As last season reached its climax, Liverpool looked set to claim their first title of the Premier League era after Philippe Coutinho’s winner handed the Reds victory over Manchester City at Anfield.
Well, we all know what happened from there. Although they continued to push the Citizens to the final day of the season, a series of unfortunate events saw the most coveted prize in English football slip through their fingers and right into the hands of City manager Manuel Pellegrini as that other team from Manchester claimed their second title in three years. The football romantic may rue Liverpool’s last minute slip-ups as a supremely cruel twist of fate, the Chilean takes a much dimmer — but completely understandable — view of events.
“I don’t think so,” Pellegrini said when faced with the popular notion that the Reds title hopes went down the tube when Steven Gerrard’s now infamous slip against Chelsea shifted the momentum in their favour. “Of course, Gerrard was unlucky in that game, but Liverpool were not unlucky to miss out. When they beat us 3-2 at Anfield and people said they would go on to win the league, I thought we were very unlucky to lose. Liverpool might have been unlucky against Chelsea but they were lucky to win against us.”
While that remains a matter of opinion, the cold hard fact remains that Manchester City ended the season as champions and Liverpool, as we’ve seen so many times, did not. Despite the crashing disappointment of missing out on the title, it’s nearly impossible to refer to what happened in the final days of the season as some kind of failure; it’s more a confirmation that, even though we’ve been playing some immensely entertaining, powerful football, that there’s still some work to be done and some positions to be strengthened. That, of course, is something that the Citizens have done as well.
“We have strengthened our squad a little over the summer and I am happy with it. I did not go looking for a striker because we already have four at the club” continued Pellegrini. “Other clubs have strengthened too. They want to improve, which is what you would expect, but we want to improve too. We believe we can still get better.”
Though City have brought a number of new faces into the club, they’ve also topped up a number of contracts; one such recipient being Edin Dzeko who picked up a new four year deal at the Etihad Stadium. The Bosnian hit-man scored 16-league goals last season — only one less than the much fancied Sergio Agüero — including strikes against Manchester United and Everton. While City remain arguably the best balanced and most expensive side in the league, the 28-year old has remained cautious when talking about the title race after seeing his side pushed to the bitter end last year.
“You never know what can happen, nobody expected Liverpool to go so far last season but, in football, the unexpected can happen,” said the Bosnian ahead of the Reds trip to Manchester. “Every team, from the first five or six from last year, thinks that they can win the title this season but hopefully we can be the team to go and do it again – it will be tough but we are ready to fight.”
There’s little doubt that they’ll be right there in the title race come May, but when you’re at a team like Manchester City, the fight isn’t just against other teams — it can also be to keep your spot in the squad. With at least two talented individuals for every position and a whole stable of some of the promising youth players the world has to offer, competition for a coveted starting eleven slot is fierce. While that’s pretty much always been the case for outfield players, even goalkeepers are starting to feel the pinch with Joe Hart a prime example following the signing of Willy Caballero from La Liga side Malaga over the summer.
“It suits me. “I’m a fighter, I’ve been a fighter all my life. I’ll continue to do that. I’ll carry on trying to perform to my best and hopefully keeping clean sheets” the Englishman told the Manchester Evening News when queried about the competition for a starting berth. “I wouldn’t say it’s given me an extra edge because I’ve always had an edge. Caballero is a great signing.”
Keeping a clean sheet may be a problem come Monday with Liverpool — although looking sluggish at points during the 2-1 win over Southampton last weekend — not only as dangerous, but as motivated, as ever. There’s a long season ahead, but even though this one comes early in it, there’s little doubt that it’s impact will be felt when the points are tallied up in May.
–Steven
