Manchester City Must Remain Calm and Keep Faith with Eliaquim Mangala

After an uncomfortable display at Upton Park on Saturday, Eliaquim Mangala, Manchester City’s £32 million summer signing from Porto, has once again come under fire, with some already suggesting he represents a huge waste of money.

Sam Cunningham, writing for the Mail Online, has labelled him a Sunday league player and a “constant liability” in a scathing attack which questions the wisdom of paying such a hefty fee for the Frenchman.

And Cunningham isn’t the only one unimpressed. According to Stuart Brennan at the Manchester Evening News, Sam Allardyce told reporters after the match that the left-hand side of City’s defence is far less secure than the right, with Gael Clichy and Mangala yet to develop an understanding like the one Pablo Zabaleta and Vincent Kompany have on the right.

It comes on the back of a display at Hull last month that set alarm bells ringing. Mangala scored an own goal and gave away a penalty in the space of 10 minutes as City’s 2-0 lead dissipated, with many leaving the KC Stadium that day feeling he had fallen some way short of expectations.

The reaction since then has been both vicious and knee-jerk.

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At 23, and with just six appearances for City so far, Mangala is a player with fairly limited experience, yet he’s demonstrated already, despite his errors, that he has the kind of natural attributes needed to be a top-class centre-half.

He’s unfathomably quick and has a gravity-defying leap, with a strength and physicality that should see him, in time, dominate centre-forwards and offer City the kind of solid defensive platform they crave.

Yes, there have been lapses in concentration, and his distribution has, at times, let him down, but Allardyce was right in suggesting that he has been left horribly exposed by Clichy and by City’s formation at large.

His first game was against Chelsea—as difficult a debut as you’re likely to get, yet one Mangala passed with flying colours. He was outstanding from start to finish, giving the in-form Diego Costa nothing to feed off and leaving City fans suggesting it may well have been the best debut they had ever seen.

He followed that up with another impressive display, this time in the League Cup against Sheffield Wednesday. However, against Hull, his third game in seven days, it was a different picture. The understanding between himself and Clichy was non-existent during the first-half, and the left-back’s inability to get close to Liam Rosenior led to a cross into the box which Mangala diverted into his own net.

Moments later, he gave away a penalty after a poor challenge on Abel Hernandez, and after being comfortable from the off, City were suddenly involved in a real scrap.

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They rallied in the second half and spared Mangala’s blushes, and he was selected to play against Aston Villa the following week. Despite some understandable nervousness initially, he played well as City kept a clean sheet and took another three vital points.

All in all, his difficult 10 minutes at Hull aside, it had been a decent start to life at City.

However, the last week has seen him struggle in both the Champions League and Premier League, with a shaky second-half display against CSKA Moscow and a less-than-impressive first half against West Ham handing his critics a stick to beat him with.

Both times, though, City’s inability to defend solidly as a team has left him exposed, with Clichy, in particular, culpable of ceding too much space down West Ham’s right side.

It would be foolish to say Mangala has had a great start—clearly, there have been some issues, most notably a lack of concentration when under the cosh and some poor passing from the back, yet the reaction, as is so often the case on football, has been over the top.

He’s a young player, brought to a new league on account of his obvious natural attributes. There's a dearth of young centre-backs across Europe, particularly with the kind of pace and strength Mangala possesses, and he needs time to adapt and fully realise his potential.

Six matches is nowhere near enough time to write a player off. City made a long-term investment when they brought Mangala in from Porto. There’s certainly no need to panic yet.

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2014-15 season. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter: @RobPollard.