Sitting pretty at the top of the Barclays Premier League table, Manchester City have made the perfect start to the season with twelve points out of twelve. They are already eight points clear of champions Chelsea, and Manuel Pellegrini’s men are well on their way to bring the title back to the Etihad.
Manchester City already look very different from what they were last season. They have gotten off to a best possible start, by not just defeating, but thumping anyone who has stood in their way so far. It is fair to say that the Manchester club is better off chasing the title than defending it, and it hasn’t taken them long to reinforce that fact.
Four games in, City already look like the favourites to win the title. It helps that Champions Chelsea have stumbled early on, but even if they hadn’t, we’d still be seeing City as favourites, much due to the exquisite ease with which they have wiped off their opponents.
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All four of their wins so far have been comprehensive. More importantly, key players who were not performing to their full potential last season, have embraced the new campaign with match winning performances. Skipper Vincent Kompany’s celebration after he headed home City’s third against West Brom said it all. He has a point to prove, and so do a lot of players in this immensely talented Manchester City side.
If there was still an iota of doubt that they mean business, then the 3-0 mauling of Chelsea removed all of it. The Champions were simply outclassed by a rejuvenated Manchester City. Even Manuel Pellegrini wouldn’t have expected that scoreline. But that is the sort of result you earn for yourself when your best players step up to the fore.
City have the finest finisher in the world in the shape of Sergio Aguero, and if the medical team can keep him fit, we fancy him to end up with the golden boot. To support him, is David Silva, who is City’s most influential attacking presence. His ability to glide through traffic with ball and space means Silva is constantly redrawing the game in real time. Schemer, playmaker, football artiste, he is a sublime one-off who continues to provide the X-factor in Pellegrinia s side.
And then there is Yaya Toure who is capable of taking the game away from any opposition in the world. After all the questions that were raised on his performances last season, the Ivorian has started the season with the focus that has silenced his critics. He has been fabulous so far, and it looks like he is back to his beasty best. His second goal against West Brom was a beauty and when Tour plays with this almost nonchalant brilliance, it makes it feel slightly bizarre his involvement was ever in doubt.
Although there haven’t been a lot of significant changes in the squad, the signing of Raheem Sterling from Liverpool for a staggering 49 million has inevitably raised eyebrows. In his four games so far, there have been flashes of the running and dribbling that can shred teams. He opened his account against Everton, but the 20-year-old is yet to come into his own. What City would require him to be in the course of the season, is a potent goal threat.
To sum up, Manchester City look like a hungry, sharp, swift side that means business. And when they pass the ball with the kind of expertise that they have, they certainly make it tempting to believe they must have an outstanding chance of taking the title back from Chelsea. There is absolutely no doubt, they are in a hurry to get the title back home.