MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – MARCH 14: Manuel Pellegrini, manager of Manchester City talks during a press conference ahead of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg match against Dynamo Kyiv at the Football Academy training ground on March 14, 2016 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
It is pretty clear that for a team we all expected to be challenging for the title this season, Manchester City’s campaign has been incredibly underwhelming. With only a game left in the season, they sit fifteen points off of the top of the table and only two points ahead of 5th (having played a game more). That leaves Manchester City with a real chance of finishing outside of the Champions League ahead of next season. While in the context of the history of the club (it is still edging around their sixth best finish in Premier League history), this is not good enough for the team with the most expensive group of players in the league. So who is at fault?
Well, whenever we ask these sorts of questions, the evil eye is immediately cast upon the manager. Manuel Pellegrini may be Manchester City’s manager now, but nearly halfway through the season, it was announced that he would be replaced by Pep Guardiola next season. Since that announcement, Manchester City have floundered in the league, floating from one listless display after another. It was relatively clear that Pellegrini and his team were counting down the days, but there was still success. They won the Capital One Cup and progressed further in the Champions League than they have ever before. But it was in the league that they truly could not gain any consistency. It is pretty clear that at the beginning of the season they were the best team in the league. They had an incredible run at the beginning of the season (barring a 4-1 loss to Spurs), and looked defensively sound. After the announcement, they have been inconsistent, lethargic at the best of times and completely uncaring at the worst. So the announcement was the switch that changed Manchester City from title favorites to Champions League hopefuls?
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 25: (R-L) Manuel Pellegrini the manager of Manchester City and Josep Guardiola the head coach of Bayern Muenchen look on during the UEFA Champions League Group E match between Manchester City and FC Bayern Muenchen at the Etihad Stadium on November 25, 2014 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Then this is down to the owners for undercutting the manager. We have discussed this before, but by announcing the summer arrival of Pep Guardiola, Manchester City’s owners severely damaged the campaign. They took the motivation for Pellegrini to build for the future. Why should he focus on the league? He’s already won that and it won’t necessarily help him get a new job. The Champions League is still not in his trophy cabinet, so adding that would be a great feather in his cap. Why should the players strive to continue to learn the manager’s system? The ones that are staying will need to learn a new one next season, and the ones that are leaving all have their eye on the next job anyway. Okay, so the owners are at fault. Even if Pellegrini had been incredible tactically, they killed any chance of motivation, right?
Well, the players are also very much to blame. With the amount of money the owners have spent and the level of talent that Manchester City has at their disposal, Tim Sherwood should be able to coach them to wins. At a certain level, players need to be able to motivate themselves, if only for a level of professional pride. That pride has been none existent this season. Some of the players know they are leaving next season, either through age or knowing they aren’t Guardiola’s cup of tea (Yaya and Silva have been mentioned). Some have motivation issues or are dealing with immense pressure (Sterling has been attempting to justify the massive price tag around his neck). All look like they feel like they’ve achieved all they can. This explains why they were able to progress further into the Champions League. It was the only competition they genuinely cared about, until the Real Madrid fixtures. Those matches would have been brutal to watch for Manchester City fans.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – MARCH 02: Sergio Aguero of Manchester City stands dejected during the Barclays Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield on March 2, 2016 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
What we have at the end of the season is a perfect storm of problems. The owners are desperate for success and to replicate what has happened at Barcelona. They finally satisfied their fixation by nabbing Pep Guardiola, but at the cost of killing their current season. Players and manager are a perfect reflection of each other. The manager has been told he’s gone at the end of the season no matter what, so he goes through the motions. The players, in turn, have very little motivation to get up for games through a combination of previous success, apathy, lack of stability and no manager to force them to care. Equal in blame, equal in apathy. Pep Guardiola will be looking at this season and worrying. The Manchester City job now appears to be much, much bigger than initially anticipated. Not only does he need to change the playing style and a few staff members/players, he will need to reinvent the entire mentality of club. This may be the biggest test of his career.
