MANCHESTER, England — Two defeats in a week for Manchester City does not represent a crisis, even in these increasingly hysterical times, but manager Manuel Pellegrini certainly has much to consider as the dust settles.
Appearing in front of reporters after his team’s shocking home defeat to West Ham, he was understandably tetchy. He had no time for those who suggested that David Silva’s injury in the warm-up might have thrown City off balance. He had no warm words for Kevin De Bruyne after his impressive debut. He had only sharp criticism for his players, who he said, “didn’t play with the concentration and intensity we need in defending.”
Pellegrini doesn’t often get angry, unless Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew is close by, but his frustration here was entirely understandable. You can blame ill fortune or dark arts, but a starting XI constructed at the cost of nearly £300 million should be able to find a way past West Ham. City dominated the game, setting up camp in the Hammers’ half before and after the break. But on the few occasions that City’s rear guard was called upon, it fell short of expectations.
“Two balls decide the result,” said an exasperated Pellegrini. “We must concentrate more.”
When the disappointment recedes, he will know that there were many positives to take. Though he was unwilling to wax lyrical about De Bruyne, the Belgian put in an excellent display and opened his account with a fine long-range drive. It didn’t bring any points, but at least it removed some of the pressure that might have hung over the young man.
When someone has paid £55m for your services, you don’t want to waste time in making an impression. More important than his goal was his work rate. The City fans have seen world class talent many times in recent years, but they appreciate world class effort much more. For all the jibes about arriviste fans, most of the people in the Etihad remember all too well the days when effort was the only attribute they had on hand.
The improving performances of Fernandinho and Yaya Toure are also reason for a sense of satisfaction. The Brazilian never quite settled last season, but he was superb against Juventus in midweek and performed well here too.
As for Toure, on another day, a day with fewer deflections and last-gasp blocks, he might have scored the goals that saw City prevail. At least the lethargy and ineffectiveness that characterised his displays last season is receding into memory. The headlines in future weeks will doubtless belong to the big-money attacking midfielders, but the big-money central midfielders will be the ones who provide the base camp for their adventures.
On the other hand, West Ham manager Slaven Bilic certainly had no doubt as to the strength of his opponents, calling them the best team in the league afterwards and marvelling in the resilience of his players in getting a result. City have lost two games on the spin, but they haven’t yet lost their legions of admirers.
But Bilic perhaps touched on the reasons for City’s defeat, albeit inadvertently during a discussion about his own club.
“There is a tiny line between confidence and arrogance,” he told reporters who quizzed him as to how far West Ham could go this season. Was it arrogance or bad luck that caused City to switch off at the set-piece that gave the Hammers their second goal? Was it arrogance that saw Eliaquim Mangala back off from Victor Moses before he struck their first? Time will tell.
In the wake of their defeat to Juventus, most City fans were content to conclude that tightly-contested games between superpower clubs will sometimes go one way and sometimes the other. As they filtered out of the Etihad tonight, many bemoaned their luck or tried to shrug the result off as just “one of those games.”
In both cases, those supporters were correct. But back-to-back defeats are always enough to engender uncertainty. And, in a league where every team is capable of grabbing a result against the odds, uncertainty is to be avoided like the plague.
City travel to Sunderland for the League Cup in midweek, a venue where they have been stung too many times in recent years. The Black Cats are in woeful form and even if Pellegrini fields a weakened team, as he surely will with a tricky trip to Tottenham to follow, City should make short work of them. But between now and then, he’ll need to iron out these frailties at the back.
A good start is only a good start. If you want to win the title, you can’t throw away too many winnable home games like this.
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