The failure to replace Vincent Kompany, the habit of conceding goals in clusters and the strain of the manager’s intensity are taking their toll on the Premier League championsAnd with that, surely, Manchester City’s title race was run. Only the most astonishing of all collapses, Kevin Keegan riding Devon Loch across the line of every Greg Norman putt at Augusta – or possibly Leicester City – can stop Liverpool now. Jürgen Klopp’s side can go off to Qatar for the Club World Cup and play the eight games in 19 days that the schedule absurdly demands of them not only with a cushion but in the knowledge that the champions are fallible.That was said of City last season as well,...
Pep Guardiola offered a wholesome message but almost every managers press conference is a charade were all in onI know we are winners and losers and thats all. But I think its not a good message for society, for our kids, for our teenagers, showing that just the winner is perfect. We are creating a depressed people, loser people. In football I know we want to win but just win once and the other is disaster? Its not, it doesnt work in that way.Finally. A true message about the meaning of sport. It is not just about winning. It is about the journey, the fight to improve, bettering ourselves. How refreshing. Related: Manchester City owner sells 10% share for 389m...
Early-season tussle between title rivals will see Guardiola turning up the intensity and going the Full MidfielderIt is, of course, absurd to talk about title deciders in early November. As Liverpool and Manchester City prepare to meet at Anfield on Sunday afternoon there will be a familiar urge to garland the occasion with superheated froth, to lean across the lighted TV plinth and pronounce in stentorian tones on the biggest, the most bowel-frazzling, the Superest of all Super Sundays.We know the drill by now. The Premier League is at bottom an act of salesmanship. And, like any good salesman, it’s always closing, November title deciders and all. Related: Five key questions for Manchester City before facing Liverpool | Jamie Jackson...
Guardiola is about to face Jürgen Klopp in the league, a manager who has possibly outstripped the SpaniardDespite their draw against Atalanta at San Siro on Wednesday night, Manchester City top their Champions League group and need only one point from their two remaining fixtures to secure a place in the last 16. Perhaps this will be the year they finally win the one prize that has eluded them during their massively expensive modern overhaul. But as Pep Guardiola prepares for a meeting with the only English club that has come even close to rivalling the recent domestic achievements of his City side, he must be aware his repeated failures in Europe are starting to significantly dent his reputation. If...
Relations between Klopp and Guardiola and historical rivalries mean this fixture is a long way from the Battle of the BuffetCrunch time arrives in the Premier League at the weekend. It is only necessary to glance at the league table now or last season to see why games between Liverpool and Manchester City are important in terms of the title race. The managers have had a nibble at each other over diving and tactical fouling in the buildup and few attending Anfield on Sunday will doubt that one side or the other will end up champions, yet for a variety of reasons there seems a reluctance to accept this fixture as the biggest in English football.Perhaps the most obvious one...