seestyle: Review Manchester Citys route to an emph
Review Manchester Citys route to an emph
Apr 10, 23 om 04:50
In an absolutely bonkers season involving a pandemic and effectively two games a week among other things, Manchester City have picked up a third Premier League title in four years to add to their quickly expanding trophy cabineAlthough they ended up blitzing the rest of the league in the end, their path to this title had a significantly bumpier start. Let us recap this exceptional title-winning Premier League season from the Cityzens perspective.Rough beginningsWith absolutely no pre-season behind them and a break on the first matchday due to their participation in the knockout rounds of the 2019/20 Champions League, visited Wolverhampton Wanderers in late September to kick their Premier League campaign off.They returned with a hard-fought 3-1 succe s, which bred some positivity among the fans given the nature of the victory.
However, all of that quickly evaporated in le s than five days as Leicester City came to the Etihad Stadium and https://www.oilersjerseymall.com/grant-fuhr-jersey put five past a shaken defence which conceded three penalties two of which helped Jamie Vardy net a hat-trick against one of his favourite Big Six sides.A week later, City travelled to Elland Road to face a fearle s Leeds United side, who took a deserved point off the would-be champions of England, who, at the time, were in quite a me s down in 14th place.An important win against a fairly strong-looking (at least at the time) Arsenal side where Pep Guardiola pulled out a curious 3-1-4-2 formation in a tactical gamble helped steady the ship a bit, but the cracks did not go away with a 1-1 draw away to West Ham United.After another hard-fought 1-0 against Sheffield United, City prepared for the big one just before an international break.They hosted defending champions and then-league leaders Liverpool on matchday 8, with https://www.oilersjerseymall.com/ryan-nugent-hopkins-jersey just five points but nine positions between them such was the congested nature of the table as all of the big sides were consistently slipping up.With a game in hand, a win over Jrgen Klopps men would give the Cityzens a mathematical chance of leapfrogging them in the table when they played that match, but that was not to be as a mi sed Kevin De Bruyne penalty saw the match end 1-1, with City still in 10th place.The Premier League table after matchday 8 can you spot Manchester City here?There was no respite, though, as Citys next clash saw them take on second-placed Tottenham Hotspur. Just a couple of days prior to that, Pep Guardiolas long-term future was secured as he signed a that would keep him in England until 2023.Jos Mourinho was the one celebrating, though, as he oversaw a counterattacking mastercla s of a 2-0 victory that took Spurs to the summit of the Premier League table. They would, naturally, take care of themselves quite quickly thereafter, but dropping back down to 13th was the main cause of concern at the Etihad Stadium.An emphatic 5-0 win over Burnley (featuring a Riyad Mahrez hat-trick) followed by a 2-0 succe s against Fulham saw City climb back up to the fringes of the European spots, but two draws against Manchester United, and more disappointingly, a desperately struggling West Bromwich Albion derailed any momentum that was starting to build.Wins over Southampton and Newcastle United meant that they closed 2020 on a slightly positive note in footballing terms, but sixth in the Premier League was surely not where they would have wanted to be.There were yet more problems, though, as a COVID-19 breakout within the squad saw several stars sidelined for a couple of weeks and their final match of 2020 postponed. This short break might have ultimately been beneficial.The comebackAlthough he had signed a contract extension, there were many doubters regarding Guardiolas ability to create a world-beating side, watch its stars fade out of their prime and rebuild.He had done the first two steps quite well in his previous tenures at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, but before the third became a concern, the Spaniard went off https://www.oilersjerseymall.com/zack-kassian-jersey on a sabbatical.This was uncharted territory even for him as the likes of Vincent Kompany and David Silva had departed, probably taking Sergio Ageros knees with them.The two-time Champions League-winning tactician responded in emphatic fashion, though, as he devised an ingenious 3-2-2-3 system in po se sion which unlocked all the defences that were proving to be unbelievably stubborn for a fair few months.The first victims were Frank Lampards Chelsea, who at Stamford Bridge as the false-nine and inverted full-back were in the fluent best through De Bruyne and Joo Cancelo. This win promoted City to the top-three with a game in hand and just four points off leaders Man United.Of course, the players must be given a lot of credit for this turnaround too. Club captain Fernandinho stated that he had called for a players meeting early in the morning on New Years Day, with the objective of it being to make the things needed to change clear. And boy, did they change!Chelsea, Brighton & Hove Albion, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, West Brom, Sheffield United and Burnley were all brushed aside, with City putting a grand total of 15 goals past these sides without response.The key behind this new-found defensive solidity https://www.oilersjerseymall.com/andrej-sekera-jersey lay, of course, at the heart of the defence, where summer signing Rben Dias had formed a formidable partnership with the resurgent John Stones.The two were set for a serious test when they faced and back-to-back, and although their clean sheet-run came to an end with a soft Mohamed Salah penalty, City continued to perform spectacularly as they came away with two wins, both of which had three-goal margins.This sensational streak was built upon in the midst of a month-long injury to De Bruyne, who was surprisingly not mi sed due to the rise of Mr. Whippy.That nickname was bestowed upon lkay Gndoan, who was promoted to a more advanced role in the absence of his Belgian compatriot, on that he embraced thoroughly by going on an incredible hot streak of 10 goals in https://www.oilersjerseymall.com/ryan-smyth-jersey as many league matches.By mid-February and the end of matchday 24, City were sitting incredibly pretty at the top of the table with a 10-point lead over their local rivals. This graph does a great job of visualising their ascent
Image Credits: Premier League)Cruise controlThe start may have been quite tumultuous for City, but as that graph shows, the final stretch was a relative walk in the park.After Tottenham, Everton, Arsenal, West Ham and Wolves were brushed aside, although dents started to appear defence as one goal each was conceded in three of those four matches.The biggest chink in the Cityzens armour was on show in a derby defeat at home, where United following an uncharacteristically sloppy performance on Citys part.That defeat broke a 13-match long winning run (the longest for any Premier League side in the competition after a turn of the year) and a record of over 1,710 league minutes spent wit
However, all of that quickly evaporated in le s than five days as Leicester City came to the Etihad Stadium and https://www.oilersjerseymall.com/grant-fuhr-jersey put five past a shaken defence which conceded three penalties two of which helped Jamie Vardy net a hat-trick against one of his favourite Big Six sides.A week later, City travelled to Elland Road to face a fearle s Leeds United side, who took a deserved point off the would-be champions of England, who, at the time, were in quite a me s down in 14th place.An important win against a fairly strong-looking (at least at the time) Arsenal side where Pep Guardiola pulled out a curious 3-1-4-2 formation in a tactical gamble helped steady the ship a bit, but the cracks did not go away with a 1-1 draw away to West Ham United.After another hard-fought 1-0 against Sheffield United, City prepared for the big one just before an international break.They hosted defending champions and then-league leaders Liverpool on matchday 8, with https://www.oilersjerseymall.com/ryan-nugent-hopkins-jersey just five points but nine positions between them such was the congested nature of the table as all of the big sides were consistently slipping up.With a game in hand, a win over Jrgen Klopps men would give the Cityzens a mathematical chance of leapfrogging them in the table when they played that match, but that was not to be as a mi sed Kevin De Bruyne penalty saw the match end 1-1, with City still in 10th place.The Premier League table after matchday 8 can you spot Manchester City here?There was no respite, though, as Citys next clash saw them take on second-placed Tottenham Hotspur. Just a couple of days prior to that, Pep Guardiolas long-term future was secured as he signed a that would keep him in England until 2023.Jos Mourinho was the one celebrating, though, as he oversaw a counterattacking mastercla s of a 2-0 victory that took Spurs to the summit of the Premier League table. They would, naturally, take care of themselves quite quickly thereafter, but dropping back down to 13th was the main cause of concern at the Etihad Stadium.An emphatic 5-0 win over Burnley (featuring a Riyad Mahrez hat-trick) followed by a 2-0 succe s against Fulham saw City climb back up to the fringes of the European spots, but two draws against Manchester United, and more disappointingly, a desperately struggling West Bromwich Albion derailed any momentum that was starting to build.Wins over Southampton and Newcastle United meant that they closed 2020 on a slightly positive note in footballing terms, but sixth in the Premier League was surely not where they would have wanted to be.There were yet more problems, though, as a COVID-19 breakout within the squad saw several stars sidelined for a couple of weeks and their final match of 2020 postponed. This short break might have ultimately been beneficial.The comebackAlthough he had signed a contract extension, there were many doubters regarding Guardiolas ability to create a world-beating side, watch its stars fade out of their prime and rebuild.He had done the first two steps quite well in his previous tenures at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, but before the third became a concern, the Spaniard went off https://www.oilersjerseymall.com/zack-kassian-jersey on a sabbatical.This was uncharted territory even for him as the likes of Vincent Kompany and David Silva had departed, probably taking Sergio Ageros knees with them.The two-time Champions League-winning tactician responded in emphatic fashion, though, as he devised an ingenious 3-2-2-3 system in po se sion which unlocked all the defences that were proving to be unbelievably stubborn for a fair few months.The first victims were Frank Lampards Chelsea, who at Stamford Bridge as the false-nine and inverted full-back were in the fluent best through De Bruyne and Joo Cancelo. This win promoted City to the top-three with a game in hand and just four points off leaders Man United.Of course, the players must be given a lot of credit for this turnaround too. Club captain Fernandinho stated that he had called for a players meeting early in the morning on New Years Day, with the objective of it being to make the things needed to change clear. And boy, did they change!Chelsea, Brighton & Hove Albion, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, West Brom, Sheffield United and Burnley were all brushed aside, with City putting a grand total of 15 goals past these sides without response.The key behind this new-found defensive solidity https://www.oilersjerseymall.com/andrej-sekera-jersey lay, of course, at the heart of the defence, where summer signing Rben Dias had formed a formidable partnership with the resurgent John Stones.The two were set for a serious test when they faced and back-to-back, and although their clean sheet-run came to an end with a soft Mohamed Salah penalty, City continued to perform spectacularly as they came away with two wins, both of which had three-goal margins.This sensational streak was built upon in the midst of a month-long injury to De Bruyne, who was surprisingly not mi sed due to the rise of Mr. Whippy.That nickname was bestowed upon lkay Gndoan, who was promoted to a more advanced role in the absence of his Belgian compatriot, on that he embraced thoroughly by going on an incredible hot streak of 10 goals in https://www.oilersjerseymall.com/ryan-smyth-jersey as many league matches.By mid-February and the end of matchday 24, City were sitting incredibly pretty at the top of the table with a 10-point lead over their local rivals. This graph does a great job of visualising their ascent
Image Credits: Premier League)Cruise controlThe start may have been quite tumultuous for City, but as that graph shows, the final stretch was a relative walk in the park.After Tottenham, Everton, Arsenal, West Ham and Wolves were brushed aside, although dents started to appear defence as one goal each was conceded in three of those four matches.The biggest chink in the Cityzens armour was on show in a derby defeat at home, where United following an uncharacteristically sloppy performance on Citys part.That defeat broke a 13-match long winning run (the longest for any Premier League side in the competition after a turn of the year) and a record of over 1,710 league minutes spent wit
Reactie toevoegen