Why Eliaquim Mangala Is Manchester City's Player with the Most to Prove in 2015

Eliaquim Mangala is the Manchester City player with the most to prove for two reasons.

Mangala's exorbitant transfer fee (fairly or not) weighed the centre-back down with crushing expectations. That money is the primary reason Mangala is under such pressure now.

After coming to City for a reported £32 million, Mangala got off to a very rough start at City. Mangala had a particularly bad outing at Upton Park against West Ham United, and critics did not hold back.

"What City manager Manuel saw in the player when he signed him in the summer is a mystery," wrote Sam Cunningham in the Daily Mail in October. And Cunningham noted that the West Ham troubles were not an isolated situation: "This is not the first nightmare afternoon (Mangala) has had, in only seven games."

To the Frenchman's credit, Mangala has improved significantly since that time. Mangala has made 10 straight starts in all competitions for City in captain Vincent Kompany's absence, including two Champions League Group E matches. City have won nine and drawn one of those 10 matches.

The media got after Mangala when he was scuffling; now, predictably, they love him.

"Mangala is slowly settling into Manchester City’s defence after a torrid start to his Premier League career following his £32 million transfer from Porto," wrote Ralph Ellis in the Daily Mail recently. "Against Sunderland he was the most effective defender, with his 10 clearances as many as the rest of City’s back four put together."

While Mangala's recent form has muted the chorus of voices suggesting that he might be a transfer bust, the truth is that the real work for Mangala has only just begun at City.

No team can win the Premier League in the first half of the season. But as Everton, Liverpool and several other contenders-turned-pretenders can attest, you can lose your chance to win the league in that time.

With City and Chelsea completely level in the league table, every performance from this point through the season's end will be scrutinized with even greater intensity. Mangala has yet to play the back half of a Premier League season. The pressure on him will be significant.

But nothing is likely to compare with the heat Mangala will feel in City's Champions League matches.

City are set to play Barcelona in a rematch of last season's round-of-16 tie which saw the Citizens get humbled. In large measure, City's inability to compete in that tie was attributable to Martin Demichelis' inability to keep up with Barcelona's speedy attackers.

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

No one at City said as much, but the decision to purchase Mangala over the summer was quite likely influenced by memories of Demichelis seeing red after his late challenge on Lionel Messi.

City did not spend £32 million on Mangala with the intention of stalling out in the first round of Champions League knockout play again. He will be a central focus for both City and Barcelona in this tie.

Should City find their way past Barcelona, each subsequent round will bring greater attention.

The second, less widely discussed reason that Mangala has the most to prove at City in 2015 is that, unlike many of his underperforming teammates, Mangala does not have a storied Sky Blue history to point to when detractors start talking.

Several Sky Blues, through ineffectiveness and through injury (sometimes both), have had forgettable seasons to date.

My Bleacher Report colleague Rob Pollard wrote recently about the ebbing tide that is Aleksandar Kolarov's current form. Edin Dzeko has four goals in all competitions this season, or put another way, three fewer goals than Frank Lampard in three more appearances.

But you are not going to hear loud cries against either of those players, because they were both contributors to the two Premier League titles City won in the past three seasons.

Mangala's equity with City supporters and with his manager, Manuel Pellegrini, is in the process of being built up.

In 2015, Mangala has a great chance to contribute to City's runs at the biggest trophies on offer. How Mangala performs in those chases will invariably define how the club and its fans see him going forward.

And that, dear friend, is pressure.