Yaya Toure and Gael Clichy Embody Manchester City's Reversal of Fortune

Whether Manchester City’s revival has been given enough credit is up for debate, but the facts are clear. Since the November international break they have won 10 and drawn one of their 11 matches, a sequence of results that has wiped out Chelsea’s sizeable lead at the top of the Premier League table and seen City take their place in the last 16 of the Champions League for the second consecutive season.

It’s been a quite remarkable turnaround. Trudging off the Loftus Road pitch back in November after a dreadful display in the 2-2 draw with Queens Park Rangers, City had managed just two wins in seven. They sat third in the table, behind Southampton, and eight points off leaders Chelsea, with progression in the Champions League looking unlikely. Their season was faltering badly.

Performances were disjointed and lacking confidence, and Sergio Aguero, alone in playing with any kind of verve, was keeping them in games with his ability to produce moments of magic out of seemingly very little.

City, many suggested, were a one-man team—over-reliant on the talents of their mercurial frontman and afflicted by a crisis in confidence.

Jon Super/Associated Press

That perception has been wiped out after a resurgent run. City are now moving the ball much more quickly, playing with a freedom absent during their early season struggles and winning games with alarming regularity.

When one considers their current form has been achieved bereft of a raft of first-team stars, it becomes even more worthy of praise. Vincent Kompany has missed six of City's last seven league games, while Aguero has missed the last five.

Collectively, there’s been a significant improvement. Individually, players who were struggling badly earlier in the season have found their best form again—none more so than Yaya Toure and Gael Clichy.

After the death of his young brother toward the end of last season and the summer of discontent which followed, it’s understandable that Toure was struggling to recreate the performances he managed when City swept to two trophies in the last campaign and played a free-flowing and at times mesmerising brand of football.

It was still concerning, though.

His form was so poor that many were seriously questioning his ability to ever reach his best again. He’s 31. Wisdom suggests players relying on strength, pace and energy in the way that he does are on the decline after reaching 30. Should City have sold him during the summer when he was making noises about a move, with his value probably at its peak?

Scott Heppell/Associated Press

Well, he’s answered his critics emphatically in recent weeks with a series of dominant displays. No one in the Premier League, and possibly world football, can control a midfield battle quite like Toure. He’s scored seven in his last 10 matches—some of them Goal of the Season contenders—and looks back to his very best, passing opponents to death and charging forward at will with the kind of drive and purpose that frightens defenders into submission.

The big fear for Manuel Pellegrini now is his absence for the AFCON. He is set to leave for the tournament in Equatorial Guinea on January 5, meaning the FA Cup tie with Sheffield Wednesday will be his last appearance for up to a month.

Quite how City will adapt remains to be seen, but, clearly, they are losing a player in top form.

Clichy’s renaissance has arguably been even more pronounced. Very few in City’s squad were playing well before the last international break, but none were playing quite as poorly as the Frenchman, whose confidence and level of performance were on the floor.

Scott Heavey/Getty Images

He’s now the most in-form left-back in the Premier League—bombing forward and creating goals one minute, a calming defensive influence the next. Rarely has there been such a dramatic turnaround for a player. His two assists against Sunderland on New Year's Day, including a wonderful curling delivery for Frank Lampard's winner, capped a fantastic six weeks for him.

Aleksandar Kolarov, who had supremacy over Clichy last season, has been reduced to a bit-part role in recent weeks. When Clichy was struggling, Kolarov was a safer pair of hands. However, history tells us that when both are at their best, Clichy is a far superior player—an opinion being rubber-stamped with each passing game at the moment.

City—Toure and Clichy, in particular—deserve huge credit for the character they’ve shown in turning their season around. Chelsea, who only a few weeks ago were being talked about as potential runaway winners and invincibles, are now looking over their shoulder with genuine unease.

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 are obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter: @RobPollard.