Manchester City's Biggest Regret of the 2014/15 Premier League Season

There were many reasons for Manchester City’s decline this season, and they now face an important summer transfer window as they try to claw back lost ground on Chelsea. The Stamford Bridge side were allowed to assume the mantle of Premier League title winners too easily, and City’s focus over the coming weeks will be to secure some big-name acquisitions who can help reshape and rebalance their squad.

Manuel Pellegrini, who looks increasingly secure in his position with each passing day, and Txiki Begiristain, the club’s sporting director, will have been planning and preparing for their summer recruitment drive for some time. With the financial restrictions which proved so damaging last year now lifted, it seems likely significant changes are afoot at the Etihad.

They certainly need to construct a better transfer window than they managed 12 months ago, or at least one that offers more of an immediate impact. The jury remains out on Fernando and Eliaquim Mangala, both of whom are expected to improve now they have a season of Premier League experience under their belts, but this time City need ready-made stars who will improve them straight away.

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It’s their dreadful record against the lesser sides, though, which represents their biggest regret of the campaign.

They dropped nine points to the three relegated sides, including five to Burnley, a team who had spent less than £10 million in an attempt to remain in the division after being promoted from the Championship. Burnley earned widespread praise for their approach under Sean Dyche, with their attitude and spirit first class for the majority of the season, but they lacked quality in every department and City really should have registered two wins with ease.

And it wasn’t just the bottom three who posed City problems. They lost at home to Stoke City, as well as away to West Ham United and Crystal Palace. Football, of course, is anything but predictable, particularly in a league as strong as England’s top flight, but the evidence to suggest City lacked focus in games against teams they should be beating is compelling.

They finished eight points behind Chelsea in the end and never really pushed them after the turn of the year. A decent run over Christmas had seen City pull level with Jose Mourinho’s side, but a dramatic collapse thereafter undermined their midseason recovery.

Quite why they failed so spectacularly against weaker opposition remains something of a mystery, but City fans can take some solace in the fact that Pellegrini has, in recent weeks, explicitly cited it as a problem that needs fixing.

Speaking before his side’s trip to Swansea in the penultimate match of the season, Pellegrini accepted his side’s dip in form and made clear his frustration at losing so many points to sides at the foot of the table.

"If you review our season, we lost a lot of points against not small teams, but the three teams in the relegation places, we lost nine points.

"It is not a disaster," he explained. "We did not do all bad. We were very unlucky in the Champions League to have two draws against Barcelona. We did very bad in both cups this year, very bad. In Premier League, it was not a good Premier League but if you cannot win the title it is good to be second.”

Pellegrini may see Chelsea as the antithesis of the more open, attacking style of football he prefers, but he may need to replicate some of their endurance and painstaking planning against the division's lesser lights if he wants to wrestle the Premier League trophy back into City's grasp.

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.