5 Issues Manchester City Need to Work on During International Break

Manchester City's 2-0 road victory over Aston Villa was worth quite a bit more than three points in the Premier League table.

Mind you, the three points earned were quite useful. City have rebounded from a stuttering start to pull themselves up to second in that league table.

But what the win really did was buy City two quiet weeks leading up to Tottenham Hotspur's visit to the Etihad when league play resumes. Had City dropped points at Villa, they would be at least seven behind Chelsea. And the tabloid media would be circling City with stories of their impotent title defense.

For now, at least, those stories will have to stay in saved documents files on pundits' laptops.

So what will City and Manuel Pellegrini be focused on while so many of their players leave Manchester for international duty?

Figure out What to Do with Eliaquim Mangala

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Mangala was back in top form against Aston Villa.

Eliaquim Mangala had quite a week for himself.

The Frenchman struggled mightily against Hull City. He was then dropped in favor of Martin Demichelis for City's vital Champions League Group E tussle with AS Roma.

Pellegrini insisted that Mangala's troubles at the KC Stadium did not lead directly to the temporary demotion. 

"Mangala was not out (against Roma) because he made a mistake against Hull. I thought for that game it was better for Demichelis to play," said Pellegrini according to Jeremy Cross of the Daily Star.

Whatever you say, sir.

Mangala was very good against Aston Villa, and there is no question that his athleticism and strength liberate Vincent Kompany to sneak forward in ways that Kompany dare not do when Demichelis is alongside him.

City need to find a way to make Mangala a safe, reliable starting centre-back in the Premier League. Given what City paid to acquire Mangala, there really is no other option.

Figure out What to Do About the Strikers' Playing Time

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Dzeko was not at his best against Aston Villa.

Pellegrini loves to play two strikers at a time. If Pellegrini still had four strikers like he did last season, this obsession would be survivable.

But Pellegrini does not have four strikers anymore. Putatively he has three, but as usual Stevan Jovetic is only capable of playing some of the time. As a result, Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko are being overworked.

Aguero started and finished three of City's last three matches; in the fourth, he came off in the 83rd minute. Dzeko started each of City's last six matches. He was replaced early in the second half in the last two based in part on ineffectiveness. You'd be ineffective too if you were being worked like a pack mule.

After the international break, Pellegrini will need to assess the fitness of each of his strikers and figure out how to get Aguero and Dzeko some rest. If that means one of them does not play against Spurs, so be it.

Figure out Where City's Champions Swagger Went

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Too many Citizens look too forlorn too much of the time.

City have won the Premier League twice in the past three seasons. They would be well within their rights to carry themselves with a hint of cockiness.

On one level this would surely be frowned upon by Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain, who have correctly tried to pack City's roster with players whose character does not undermine their contributions on the pitch.

But think about what it looked like when Chelsea came to the Etihad this season. Or how it felt when City played Bayern Munich last month—or even when City played Roma last week.

City looked timid in all of those matches. As Phil McNulty put it for BBC Sport: "For a team so packed with experienced players, assembled at great expense by an ownership of high ambition, City's struggle to fully come to terms with the Champions League remains a mystery."

While so many members of his club are traipsing around the planet on international duty, Pellegrini needs to find the elixir that will imbue his Sky Blues with the same confidence and assured arrogance that City's best opponents seem to have in abundance. Especially when they play City.

Figure out How to Take 6 Points from CSKA Moscow

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There will be some changes in the City XI when CSKA Moscow return to Manchester.

Check out that group of Citizens who took on CSKA Moscow in Champions League group-stage play at the Etihad last season, pictured above.

Costel Pantilimon was in goal. He is no longer City property. Neither is Alvaro Negredo, who had a hat trick in one of the most notable matches in City's storied and uneven history. City's 5-2 win over CSKA Moscow sent the Sky Blues through to the knockout stage for the first time, as in ever.

Matija Nastasic is still City property, but only insofar as they pay him because Pellegrini wants him gone and refuses to play him.

And Samir Nasri may or may not be back in time for the return engagement. Either way, whichever Citizens get the call to face the Russian club need to repeat last season's double over them.

City have one lonely point in Champions League Group E. But the schedule now provides an artificial boost to City's prospects as Bayern (six points) and Roma (four points) will be beating up on each other while City have the chance to rough up CSKA Moscow.

If City can take all six points available from their two matches from CSKA Moscow, the Sky Blues should be able to live with any outcomes the two Bayern/Roma matches yield.

Figure out What to Say When Chelsea Inevitably Clinch the Premier League Title

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Costa and Chelsea are unplayable right now.

Growing up playing golf, my understanding of the word "unplayable" related to a little white ball stuck in deep grass, deep sand or deep water.

Only from following the Premier League did my use of "unplayable" begin to include football players and clubs whose opponents are basically helpless to stop them.

So you will be the judge of whether my usage is correct when it says here that Diego Costa and Chelsea are unplayable right now.

Costa has nine goals in seven Premier League matches. He leads the league in scoring and it's not close. Chelsea are five points clear of City, six points ahead of Southampton and at least seven points ahead of every other club in the league through seven matches.

Chelsea have six wins and a draw. The draw came away to City. Chelsea have scored 21 goals and given up seven. These are video-game numbers Chelsea are putting up.

The league season is too long and too tough to project Chelsea as the next club to match Arsenal's Invincibles. On current form, though, it is really hard to imagine Chelsea losing to a Premier League club.

Already, City basically need to win out and get help to defend their Premier League crown.

Good luck with that.