5 Manchester City Weaknesses Other Teams Can Expose in 2014/15 Season

If familiarity really does breed contempt, many Manchester City supporters are likely harboring some ill will toward a Sky Blue or two.

That is an unavoidable symptom of the stability that Manchester City director of football Txiki Begiristain and chief executive Ferran Soriano have carefully cultivated at City in the past few years.

The nice part about City's subdued culture is that the club's supporters know the product really well. Maybe too well, per Barney Ronay of The Guardian:

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City are a high-class team with a tangible sense of spirit but it has been several years since they signed a front player who has actually had any concerted impact on the first team; which remains in essence Vincent Kompany, (Yaya) Touré, David Silva, Sergio Agüero and seven high-class place-men.

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City's continued employment of such high-profile talents also means that the Etihad patrons know these players' weaknesses really well. The two Premier League titles City won in the past three seasons are real accomplishments, but they do not erase the lingering frailties that made those title runs so nervy.

And some of those weaknesses continue.

Joe Hart

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Hart's grasp too often exceeds his reach.

It was not that long ago that the mere thought of Manchester City parting with Joe Hart was absurd.

After Hart won the Golden Gloves award for the third straight season in 2012-13, England's No. 1 goalkeeper seemed a safe bet to mind the City goal for years to come.

Hart backstopped City to a second Premier League title in three seasons last May, but that fact seems to have done little for his job security. City manager Manuel Pellegrini has repeatedly refused to name Hart as his first choice on any permanent basis. 

'We'll see game by game. One hour and 15 minutes before kick-off you will know which goalkeeper starts," Pellegrini said recently per Chris Wheeler in the Daily Mail. If Jacob Steinberg's recent report in The Guardian is accurate, City supporters might not have Hart to kick around much longer anyway.

While Hart is still playing for City, though, his inconsistent form is a weakness for opponents to exploit. Clubs facing City would do well to test Hart as often as possible, from all distances and at all angles.

As Hart's tumble against Stoke proved, any time Hart allows even one goal the long knives are sure to be drawn.

Sergio Aguero

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Aguero's scoring touch does him little good when he is on the floor.

Whereas Joe Hart is a Manchester City weakness when he plays, Sergio Aguero is a Manchester City weakness because too often he cannot play.

Aguero's hamstrings, thighs and calves are among the most valuable in all of football. Like many valuable things, they are delicate and require a lot of delicate care to survive.

Premier League defenders are known for a lot of traits, but "delicate care" is not one of them. Aguero's tendency not to finish what he starts can be a problem for City.

Aguero is also a weakness for City's opponents to exploit because he can be neutralized with physical play, as Chelsea showed in City's recent draw with Jose Mourinho's Blues. If Aguero could dive like Luis Suarez or Arjen Robben, opponents would be less profligate with their rough tactics against the Argentine.

It is to Aguero's credit that he does not embellish contact, but in truth a striker of Aguero's caliber probably ought to draw many more penalties than he does.

These are a lot of negatives to be writing about City's best striker, to be sure. That is what familiarity breeds.

Manuel Pellegrini

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Hughes worked Pellegrini like a speed bag at the Etihad.

Where have all the goals gone?

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini promised "attractive, offensive" football on being hired at the Etihad, and by all means he delivered.

City scored 102 goals in the Premier League last season on their way to a title. The mathematicians among you already know that City therefore averaged nearly three goals per match in the league.

Five matches into the 2014-15 season, though, Pellegrini's version of the Greatest Show on Turf has gone on hiatus. City have scored eight goals in league play thus far and have already been shut out once at home.

Has the league solved Pellegrini?

The sample size is small, but City will have to find three more gears in their engine to replicate last season's goal totals. If the Premier League has figured out how to mute Pellegrini's heretofore prolific offense, it is an open question as to whether City can grind and defend their way to a third league crown in four seasons.

The Counter

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Diouf's unabated run at the Etihad just cannot happen to a good team.

Manchester City are an aggressive, goal-hungry side that does not hesitate to pour players forward. Unfortunately, that means that sometimes those same players have a hard time getting back on defense.

Stoke's Mame Diouf and Chelsea's Andre Schurrle both scored goals that damaged City at the Etihad from City corner kicks that developed into counterattack opportunities which City had no answer for.

And feel free not to take my word for this. When WhoScored.com puts the words "very weak" in a red box to describe City's defense of counterattacks, you know it is a serious problem.

That said, if Eliaquim Mangala's debut for City against Chelsea was not a mirage, City might be all right here in the long run. Mangala covers a ton of ground and only projects to improve the longer he plays beside Vincent Kompany.

The Silence

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For such an enormous place, the Etihad can feel so empty sometimes.

"Spoiled" is an ugly word, and perhaps an unfair one to describe Manchester City supporters. Only perhaps, though.

For supporters of a club with such a tortured history, City partisans have learned very quickly over the past half-decade to get comfortable with and to expect excellence.

And when they don't get it these days, they let City know. Not by booing, jeering or spouting off.

By their silence.

"The Etihad Stadium has always lacked the atmosphere of a traditional ground, but 72 hours after Manuel Pellegrini’s team experienced the full force of the Anfield experience, the contrast between the two stadia was stark," wrote The Telegraph's Mark Ogden last April after City's home draw with Sunderland.

City won 17 of 19 home matches in the Premier League last season, drawing once and losing once.

In three home matches this season, City have drawn once and lost once.

And when it is going badly for City at the Etihad, the silence is truly deafening.