Revised Expectations for Manchester City After 1st Month of Season

We're only a month into the new Premier League season, but anyone who doubted Manchester City’s title-winning credentials will have already revised their opinion. City have four wins from four games and have scored 10 goals, conceding none. They have looked immaculate so far.

The differences between this season and last are varied. City look more balanced, a yard quicker, tactically more flexible and hungrier for success. This is perhaps the best shape they’ve been in since the club’s takeover in 2008, which saw heavy investment in the first-team squad.

Manuel Pellegrini deserves a lot of credit, given he was written off as a dead man walking after City’s defeat to Manchester United in April. That was their eighth defeat in 15 matches in all competitions—an unacceptable run for a squad with as much quality as theirs.

But six straight wins saw them finish the season comfortably in second place, and a well-executed summer transfer window has given them a improved look. Pellegrini asked for a “crack” player when interviewed by Sid Lowe in the Guardian back in March, and Txiki Begiristain, the club’s sporting director, has delivered.

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Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne, Nicolas Otamendi, Fabian Delph and youngsters Enes Unal and Patrick Roberts have arrived. Pace and youth, which is exactly what City needed, have been added in abundance. City now have quality depth in almost every department and look ready for a stronger assault on silverware than the one they mustered in 2014/15.

Sterling and De Bruyne, City’s two most expensive transfers ever, are the game-changers Pellegrini wanted to keep his forward line fresh.

Sterling, 20, has pace to burn. Even when he’s not at his best, his mere presence sees defenders pinned back, worried he will run in behind. His link-up play with David Silva has been excellent, and he looks settled already. There are few players his age in European football with the same level of talent, which is why City made him one of their principal targets this summer.

And anyone who saw De Bruyne’s display for Belgium earlier this week will know he can bring a new dimension to City’s attack once he is integrated into the side.

The 24-year-old scored a goal of remarkable quality—a 35-yard drive into the bottom corner—but it was arguably his corner kick that landed squarely on Marouane Fellaini’s head for the opener that will have excited his new fans the most. Set pieces have hardly been City’s forte in recent years.

The way in which City have outclassed their opponents in the opening four games has been remarkable. On paper, it was a difficult start, but City have cast aside West Bromwich Albion, Chelsea, Everton and newly promoted Watford with relative ease.

Many experts were predicting a fourth-place finish prior to the season's start, but those assertions are looking misguided already. This is a side well capable of challenging for domestic success, and given the strength in their squad, an improvement in the Champions League is surely in the cards.

The best City have mustered since entering Europe’s elite club competition back in 2011 is qualification for the last 16. With an easier group this season than in the past (although still the most difficult of any Premier League side), City may fancy their chances of finishing at the top and avoiding the likes of Barcelona in the first knockout round.

Juventus, Group D’s top-seeded side, won’t be the force they were last season, when they made it to the final. Meanwhile, Borussia Monchengladbach, the fourth-ranked team in the group, have made a poor start to the Bundesliga season. Sevilla, the current Europa League champions, could pose the biggest threat. City's relatively short travel times are likely to be a huge benefit.

One of the major differences this season has been City’s newfound tactical flexibility. Pellegrini has been accused of rigidity in the past, his often unbending attitude to formation seen as the club’s major Achilles’ heel, particularly in Europe.

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Now, he has more options. City can play on the front foot, moving the ball at speed and overwhelming the opposition, or they can slow things down and play possession football when necessary.

They can play 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 depending on the opposition. Opposing managers will find it far more difficult to second-guess City this season than they have in the past, and, like against Watford, Pellegrini has more options at his disposal if he needs to make changes during a game to unlock a defence.

Against Quique Sanchez Flores' side, the Chilean began with a 4-2-3-1 formation, but Watford’s diligence and defending in numbers made it difficult for City to break them down. A half-time switch to 4-4-2, with Sterling joining Sergio Aguero up front, paid immediate dividends. The England forward bagged his first goal for the club two minutes after the break.

More importantly, the hunger and desire of the club’s existing players are returning. The likes of Yaya Toure, Fernandinho and Vincent Kompany look a yard quicker. Added to the new arrivals, it’s given them an edge again.

Pellegrini’s side are pressing harder and higher than they did last season. The desperation to win back the ball in advanced areas of the pitch is overwhelming the opposition. From the first minute, Chelsea, last season’s runaway champions, simply couldn’t handle it. They’re unlikely to be the only ones.

Why they have returned from their summer break looking so motivated isn’t clear. Were there some frank exchanges at the end of last season led by the manager? Has the failure of last season hurt the players and led to a reaction? Whatever the reason, City look sharper and more determined to prove their doubters wrong than ever before.

Those who felt City would struggle to challenge for the title this season failed to appreciate the way the club has been run in recent seasons. There have, of course, been a number of questionable recent transfers, but City are a largely methodical operation.

They have a large team of scouts and analysts running the rule over potential targets, a patient chairman who values stability over short-term gain and a director of football and first-team manager working in tandem and without ego.

There will always be blips at football clubs—and last season was certainly viewed as one at the Etihad—but City deserve credit for their strategic planning and long-term view.

They have assembled the best first-team squad they’ve ever had and are hoping their £150 million academy, opened in December, will begin the process of producing homegrown talent in the near future. All seems well.

The way they have started this season—achieved while their star man Aguero finds his way back into form after a truncated pre-season—suggests they are well-equipped for winning silverware. They want their title back, and they want to impact the latter stages of the Champions League.

It would take a brave man to bet against them achieving both objectives.

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2015/16 season. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter: @RobPollard.