As Man City squandered their chance last night to top the table at christmas for the first time since 1929 I began to ponder what went wrong for City. When Mark Hughes was in charge he said he wanted to build a team with an English spine and established premier league players who would battle their way to the title on a cold night. His audacious bid to sign then England captain John Terry embodied this. Unfortunately for City fans it was a quality severely lacking at the City of Manchester Stadium last night.As a manager with limited experience in English football Roberto Mancini seems to have largely taken the opposite approach when putting his mark on the side over the summer which could cost them a run at the title.
Whilst Nigel De Jong’s suspension undoubtedly took some much needed steel out of the City midfield, over priced foreign imports such as Kolarov, Silva and Balotelli don’t appear to have the stomach for the physical style of the English game. Whilst I don’t question Balotelli’s potential he is yet to show the temperament to deal with the treatment he will undoubtedly receive in the premier league.
However, for a great example the City side need look no further than the architect of their downfall last night, Tim Cahill. The Australian was head and shoulders above anything on the pitch at COMS (apart from the equally impressive Tim Howard) and his willingness to work for the team was only outshone by his goal and assist on the night.
City are far from out of the race for the title. The Blues are in a great position and have countless options in their squad to change things around. Nonetheless, the foreign imports will need to start producing when it really matters and Carlos Tevez will have to put this weeks transfer saga behind him. The Argentinian, who is usually full of running, looked far from his usual self against Everton.
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