Pep Guardiola’s side kicked off the season with victory in the Community Shield and they remain favourites for the Premier League title and Champions League. But maybe there is still hope for everyone else…
Squad weaknesses
The ideal scenario for any manager is the opportunity to strengthen from a position of dominance. Guardiola has had that chance this summer but the City boss has only recruited one player – Riyad Mahrez.
City will view the arrival of Mahrez as another step forward, another boundary broken because they paid a club-record fee. Judging from the bizarre unveiling ceremony that Mahrez and those few in attendance sat through, City want it to be seen as a statement signing. A somewhat needless one, though. Mahrez is a nice option for Guardiola but he does not plug any holes in the squad.
Guardiola, though, is still looking for a midfielder. He thought City had one before Maurizio Sarri hijacked their move for Jorginho. “We would like to find maybe one more because we don’t have two specific players to substitute Fernandinho,” said Guardiola after City had seen off their very own tribute act at Wembley on Sunday.
So City could go into the season not a great deal stronger than last season when, admittedly, they cantered to the title. But…
Improved rivals
While City may make incremental gains, their rivals are hoping for rather more radical improvement as they set about trying to rein in Guardiola’s side.
Manchester United were City’s closest challengers last season but like their derby rivals, Jose Mourinho’s men currently don’t appear much stronger, unless they suddenly get their act together in the transfer market this week. Recent history suggests they won’t so rather than pressing forward, Mourinho could be looking over his shoulder.
In the rear-view mirror, Guardiola might see Jurgen Klopp grinning from ear to ear while he steams past Mourinho while making ground on the champions. By addressing the weaknesses in their squad and making significant upgrades in other areas, Liverpool have played the transfer window better than any of their top-six rivals. Klopp’s was the only side to have the measure of City last season. If they can couple that capability with consistency then City will have to work a great deal harder to defend their title.
Elsewhere, Arsenal and Chelsea are beginning new eras, while Tottenham seem strangely reluctant to make any changes whatsoever. Unai Emery’s Arsenal appear much better equipped for their campaign but the gains required to mount a title challenge appear too great to be made in a single World Cup-dominated summer. Maurizio Sarri is hoping to beat City at their own game but, again, it may take a season before the new Chelsea boss feels primed to mount a title challenge.
So while Arsenal and Chelsea will presumably offer far sterner tests than last year, City’s greatest threat will presumably come from a Liverpool squad champing at the bit to get at Guardiola’s side.
Complacency
It would be human for City’s players to ease off somewhat having being so dominant and winning with such ease last season. Okay, so we’re clutching at straws here but go with it…
Guardiola spoke this weekend about what drives him to embrace the Premier League challenge again: a phobia of defeat. “The fear to lose the games make me starving and hungry again,” he said prior to the Community Shield but anyone who knows Guardiola’s history will have needed little reassurance over the manager’s mentality.
Will his players match it? Guardiola is ready and armed with his carrot and his stick, but the manager cannot be entirely responsible for his players’ levels of motivation. Last season’s triumph scratched the title itch for the first time for all but four of Guardiola’s squad. Can they retain the same hunger to maintain Guardiola’s standards for another gruelling nine months?
It has been a decade since the Premier League was last retained; then by Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United. Both of City’s previous title wins were followed by runners-up finishes and an 11-point and a nine-point deficit to United and Chelsea respectively.