Manchester is Blue… A Midseason Review for Manchester City

We are a little over halfway through this season in the Prem, and what was supposed to be a 3-horse title race has become an 11-point lead atop the table for the blue side of Manchester. As a Man City fan myself, I did not expect them to be so far ahead already. Liverpool and Chelsea have done us plenty of favors throughout the season and we sit 11 points ahead of Liverpool. But I don’t want to focus on the chaser(s) right now, I’m going to focus on my Cityzens.

Man City celebrating one of their many goals. Source: Marca

I really don’t have enough space to talk about all the good things that City have done this year. It has been a dominant 22 games, with 12 straight wins. We haven’t lost a game since October! Every player (except a few) has been balling, they are not only the team to beat in the Prem, but many would consider them the best team in Europe. Even with all this greatness there is one tiny issue, and when it occurs Man City have only won 33% of the time…

This issue is something that City (and all teams I guess) have been prone to from time to time, it is inevitable to happen at least a couple times a season, and it is incredibly frustrating to watch those games. Of course, I am talking about when Nathan Ake starts, just kidding, but I wish that were true. No, the real issue are games when City fail to produce 1 or more expected goals. They are 1-1-1 in such games this season, with the only win coming this past weekend against Chelsea. To put this into a little perspective, Liverpool have had zero games with that occurring this year, and Chelsea have had seven, going 2-3-2 in such games. What does this tell me? It tells me Chelsea are incredibly lucky to have picked up eight points from games in which they don’t create. It also tells me Liverpool need to fix their defense because they create plenty. But, most importantly, and this may be an oversimplification, 50% of the games City drop points in is because they don’t create enough. (Interestingly enough Nathan Ake has actually started in 2 out of the 4 games city have dropped points in.) This would be incredibly worrying; however, the sample size is very small. The great news about it is that City are 17-1-1 in games where they create 1 or more expected goals!

Since there isn’t too much else to really discuss because it has been an excellent start to the season… I’m going to be doing a little midseason player review of the squad broken up into a few tiers: Certified Ballers, Almost Certified Ballers, Played Well but not a Baller, and finally Nathan Ake.

Certified Ballers:

• Ederson

• Joao Cancelo

Joao Cancelo deep in thought. Source: 90min

I mean what a turnaround. Used to be a waste of space in the squad now he has played the most minutes of any outfield player this season by a significant amount. His vision is uncanny, and his defensive skills aren’t that bad either. He has turned into the best LB in the league.

• Rodri

Absolute beast in the middle of the pitch. Another fantastic example of how good Pep is at developing players. Leads the team in average match rating and has just absolutely controlled games from start to finish. Also scored a worldie not too long-ago vs Everton.

• Ruben Dias

• Bernardo Silva

Back to his best, he is absolutely crucial to this team. Leads the team in goals in the league. What’s really crazy is that this is a player who was rumored to be leaving the club for a not so massive fee just a couple of months ago.

• Kevin De Bruyne

• Riyad Mahrez

• Ilkay Gundogan

• Phil Foden

Stop partying, but class when on the pitch.

Almost Certified Ballers:

• Gabriel Jesus

Learn to shoot, but has been popping up with a lot of assists.

• Raheem Sterling

Only been good the last month. Next.

• Jack Grealish

Jack Grealish celebrating after scoring a goal. Source: Manchester Evening News

See above for notes on partying. But I am more than happy to give him a year to really get the feel for being in this team. 

• Kyle Walker

• Aymeric Laporte

Future Star:

• Cole Palmer

This kid looks freaking great in the few appearances he has made so far. Plays a little bit like Grealish, he definitely looks the part. Hopefully he will have the same type of development we have seen from Foden over the last few years.

Played Well but not a Baller:

• John Stones

The curious case of John Stones. He beat out Laporte last year to start next to Dias, but this year he has fallen back down the pecking order. That being said, he has played well in his appearances and his presence in the squad pushes Laporte to have to play at his best to keep his spot.

• Oleksandr Zinchenko

• Fernandinho

This is not a knock on his talent, he’s been a very good and loyal soldier over the years. He’s just old and doesn’t have the same engine like he used to.

Nathan Ake

Nathan Ake making an error that lead to a goal. Source: The Sun

·       Nathan Ake

Alright I’m not going to say that Ake is the worst CB in the league, by no means is that true. He is a very good #4 CB on a very good team. But when he has played, he has not been up to the level needed of him. Granted, he had some personal issues going on early in the season, so maybe that’s why he struggled. Ill give him the benefit of doubt for now, but I also recognize he is a great role player that would start on probably 75% of teams in the prem. But if these are the performances we are going to get, why not just play someone from the academy instead?