Have Manchester City Thrown the Premier League Towel In?

On Wednesday, as Liverpool’s overwhelming superiority over Manchester City was compounded by James Milner’s thumping finish to make it 2-0, the look on Manuel Pellegrini’s face revealed his true feelings: ambivalence, indifference and perhaps a hint of nonchalance.

In other words, he didn’t really seem to care—and the players, to an extent, reciprocated that approach.

Four days previously, the Chilean had produced a very effective game plan that had nullified Liverpool’s expansive attacking threats and unlocked his own. That was at Wembley in the Capital One Cup final—a game City triumphed in (albeit on penalties)—and the difference between the two approaches suggests Pellegrini and his team have their priority orders set out pretty straight.

On Sunday, Pellegrini set up a flat-pack 4-4-1-1 that squeezed the space between the lines superbly. Fernandinho played a defensive right-wing role that protected Yaya Toure, and the two banks of four suffocated any pockets that opened up.

Liverpool began brightly but soon lost momentum as they found there was nowhere to run; even Alberto Moreno, who usually has space to push into, saw his playing area demolished by Fernandinho.

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This deep-set formation left room for David Silva (loosely a No. 10) and Sergio Aguero (striker) to improvise up front, with the latter frequently darting into the space left by the marauding Moreno. He hit the channel fairly regularly, fashioning several goalscoring opportunities, and Fernandinho's opener came from this area of the pitch.

The defensive block worked very well, with Liverpool’s late equaliser only a product of a rogue bounce in the box that led to a bit of a scrappy goal. Divock Origi caused problems off the bench later on—the move to two strikers was a good one from Jurgen Klopp—but the overall, game-specific, tailored approach bore fruit.

Facing the same opponent twice in a row can always throw up oddities, but to go from such a tightly contested, tense matchup to this—a whitewash 3-0 victory in which the Citizens were genuinely slaughtered—will only perpetuate the theory that City have given up on the league.

On February 1, Manchester City announced that Pep Guardiola would become their manager commencing the 2016-17 season. It brightened up a thoroughly dull deadline day for many fans. For Pellegrini, though, it was—in its purest form—the official indicator that his time at his club was coming to an end.

Who could blame him for doing what he can do to prepare his C.V. for his next job application? He’s hardly a world-class coach, but he is very good, and the two things he may feel he needs to pad out his stock are a cup victory (achieved) and a European splash (in progress).

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The Premier League, then, becomes something of an afterthought by default, and City’s performance against Liverpool on Wednesday suggests that’s the case. Players often mirror their manager's attitude.

It took the Citizens a good 25 minutes to begin passing the ball properly at Anfield, but no chances on goal were really fashioned. Simon Mignolet recorded just one solitary save, per WhoScored.com, which was a Jesus Navas long-ranger, and James Milner blocked Aguero’s header late on to foil their only other real chance.

After the game, Pellegrini blamed a “lack of freshness,” per the Manchester Evening News' Rob Pollard, suggesting the rigours of a Kiev-Wembley-Anfield fixture list caught up with his side. There will be some truth to that—particularly given the cup final went to penalties—but the Reds, too, played three games in six days, so perhaps they’re about even.

No, it was the alarming tactical apathy that led to the crushing defeat, with Liverpool finding and exploiting the sweet spot in City’s formation: the space between the defensive and midfield lines—the space City worked so hard to shut off in the final.

Adam Lallana looked like Pablo Aimar in his prime on Wednesday, swivelling into space, creating chances with backheels, dribbling round players as if they weren’t there and firing home from fully 30 yards. It was a scintillating performance, but it happened because City strolled around without purpose, watching him make use of the gaping holes they’d left.

Credit: Sky Sport

Liverpool’s pressing, particularly in the first half, was absolutely ferocious, and it quickly became clear only one player—Fernandinho—was capable of breaking through it on the run and dragging City out of their own third. He was substituted in the 55th minute (likely due to fatigue), trapping the team even further.

Pellegrini’s only answer to the hosts’ mounting goal tally was to substitute on more strikers. Wilfried Bony entered the fray at half-time for Raheem Sterling, convoluting the formation somewhat (Silva was nominally a left-winger but spent little time there, creating a lopsided approach), then Kelechi Iheanacho replaced Fernandinho 10 minutes later.

At this point, it wasn’t really a formation, and while perhaps on paper you need strikers if you’re two or three goals down, what City really needed to establish was some semblance of control in midfield.

If Pellegrini had matched up numerically deeper on the pitch, then perhaps Liverpool’s press could have been bypassed. He lamented the lack of Yaya Toure post-match, but instead of putting four defenders on the bench, why not try a youth/reserve midfielder?

City’s lack of midfield mindfulness or presence put the defensive line under serious pressure. With swathes of space ahead of them, Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Otamendi began stepping out and attempting high-risk challenges. By breaking the line they left gaps, and if they missed their challenge, Liverpool had a clear route to goal.

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This tactical flaw was illustrated perfectly by Milner’s goal. Lallana and Firmino combined brilliantly in the gaping space left by Fernando and Fernandinho before the Reds' Brazilian fed a ball into Milner. Kompany stepped out to intercept due to a lack of protection, missed, and seconds later the ball was nestling in the back of the net.

The difference in approach could not have been starker. On Sunday, City worked devilishly to close the space in front of Kompany; three days later, they left it so bare an amateur would have had time to turn and shoot.

With three league losses in a row, City are drifting. The games have come against tough opposition, but the measure of their performances tells the whole story. In Kiev, with European progression on the line, they were excellent; in the League Cup final, they came with a plan and lifted the trophy; in the league, where the title looks beyond them, they’ve looked borderline aimless at times.

It feels as though City have thrown the towel in. Both Pellegrini and the players worked hard for the cup win and want to make an impact on the continent, but the league? They can take it or leave it. The seismic shift in performance levels, tactical application and motivation between Sunday and Wednesday attest to that.

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