at home to City on Dec. 10. “In their management and players, they have everything that is needed to be successful,” contributed Arsenal supremo Arsène Wenger this week, adding that City could well emulate his own “Invincibles” outfit of 2003-04.

At this point, it’s almost inconceivable that they won’t.

With the Premier League season set to hit the halfway mark this weekend, Manchester City have won 17 of 18 matches, 16 of which have come on the bounce following a Week 2 draw with Everton. They won five of six Champions League Group Stage games and can look forward to a straightforward Round-of-16 matchup with Basel. They’re also into the semifinals of the Carabao Cup after edging Leicester on penalties in Tuesday’s quarter-final.

On Jan. 6, they’ll get their FA Cup campaign underway against Burnley, and, given what his players have so far accomplished, manager Pep Guardiola has already had to deflect queries about an unprecedented quadruple.

“That is not going to happen,” he told Sky Sports after the Leicester triumph. “The situation of winning 16 or 17 games in a row in the league and qualifying for the Champions League before we finished the group stage… that is not normal. In football, you drop points and you lose competitions.”

Granted, but maybe not this season. Maybe we’ve already been watching this semester’s “normal” for four months. Maybe the surprisingly solid defence, creamy smooth transitions and magically spellbinding attacks are what will pass for “normal” between now and the spring. And you know that, if it came to it, Guardiola would gladly sacrifice one or both of the domestic cups for a league and Champions League double.

Regarding the former, he’ll be looking at the upcoming holiday fixture list as a chance to quickly claim even more points. The congested Christmas schedule typically presents a club with annual challenges in player fitness and squad depth, but given that they’ll face Bournemouth (today), Newcastle (Dec. 27), Crystal Palace (Dec. 31) and Watford (Jan. 2) before breaking for the FA Cup, there’s no reason to believe they can’t add a further 12 points to their current 52.

That would allow them to basically cruise to the title, permitting Guardiola to focus on the Champions League.

Of course, an injury to a key player — or more than one — could completely derail this scenario. There hasn’t been a better midfielder in the world this season than Kevin De Bruyne, and his absence would significantly affect how City move the ball into and through the final third. Sergio Agüero and Raheem Sterling have also been electrifying in attack, and Leroy Sané is among the division’s assist leaders. Guardiola needs all of them, as well as defenders Eliaquim Mangala and Nicolás Otamendi, to be fit. And keeping them fit will be job-one for the former Bayern Munich and Barcelona trainer over the next week and a half.

Guardiola has also said he intends to acquire one or two players in the January transfer window. That’s a scary prospect, what with the effectiveness with which City have spent their money in recent years.

Since arriving at Etihad Stadium, the Spaniard has acquired Sané, forwards Gabriel Jesus and Bernardo Silva, midfielder Ilkay Gündogan, full-back Kyle Walker and goalkeeper Ederson. And while he’s had one or two misses — see Nolito and Claudio Bravo (the jury is still out on John Stones) — the magnitude of the resources of the Abu Dhabi United Group that owns the club has ensured they can sustain such mistakes

For the most part, however, City have got it right in the transfer market — a testament to their shrewd hiring of ex-Barcelona director Txiki Begiristain five years ago. Having assembled much of the side that Guardiola turned into world-beaters between 2008 and 2012, he’s now doing the same for his countrymen in Manchester. De Bruyne, Sterling, Mangala, Otamendi and converted left-back Fabian Delph are all Begiristain signings.

It’s Guardiola, however, who has the group of them playing the most fetching football of the Premier League era. And yes, the club is in a unique financial position; and yes, the Abu Dhabi money so transformed City in 2008 as to make resentment inevitable. In May of that year, they were thumped 8-1 by Middlesbrough. By September, they were the richest club in the world.

But, forget that, even if only briefly. Put aside whatever it is you feel about Manchester City and just enjoy what they’re doing on the pitch. It’s nothing short of enchanting.

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