5 Players Key to Manchester City's Premier League, Champions League Improvement

The way Manchester City's season has turned around has been quite remarkable.

In early November, they left the field at Loftus Road having taken a point from a game they could easily have lost against a Queens Park Rangers side in the bottom three. Their play was slow and disjointed, and that result saw them go into the international break with one win in six matches.

With Chelsea winning consistently, City's season looked on the verge of collapse.

But eight straight wins since then have altered the pictured dramatically. A victory over West Brom on Boxing Day would see City equal the club record of nine straight wins in all competitions, with Chelsea's lead—which stood at eight points just a few weeks ago—reduced to just goal difference (although they do have a game in hand) and a Champions League last-16 tie with Barcelona to look forward to.

But what's changed? Here are five key players in helping City turn their form around.

1. Yaya Toure

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The loss of a close relative can adversely affect any of us, yet the death of Yaya Toure’s brother towards the end of last season has rarely been mentioned as a mitigating circumstance for his poor start to the season.

After scoring 20 league goals and proving to be the key player in many of City’s vital wins that saw them reclaim the title, his first few months of this season were rotten. Clearly struggling after his personal difficulties, Toure couldn’t find any rhythm in his game, his influence nowhere near what it was just a few months previously.

His passing was slow, and his trademark lung-busting runs disappeared—and City looked worse off for it.

However, City’s run of good form has coincided with the Ivorian rediscovering his magic. He’s scored four in his last six games and has the look of a player who knows he can singlehandedly win matches again. He is moving the ball much more quickly, and the confidence to pick up the ball and beat players has returned.

City needed an in-form Toure to influence their play, and that’s exactly what they have again now.

2. Samir Nasri

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When Sergio Aguero left the field injured early in City’s narrow win over Everton, he was replaced by Jose Angel Pozo, an 18-year-old Spanish forward with little experience of top-level football.

It was a difficult situation for City. Pozo looked full of nice touches and excellent technique, but he lacked the physicality needed to really test the Everton defence. He needed senior players around him to step up and take charge, and one man, in particular, did that in spectacular fashion.

Samir Nasri seemed to make it his personal mission that day to support the youngster and make his afternoon as positive as possible. He was everywhere. Making tackles, beating players, providing others with chances and generally taking the game by the scruff of the neck in an attempt to get City over the line.

And since then he’s been wonderful, his form now right back to the level he managed last season. It’s been a welcome sight for Mauricio Pellegrini and the City fans.

3. Fernandinho

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As World Cup hangovers go, Fernandinho appeared to have suffered one of the worst. Part of the embarrassing 7-1 thrashing Brazil, the hosts, suffered at the hands of Germany in the semi final, the City midfielder struggled to regain his form after the severe humiliation.

But he, perhaps more than anyone, has been key to City’s recent revival. His performance in Rome, where he provided City with just about everything a midfielder possibly can, was his finest recent hour, but his growing list of Man of the Match displays are testament to his improved form.

When at his best, he is one of the best box-to-box midfielders in European football, providing energy, defensive solidity and the ability to launch attacks. He’s the complete player, and City need him to maintain his current standard.

4. Eliaquim Mangala

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If the criticism of Martin Demichelis this time last season felt unfair, the negativity surrounding Eliaquim Mangala’s introduction to life as a City player has bordered on a witch hunt.

Some costly lapses in concentration have rubber-stamped the opinion that he is a liability, a player City have wasted £32 million on.

His recent performances, though, suggest those harsh assessments may well have been premature.

Mangala is quick and strong, with a tremendous leap and ability to dominate strikers, and although there are concentration and maturity issues, it’s clear he has the attributes to be an excellent defender. He has been superb in recent weeks, meaning Vincent Kompany’s absence has barely been felt, unlike in previous seasons.

5. Gael Clichy

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Probably the sharpest turnaround in form can be seen with Gael Clichy, who has gone from a serious problem to one of the best players in the side in recent weeks.

There can be little doubt his confidence was low at the start of the campaign after a series of poor performances saw his position in the side under serious threat. It made Mangala’s passage into the first team more difficult than it should have been and left City exposed down the left too often.

How he’s changed that is unclear, but Clichy has been phenomenal since the international break, even managing a rare goal in the win over Southampton.