For much of the Premier League’s existence, Manchester United have been the team to watch. Under Sir Alex Ferguson, United won 13 Premier League titles. From the first season all the way to Sir Alex’s last in 2012-13, the Red Devils were the dominating force of England’s top flight.
Until they weren’t.
Embed from Getty ImagesUntil their noisy neighbours came along with new budgets to spend, and became the driving force behind the stratosphere of tactical shifts in the modern game. Pep’s Manchester City took over from Mancini and Pellegrini, and they’ve been just about unstoppable since. They’ve won eight times in the past twelve years, bested only one time each by Chelsea and Leicester, and twice to Liverpool.
Embed from Getty ImagesSimilar to Sir Alex’s United, their dominance has been marked by not only a key manager, but many key pieces in personnel. United had Rooney, Ronaldo, Carrick, Scholes, Ferdinand, and Vidic. Some of the best in the world in each position.
City too. Kevin De Bruyne, İlkay Gündoğan, David Silva, Bernardo Silva, Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, and Rodri are just some of the names synonymous with some of the best years under Pep.
Embed from Getty ImagesAnd as we saw with Manchester United in the early 2010’s, when those players all disappear from sight, it can be impossible to recover and replace.
This golden era at City has essentially evaporated. Walker’s gone. De Bruyne’s gone. Gündoğan’s gone. David Silva and Fernandinho have long been gone. Others like Sterling, Grealish, Ederson, Alvarez, and Akanji have more recently been iced out.
Embed from Getty ImagesSure, you still have Rodri and Dias. Not to mention Haaland up front and Donnarumma now in goal. But it’s no longer one of the best in the world everywhere you look.
As the summer nears closer, you have to wonder what will happen to Bernardo Silva, and other rotational players like John Stones and Nathan Aké.
Embed from Getty ImagesFor the first time in years, Manchester City find themselves in flux. They’ve let go of so many of the players that made them treble winners, almost all at once.
They’ve tried to replace them. But there is simply no replacing Kevin de Bruyne’s brilliance on the ball.
Embed from Getty ImagesThere is simply no replacing the game intelligence of İlkay Gündoğan.
You can’t replace Walker’s recovery speed and defensive aptitude. These days, you’d be hard-pressed to even replace Raheem Sterling‘s goal output from the wing. City will hope Antoine Semenyo can fill that void. But it’s safe to say that the comparison between a prime Kyle Walker and a still very young Abdukodir Khusanov remains distant.
Embed from Getty ImagesNothing against Tijjani Reijnders. But he’s not Gundogan. Cherki’s magnificent too. But not the all-around presence of a Kevin de Bruyne.
Jérémy Doku must be one of the most frightening wingers around. But he rarely ever finds the back of the net himself.
Embed from Getty ImagesWithout players like Gündoğan and De Bruyne popping up for the goals, Manchester City have become overdependent on Erling Haaland and Phil Foden to score goals.
They have only ten different scorers so far this season, 7 of which have scored fewer than 2. It’s only Reijnders, Foden and Haaland that City can comfortably rely on in front of goal.
Compare that to some of the other top scoring sides in the league, and you get a much better spread. Arsenal have 8 different scorers with 3+ goals. Chelsea, Villa and United each have 6.
Embed from Getty ImagesIt’s brilliant for Haaland to score so many. But 44% is simply an overdependence.
Haaland’s been hiding in recent matches, looking like a shadow of the player that’s already hit 20 league goals this campaign. If the team can’t feed him for fun, they simply won’t eat.
Embed from Getty ImagesHunger might still be there. But what’s left when Rodri, Ruben Dias, and Bernardo Silva enter the twilight years of their careers? What’s left when players of that magnitude and importance find themselves injured?
City have rarely looked the same without Dias or Rodri. Now that Walker, De Bruyne and Gündoğan have disappeared, Bernardo is one of the only other leaders left in that team.
Embed from Getty ImagesThis, for a side that rotated their captain for much of Guardiola’s tenure.
They now have a host of young players learning the trade, mixed in with a number of new arrivals trying to find their footing. There’s class all around the pitch, but significantly less than what we’ve seen in seasons past.
Embed from Getty ImagesIf City are to recover from this period of flux and flow, they need to be more sensible in their decisions off the pitch. Manuel Akanji could have been critical to City this campaign, especially in the hole they’ve now created for themselves at the back. With Stones, Dias and Gvardiol all out at the same time, they’ve had to recall Max Alleyne from Watford, deploy Khusanov down the middle, and make an emergency wage-busting signing in Marc Guehi.
Embed from Getty ImagesAkanji would have brought so much experience to the back-line through this tumultuous period, especially as someone who’s played all across the back-four for Guardiola.
He’s been exceptional at the heart of the Inter back-three this season, giving I Nerazzurri a significant pump to their title hopes. That’s potentially a title-winning decision for the Black & Blues, and a title-losing decision for the Sky Blues, who could have just had some experience in their back-line through this time.
Embed from Getty ImagesJulian Alvarez is enjoying a nice time out in Spain for Atletico Madrid too, scoring 7 and assisting a further 3 in his 20 appearances. We all know the Premier League is a different animal, but for a team struggling to spread the goals around, Alvarez would have been a fantastic option to have around. Not to forget Gabriel Jesus, who they let go to their closest title rivals seasons ago.
Some of these departures have been questionable. Others ill-advised.
And at the very least, too much all at once. Even if players like Kevin de Bruyne, Ederson, and Kyle Walker were inevitably declining, losing those dressing room pieces all at the same time does take a hit.
Embed from Getty ImagesIt’s never going to be a seamless transition between eras, and Manchester City might be experiencing a moment where they simply can’t put the right puzzle pieces together. For the time being, they remain in second, with a fighting chance against Arsenal. But the gap sits at seven points, surrounded by question marks over what’s next for many of those once invincible players.
Inevitably, Manchester City’s dominance might finally be over, once and for all.
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