Even at this early stage, it looks as though Manchester City are the best bet for the Premier League title.
Having bought Kevin De Bruyne, an excellent player they don’t really need, along with Sterling and Otamendi, they will have, in my opinion, the best team and squad in the top division.
Who will be the fall guy for De Bruyne? Well, they won’t drop Silva or Toure and, at present, Sterling is their record signing, so he looks safe. It looks like it’s going to be bench warming time for Jesus Navas.
In fairness I haven’t seen Navas contributing a lot up to now. In fact, when he has come on, Samir Nasri has looked a lot better than Navas. Navas also seems to unbalance the team slightly because he only wants to play on the right wing and rarely strays from that position, whereas Sterling, Silva, Nasri and De Bruyne can all interchange and play anywhere across the three.
Now Pellegrini has realised that 4-5-1, which can easily become 4-2-3-1 if required, is a better system not only in the Premier League, but also in Europe, the team looks a lot more fluid.
If he plays with Sterling and Navas as wide men, they can cause problems for the opposition. Both rely heavily on pace but Sterling has more skill at his disposal than Navas. If he plays De Bruyne instead of Navas I can see the 3 being Silva, De Bruyne and Sterling with Toure and Fernandinho tucked in behind them. The odd man out here, particularly as he appears to be returning to form, would seem to be Nasri.
As I said earlier, I would pick him ahead of Navas at present, but he certainly won’t get picked ahead of De Bruyne should he arrive.
The other option for Pellegrini would be to play 4-1-4-1. In this set-up he could accommodate Sterling, Nasri, De Bruyne and Silva. The problem would be who to play as the holding midfielder between Toure and Fernandinho. I suppose it would have to be Toure for everything else he brings to the team. Maybe Fernandinho in difficult away games where a stopper is needed in midfield.
At the moment I am not convinced by Fernando. Again probably a good player to have on the bench but, when this team is playing well, he doesn’t get in it.
With a back four of Zabaleta, Kompany, Otamendi and Clichy/Kolarov, City should win the league this time out. So that would mean a longer spell on the bench for Mangala but, again, he seems to be finding a bit of form so is good to have around. Demichelis is another reliable backup, assuming he is happy to stay.
All we have left now are the two extremes of the pitch. I don’t think I’ll get any arguments from City fans if I stick with the best finisher in the Premier League up front and one of the best goalkeepers in the world at the back. So, Bony and Caballero it is then! Just joking, you all know who I mean.
So, what do you think City fans? Realistically, will you win the Premier League this season?
I think the rest of the top four will be the same as last time but not necessarily in the same order. The only possibility is that Liverpool will sneak in there, as they have started very well and look a decent team. If they do get there it may be at the expense of Arsenal who have started the season the way they usually start the season. The problem here is that you can’t always rely on being brilliant after Christmas.
The interesting battles in the Premier league may well turn out to be the ones at the bottom again!
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 