A Progress Report on Manchester City Heading into October International Break

As Manchester City head into the international break, they find themselves top of the Premier League table after eight matches, two points clear of both Arsenal and Manchester United.

Manuel Pellegrini’s side are also into the League Cup fourth round and have three points from their first two Champions League games. Overall, it’s been a solid start, with some exceptional moments that suggest City’s squad is capable of success.

Their first five league performances were imperious—a mixture of newfound solidity in defence and a quicker, more incisive attack. Their high-intensity pressing game was overwhelming their opponents who couldn’t live with their one- and two-touch football.

Width, power, pace and an insatiable appetite for goals—many people had declared them runaway champions already.

Jon Super/Associated Press

Five wins from five were sealed without conceding a goal. Chelsea, last season’s champions, were struggling badly and found themselves 11 points adrift of the leaders already. It could hardly have been a better start for Pellegrini’s men.

They had battered West Brom, Chelsea, Everton and Watford, before a hard-fought 1-0 win over Crystal Palace, a side who went into the match in second place. City had shown character to beat Alan Pardew’s team and sheer brilliance to beat the rest. This was the mark of a side capable of reclaiming the title. 

Players who had underwhelmed the season before were back to their best and the club’s new signings were bringing a new dynamic.

Vincent Kompany and Fernandinho, in particular, had rediscovered their high standards, and Raheem Sterling had added pace and balance.

It was a new-look City side that had only used Kevin De Bruyne, a club-record £55 million signing, as a substitute against Palace—a performance that suggested he had plenty to offer after his move from Wolfsburg late in the window had delayed his entrance into the team. 

As ever, though, in the Premier League there are very few certainties. With the new television deal meaning top-flight sides in England are now cash-rich when compared to their European counterparts, top-quality players are signing for sides traditionally outside the top four. There’s a trickle-down effect happening.

Dimitri Payet, who signed for West Ham United from Marseille, is perhaps the most obvious example, but Georginio Wijnaldum at Newcastle United, Xherdan Shaqiri at Stoke City and Andre Ayew at Swansea City are also symbols of the new wealth enriching English football.

And it means there’s even more uncertainty than ever. The gap between the top six sides and the rest appears to be reducing.

City and the other perennial trophy-chasers need to accept they will lose matches against sides they perhaps wouldn’t have in recent times. The idea City were set to sweep aside all before them en route to an unchallenged title victory had been refuted by Pellegrini, and rightly so.

West Ham were the first team to take points off City in the league, defeating them 2-1 at the Etihad in a game where they displayed their ability to play on the counter before riding their luck. Winston Reid gave a wonderful display of will and determination, making a series of goal-saving blocks, while Adrian in the West Ham goal weighed in with some unconventional, but effective, saves.

It came on the back of a defeat at home to Juventus in the Champions League—a classic counter-attacking display from last season’s runners-up, who came from behind to snatch victory.

Jon Super/Associated Press

In many ways, though, it was an encouraging performance. Whereas in the past City have looked nervous and inhibited in Europe, against the Old Lady they looked at ease and, for large parts of the match, in control.

They were outdone tactically, which is a concern, but their general performance was a huge improvement on, say, the Roma and CSKA Moscow home matches from last season.

Two defeats on the bounce had unsettled City, though. Their flawless beginning had been undermined. A comprehensive win over struggling Sunderland in the League Cup suggested they would recover quickly, but they lost badly in their next league match at Tottenham Hotspur.

Spurs’ 4-1 win, which came after City had led 1-0 and controlled the first 40 minutes, was the heaviest defeat of the Sheikh Mansour era.

City’s spectacular second-half collapse took many by surprise. They looked weak and porous at the back, and without Kompany and Joe Hart who were injured, and with Sergio Aguero looking distinctly out of form, they had no answer when Spurs applied pressure.

Their defensive woes continued in their next match, an away trip to Borussia Monchengladbach in the Champions League, a side who had an almost exact reversal of City’s season. They lost their first six matches, but had won two on the bounce going into the game after appointing Andre Schubert as their new boss.

Every time the Bundesliga side went forward, City looked like conceding, and only a quite brilliant display from Hart kept City in the match. An 89th-minute penalty from Aguero saw City get their European campaign off the mark, but the state of the defence was surely a concern.

Nicolas Otamendi and Martin Demichelis, who were partnered together in the absence of Kompany and Eliaquim Mangala, were pulled all over the place and rarely looked comfortable together. 

And it was a theme continued in City’s most recent match against Newcastle. Ultimately, Aguero’s five-goal display and the brilliance of David Silva sealed a 6-1 win, but the first half saw them looking woeful at the back once again.

Overall, it’s been a good start for City, but one that has been far from perfect. They’ve produced some spectacular moments, but they have also looked shaky at times.

However, top of the league by two points having taken 18 points from eight games—10 points ahead of Chelsea—is a scenario they would have taken if offered it in the summer.

The positives are clear. City have the best attacking options in the league. A front four of Silva, De Bruyne, Sterling and Aguero, with the likes of Jesus Navas and Samir Nasri in reserve, is a remarkable ensemble of talent that offers enough firepower to ensure City can challenge for silverware.

The Yaya Toure-Fernandinho axis in central midfield is back to its best. The Brazil international has been one of City’s best and most consistent players this term, with the drive and energy he brought to the club in his debut season returning, and the Ivorian looks much more disciplined defensively. 

Jon Super/Associated Press

It's perhaps in defence where the most improvement is needed. Hart is in fine form as his renaissance continues apace, and Mangala looks far more settled than he did last season. He still has moments where he looks positionally unaware, but we're seeing a far more comfortable performer now. 

Kompany, too, had looked far better than he had throughout his disastrous 2014/15 season, but, once again, calf problems are affecting him.

With Gael Clichy and Pablo Zabaleta both having suffered injuries, perhaps City haven't had enough credit for coping with such a strain on their resources. Otamendi needs to improve, but he's shown flashes of real quality that suggest he could adapt well to the rigours of English football. 

City look to be far better placed to win the league this season than they were last. Their new signings have added some pace to the side, and in De Bruyne, they have landed themselves a game-changing midfielder who looks capable of greatness. 

Heading into the latest international break, City's start has provided them with a platform for success this season, but improving their defensive play is a must. 

Grade: B+

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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_.