The things we talk about when we talk about Manchester City
Manchester City clinched the Premier League after West Brom’s shock win against United, but they remain a uniquely difficult team to talk about.
When did you know Manchester City were going to win the title? Was it over the summer, when they replaced their quartet of 50-year-old full-backs with Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy, and their keeping-optional keeper with Brazilian central midfielder Ederson? Was it August, when they came from behind to draw with Everton, dominating the match despite playing for over an hour with 10 men?
Was it September, when they beat Watford 6-0 (a week after beating Liverpool 5-0) to go top for the first time? Was it November, when they came from behind to beat Huddersfield and Southampton in back-to-back matches thanks to late, late goals by Raheem Sterling? Or maybe it was December, when they beat Tottenham 4-1 to make it five wins out of five against the rest of the big six.
Whenever it was, it was a long time ago, and a lot has changed since a long time ago. City won the League Cup, City were knocked out of the FA Cup, City were thrashed in their Champions League quarterfinal against Liverpool, City threw away a two-goal lead and the chance to clinch the title against their biggest rivals.
On Sunday, City clinched the title from the comfort of their own homes (or the golf course, in Pep Guardiola’s case), as West Brom stunned Manchester United at Old Trafford. The temptation is to say “finally,” but of course only one team has ever wrapped up the title with five games to spare (and they finished with fewer points than City have now). “Holy sh*t” would be more to the point.
Still, the sense of anticlimax, the feeling this extraordinary team haven’t quite lived up to our expectations, shouldn’t be ignored. The events of the past week and a half were real, and they didn’t reflect well on City. And yet this disappointment is also clearly a function of the historically high standard this team set in the first two thirds of the campaign. This is, perhaps, the great curiosity of the 2017-18 season: That arguably the best team in Premier League history have been too good to be appreciated as such.
It’s not as if City haven’t been showered with praise. The English press, with characteristic forgetfulness, rebranded Guardiola as the mad, tactical genius they once convinced themselves could never thrive in the blood-and-thunder environs of the Premier League (and then reversed course after three losses in a row). The transformation of Raheem Sterling, the development of Leroy Sane, the genius of Kevin De Bruyne, the artistry of David Silva … plenty of words have been written about it all.
And yet, as the season wore on, as the gap between City and the rest widened, our capacity for amazement seemed to run low. What, after all, becomes of the business end of the season when you finish all your work before it starts?
One of the emerging themes of this late season is the contrast between the consistent excellence required to win a league title and the ability to ride the emotional waves that often dictate success in knockout tournaments. Watching the former will never be as compelling as watching the latter, stretched out as the experience is over weeks and months, rather than days, minutes, moments. And so a great league team desensitizes us, trains us to accept their greatness as routine. This is only natural, but it’s nonetheless a shame. Because it’s harder than it looks, giving this City side the credit they deserve.
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So how about this? Among the great teams of the Premier League era, only Manchester United in 1998-99 won more than two trophies. Arsenal’s Invincibles managed only one (but what a one!). Jose Mourinho’s 2004-05 Chelsea side had to settle, like City, for the league and League Cup double. Even United’s Premier and Champions League double winners of 2007-08 were knocked out of the FA Cup by Portsmouth, the League Cup by Coventry. Which is just to say: This is really hard, what City have done, what these other teams did — really, really hard.
City might take solace from the fact history is likely to be very kind to them. If they maintain their current pace, they will end the season with the most points ever in a Premier League campaign. And the most wins. And the most goals. And the best goal difference. And they will have done it playing some of the most thrilling soccer the league has ever seen. That’s one hell of an anticlimax.