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Musa Okwonga
They have played the best football.
On several occasions this season, and notably against some of the league’s leading teams, Manchester City have been magnificent. They eviscerated Spurs 5-1 at White Hart Lane, and utterly humiliated Manchester United 6-1 at Old Trafford. Swansea and Norwich have also been similarly dispatched in the course of this season. When Manchester City are at their most effervescent, there are few teams in Europe that can live with them.
Mancini has shown excellent man-management.
Roberto Mancini is used to dealing with big egos in football – indeed, as a player, he was hardly less than forthcoming – but even he cannot have imagined the difficulties that he has faced this year. Mario Balotelli’s fine contribution with crucial goals was always going to be offset by his erratic decision-making both on and off the pitch, but there’s a strong argument that Mancini has got as much out of the mercurial Italian as anyone could be expected to. And let’s not forget the supreme pragmatism that Mancini has shown in welcoming Carlos Tevez back into the fold, after an autumn during which he could scarcely have shown more contempt for his employers.
Mancini has handled the media superbly.
Mancini knows that the media battle is an essential one in the Premier League war. On many occasions, he has fought it masterfully: most notably when his side lost 1-0 to Everton at Goodison, a result that many in the press began to interpret as Manchester City’s faltering nerve. But Mancini smartly changed the media narrative, by blaming himself for failing to take Everton seriously; it was he, and not his players, who was at fault. With this red herring – or blue herring? – he drew attention away from his anxious squad, allowing them to regroup and ultimately to regain their confidence.
They have mounted a title challenge not like newcomers, but like old hands.
Very few of the players in the Manchester City squad have won a league title before. And they are going up against Manchester United, two of whose players (Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes) have won the Premier League twenty-two times between them. Despite that deficit in experience, they – quite remarkably – have kept the contest close until now. It is that perseverance which should see them rightly rewarded with the league trophy come May.
They have given Sergio Aguero the platform to fulfil his potential.
By the start of this season, every football fan in the country knew of the genius of David Silva. Sergio Aguero, although he had a £38million price tag, arrived in England as seemingly something of a gamble. After all, a sceptical public had seen big-money foreign strikers flop before, Andrey Shevchenko being the most obvious example. Those in the know, or simply those with any sympathies at all to Manchester United, shuddered at the thought. By the age of 22 Aguero had scored over a hundred goals for Atletico Madrid in five seasons, during which time he had thoroughly and memorably outplayed Leo Messi in a 4-2 win over Barcelona. It can be argued that his arrival at Manchester City was the final catalyst for their success: more than being merely spectacular, he has scored – often prodigiously – and has fitted perfectly into the team from the beginning. The Premier League is lucky to have him, and Manchester City deserve the highest honours going to allow his talent truly to flourish.
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