Manchester City: Are They a Potential Threat or Just Noisy Neighbors After All?

Manchester City has recently crashed out of the Europa League at the hands of Ukrainian side Dynamo Kiev.  Not the type of result that many were expecting, especially considering the amount of money spent in such a short time. 

So far, City have only gained six points from a total of 21 points off of last years top four (Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United), a statistic that proves Manchester City does not have what it takes to compete for the League title.

This past Sunday, two of the Premier Leagues biggest spenders clashed.  City, desperate for a win to ensure a Champions League spot, and Chelsea fighting to challenge Manchester United until the end.

Between Manchester City and Chelsea, £501m worth of players walked through the tunnel.  Skeikh Mansour and Roman Abramovich both should revisit their transfer policy, as both sides looked dismal, and have been less than impressive throughout this season.

Aside from Chelsea's defense, they were, as a whole, deplorable.  Fernando Torres made very few decent runs and looked very indecisive when he was presented with scoring chances.  The smooth, confident, and deadly finisher that Torres was at Liverpool appears to only be a shadow of his former self.  Torres spent more time getting bossed around by Joleon Lescott and Vincent Kompany than he did threatening City's goal.

As poor as Chelsea was overall, Manchester City was even worse.  Although £50 million flop Torres has so far failed to repay the club, as a whole, the Chelsea squad still has enough quality to cope without Torres.  The same cannot be said about Manchester City.

Roberto Mancini's side looked lackluster, unmotivated, and tired.  Negatively conservative in their approach, City appeared to be playing for what they do against other big teams.  A tie.  City's lack of ambition on the playing field, contrasts greatly with their huge ambition in the transfer market.

Manchester City has been so dismal, it would be absurd for any intellectual individual to bet that City places ahead of Tottenham in a top four spot.  If by some strange, unpredictable occurrence that is the EPL, and City is gifted with a final four spot, chances are Roberto Mancini will not be the one leading City through the group stages next year.  For the amount of money spent, performances like this must have Sheikh Mansour thinking he invested in the wrong color of Manchester.

Mario Balotelli appears to have confirmed what Jose Mourinho first said of him, and that he is simply unmanageable.  It is always upsetting when players with such potential can't control their ego or their actions.  The 11 minutes Balotelli played against Chelsea without a yellow, or more surprisingly, a red card, seem to be too little too late in appeasing to Roberto Mancini and Manchester City.

As horrid as Balotelli has been temperamentally, he has shown glimpses of brilliance which can justify why Mancini was willing to take such a gamble on the hot-headed Italian. The same cannot be said for Bosnian Edin Dzeko.  £27m Dzeko was supposed to be the final piece of the puzzle, the addition that would give City the needed momentum to push for the title.

Edin Dzeko had a big reputation after successor campaigns with Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga, but has failed to justify the hype that linked many top European clubs with the 6'4" striker.  Dzeko was so terrible against Chelsea that an unfit Carlos Tevez, or even Jo, could have made a greater impact.

Yaya Toure looked as uninspiring as a former holding midfielder, expected to play as an attacking mid, or as a traditional number 10 would look.  At £220,000 a week, Toure in no way came close to justifying his hefty wages.

Gareth Barry was slow and seemed confused as if he had never played in the EPL before.  David Silva gave the ball away more often than not, but in all fairness, with unimaginative and uncreative players like Gareth Barry, Yaya Toure and a target man in Edin Dzeko, who couldn't tell his left from his right, what else is there really to do?

Oh, and let's not forget Nigel de Jong.  While he is a great player at breaking up the flow of the game, and taking any sort of creative, free flowing, and beautiful sequential passes out of the match, the resistance to not kung-fu kick any one in the chest appears to be ever present.

This begs the question, what is Manchester City's ultimate goal?  They do not play like champions, they do not have the ambition of champions, and against big teams they only appear to play for the tie.  A defensive minded coach was never going to have success in an attacking and fast paced league. And the signings Mancini has brought in, and formation he has adopted, confirm so. 

A bogged down defensive midfield is not going to supply a talented David Silva, who can support Carlos Tevez or Edin Dzeko.  Instead of buying players all the other teams want, maybe it's time for City to focus on what's best for them.

The match against Chelsea all but assures that Sir Alex Ferguson was right.  Manchester City are nothing more than noisy neighbors