5 Things Manchester City Must Do Before They Can Be Considered World Class

Right now, Manchester City are a very good footballing side. They have an excellent team, great facilities and a decent manager.

But they're not quite world class.

Qualifying for the Champions League was one foot in the door to stardom, but their maiden campaign hasn't quite got off to the flyer they were expecting.

Having ripped several Premier League sides to shreds in the opening weeks of the domestic season, Manchester City have failed to dazzle their fans on European nights so far, having mustered just one point from two games.

It is more or less established, as Bayern Munich right-back Rafinha has stated, that Manchester City are now fighting for second place in the group, and that the German giants were simply too good on the night and are better than them at this moment in time.

So what can Manchester City do to close the gap? Knowing the ambitious owners and management team situated in the blue half of Manchester, a plan is probably in development.

Here is my offering of a five-point plan on how City can make the next step and become world beaters. Enjoy the slideshow!

Drop Edin Dzeko

We shall start with the controversial point, then—drop Edin Dzeko.

To be fair to him, he's been quite decent so far this season, but he is not the type of striker who starts for one of the best teams in the world.

Manchester City have become devastating when using their intricate passages of free-flowing attacking football to simply stun their opponents.

David Silva, Samir Nasri and Sergio Aguero are already forming a mouth-watering partnership—but there is no place for Dzeko in there.

There are some successful big strikers, of course. Emmanuel Adebayor is a success wherever he goes, be it Real Madrid or Tottenham Hotspur.

But Dzeko is all lump, no pace. He's the kind of player you bring on for 15 minutes if you're a goal down in the closing stages of the game—not one you pay £27 million for.

It was a mistake to start him against Bayern Munich.

Find New World-Class Defenders

New Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany is a fantastic defender. He is, by quite some distance, Manchester City's best central defender.

Joleon Lescott and Kolo Toure—who City have recently welcomed back from a six-month ban—are not world-class players.

This might seem harsh, but remember the context City are in. They want to be the world's best team, and to do that they need new defenders.

Gael Clichy is better than Aleksander Kolarov, but he's not world class. He's explosive, he's very quick, but his defending leaves a lot to be desired.

If City want to become the best in the world, they need to look at their defence in the summer yet again—although there aren't that many options in the market, to be fair, and Clichy was a cheap buy for £7m.

Land Daniele De Rossi in January

It's been touted for a while now, and it's almost bound to happen. After all, whoever City want, City get.

Aston Villa fans will know this all too well, at least.

With Daniele De Rossi still stalling on contract negotiations and admitting he could receive a pay rise elsewhere, it seems almost inevitable that another Italian will be arriving in Manchester this January.

And what a signing it would be.

Truly one of the best midfielders in the world with a crunching tackle and a bullet of a long shot, De Rossi would walk into the side despite the presence of Yaya Toure and Nigel de Jong.

Owen Hargreaves might just have another unhappy spell in Manchester.

Revert to the Cautious Approach When Necessary

I really expected to see the Manchester City of last season against Bayern Munich.

I've made my opinion on Edin Dzeko clear in the first slide, and it really was a mistake to start him.

The German giants had won nine games in row coming into this game, conceding zero and scoring 27. A run like that can only be broken by a few exceptional players, and Sergio Aguero is one of them.

He should have played up front on his own in a fluid, interchanging system on the counter.

Several Manchester City fans must have nearly died of shock at the start of this domestic season, as their beloved side came out all guns blazing as opposed to the careful, boring passing game they utilised for the previous season or two.

It's fantastic that City have the talent to play expansive and attacking football, but Mancini must identify when to switch back to their steady, Italian approach.

Cut the Drama

Leave it to your neighbour, Sir Alex Ferguson, to cause a stir. The very best teams in the world go about their business in a casual, quiet manner.

Rarely will you see Barcelona or AC Milan in the headlines for the wrong reasons.

In fact, you're likely to see Barcelona donate a large chunk of money to UNICEF, or a touching story about Lionel Messi dedicating a goal to one of his fans who has a prosthetic leg.

You don't see the best teams in the world fire their Chief Executive for untold amounts of obscenities, have their players incite rival fans or simply refuse to play.

Manchester City have been in the headlines an awful lot since the takeover, and of course some of it is to be expected—but half of it they bring upon themselves.

Thanks for reading. Remember, this article is to stimulate debate. My opinions come across strongly, but if you happen to disagree, feel free to voice your theories. Just remember to do it in a constructive manner!

@stighefootball