Manchester City Must Certainly Challenge for the EPL Title or Else...

With all the money spent in transfers by new Manchester City ownership, Roberto Mancini will certainly be under pressure to bring the Citizens to the top. After winning the FA Cup last season, Mancini lifted some of the pressure off of his shoulders. This season promises to be another stressful and dramatic season for the Italian.

Sergio Aguero is the sensational signing for Mancini's squad in this summers transfer window. Abu Dhabi United Group spent £38 million to guarantee the services of the former Atletico Madrid striker. Mancini was certainly hoping that by bringing in Aguero, he would help by relaxing a stressed out Carlos Tevez who appears to be ready to leave Eastland’s. 

Tevez appears ready to leave England, but has yet to be transferred. With the Argentine leaving Eastland’s, Mancini will need to find another attacking midfielder that will work as hard as Tevez. Unfortunately, in today’s game there are very few hard working players like Carlos Tevez, so it appears that Mancini has turned his attentions to Arsenal's creative midfielder, Samir Nasri. The French international certainly will not be able to offer the full field coverage that Tevez does, but going forward he may be more creative. 

There is no doubt that when Mancini looks at his squad on paper, he should believe he has one of the best rosters in the English Premier League this season. Manchester City owners have not only provided Mancini with money, but they have done very well with the acquisitions they have made. Although the Citizens do have a few players who haven't been able to make there mark for City, that happens at every club. Unfortunately, no transfer is guaranteed success.

City's back line offers some security and stability for the Italian. Having a back line consisting of players like Micah Richards, Vincent Kompany,  and Joleon Lescott as well as new signing Gael Clichy, is very good for a team looking to compete for titles this season. With the depth coming off his bench, Mancini has an abundance of options for this seasons campaign.

In the middle of the park Mancini has lost Patrick Vieira, but still has Nigel de Jong and Yaya Toure available to protect his back line. With Adam Johnson ready to have a consistent season, the English winger will offer some pace and creativity for City. Mancini will look to David Silva to be more consistent and hopefully find the back of the net more often this season. 

Looking at the Manchester City roster, at times I begin to wonder how it is possible for such a strong squad to not perform better. Could it be due to the mentality in the locker room? Or maybe the lack of leadership? With the team lacking chemistry, one certain issue for Mancini is... If you guessed Mario Balotelli, you were right.

The young Italian still hasn’t figured out how to act like a grown-up and seems content to be an immature child, at least for the time being. With Mancini's options in the front line of Aguero and Edin Dzeko, Balotelli would be an incredible boost to the City squad, that is of course if he actually made an effort. His constant run-in's with his coach, his teammates, as well as his fans make him a serious liability at times. 

Regardless of who is causing problems within the squad, City owners will trust Mancini to make the proper decisions to take the Citizens to the next level. Is Mancini the right coach to put Manchester City on that next level with the Manchester Uniteds and Barcelonas of the world? 

He will not be able to complain about a lack of players if he is unable to secure a big title this season. An FA Cup or even a Carling cup clearly wont be enough to keep the City owners happy. If City is unable to stay consistent and compete for at least the English Premier League title, how long before City's owners pull the plug on Mancini?