Not there was ever any doubt.
As written earlier, a firm and formidable Newcastle side had (and still has) done fantastically well to be in fourth place after 12 rounds of fixtures. Above the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, beating your cross-town rivals, and also doing better than the "big sides" against the teams that they have faced.
But unlike rock and roll, which Starship built their city on in their "classic" track, Man City have built their recent and meteoric success on newly-acquired financial muscle and, at least as importantly, a manager who knows what he's doing.
Only an exuberant Manchester United and a rampant Bayern Munich and have recorded wins over the Citizens in any competition, while Napoli and Fulham managed to hold them to draws within four days of each other. Even then, it could be argued that their best striker (Aguero) was not fully fit for their first result, and the others were flukes, blips or simply off-days. Even Barcelona and Spain draw and lose from time to time, right?
But are Man City being compared to the current conquerors of both world and club football (Sorry England & Costa Rica, friendlies don't usually amount to titles...)? Many already do, pointing at their dominant play and the way opposition teams set out against them. That City's success is inevitably a result of David Silva's play is also one telling point, and that the player himself has been used in the "Messi role" when Spain line up against most teams recently. Many predict that it is indeed Man City, and not the likes of United, Bayern, Milan or even Real Madrid, who possess a squad that can challenge Barcelona for major honours.
That's all very far-sighted though, one feels. What about domestically, in the league? Is it a foregone conclusion that they will finish at the top come May, and that there will be fewer reasons for "ticker" banners to be strung up around Old Trafford? Are the remaining BPL fixtures now only a matter of who will finish in the top four, or to see who goes down, or if Torres and Carroll can manage ten goals between them? Looking at the results and performances, one might argue that such a bold prediction isn't too far off.
That being said, no team in invincible. England beat Spain, which speaks volumes. With all due respect to supporters of the Three Lions, looking at the Spanish and English squads, you can tell the gulf in class. The visitors enjoyed the comfort of bringing on Reina, Puyol, Fabregas, and Mata and not even using Valdes, Llorente and Jesus Navas. The hosts had Bobby Zamora on the bench. Yet, the win went to the less-fancied side.
England achieved that result with some gutbusting defending and a solitary goal from a set piece. Their game plan was obviously to strangle the game, not allowing Xavi, Iniesta, Xabi Alonso and David Silva the luxury of time and space on the ball for them to tear England to shreds. In the BPL, we've seen sides like Everton, Blackburn and most recently Newcastle United attempt the same but fail.
Here is where the Barcelona and Spain comparisons end.
For a while now, I've felt that as good as Spain are, they only have one game plan. Given that they usually execute it to perfection and it is very difficult to stop even with the best players (Holland, Germany and Portugal will agree), it's hardly a fault of theirs, perhaps. But Man City, for all the comparisons, and for all the glowing tributes to David Silva and the Son-in-Law of God Sergio Aguero, have more than one side to them.
And so, playing incredibly deep and inviting pressure will get you slaughtered. And we've seen that so far this season.
The argument, of course, is that if you play expansive football, you will get caught and punished. I might point out that attacking football gave Man Utd and Bayern their wins, and served Aston Villa and Newcastle well in the opening half hours of their games. (That, and hauling off Rio Ferdinand in the Community Shield...)
Is that the answer to the wrecking ball that is Manchester City? It's hard to say, until a talented and well-organized side can bring their A-Game when the tie comes. Right now, it's down to Liverpool, Arsenal, and/or Chelsea to slow down the blue tide, and believe me when I say it, I would never use both "talented" and "well-organized" when describing any of those three sides now. But anything can happen, and I will admit that I will be happy to be proved wrong. Perhaps a moment of brilliance from Luis Suarez or the dazzling form of RVP can overcome the City machine. Maybe Torres will bag a hattrick. (Ha!)
In the end, while "We Built This City" was once voted to be one of the worst songs of the 80's (and this writer might feel that even then it's still much, much, better than most of the music today...), there is a harmony in the Etihad Orchestra. The leader of the band is quietly confident, donned in his trademark scarf, and even the troublesome diva of the group looks to be on his way out. It remains to be seen how the rest of the season will play out, but for sure, the Manchester City starship will hope that their title track will instead be "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now".
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