Man City Under Pressure: Could This Be the Most Disappointing Season Ever?

After Manchester City's 2-2 draw with Liverpool saw the Mancunians crash out of the Carling Cup, the consensus reaction from the City camp seemed to be ambivalence.  After all, it is just the Carling Cup, right?

This notion is true: The Carling Cup is by far the least prestigious competition Man City entered into this season and elimination from it is not the worst thing in the world.

However, there is another consequence of the loss: The pressure on Manchester City in its other competitions just grows.

City is the most expensive team ever to be put together, however, of the four competitions City entered at the start of the season, the Blues have already been eliminated from three: the Champions League, the FA Cup and the Carling Cup.  That leaves just the Premier League and Europa League to set their sights upon.

The Europa League has yet to start its knockout phase, but with worthy adversaries (such as United) also hanging around, there is no banking on the championship.  In fact, the competition is viewed as the little brother to the Champions League, so it carries very little weight in supporters' eyes.

As of now, City has a three-point lead in the Premier League title race.  With United on their tails and a derby looming though, the title is far from wrapped up.

For almost any other club in the world, this would be a fantastic position for January.  As of even just a few years ago, this would have been a great position for City in January.

However, as the most expensive team in history, this is a worrisome place.  There is no excuse for failure; City conquered the FA Cup last year, so lack of big-game experience is not an excuse.

It's a simple fact: If City were to somehow go the season without adding a trophy with this team, it would have to go down as one of, if not the most disappointing campaigns in the history of football.

The squad may not be thinking about the magnitude of their potential failure right now, but if they were to get into a down-to-the-wire EPL title race with United, their bitter rival who has done this over and over the past few years, the pressure would clearly lie on City's backs.

The Carling Cup may not have been the most important competition to City supporters, but elimination from the competition means one thing: It's EPL title or bust.