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Likely strengths
You’d have to say that taking 90 or more points in three of the last five seasons can be filed as a strength. Manchester City have built a domestic dynasty, just as they promised they would and despite Liverpool pushing them hard. City now have the chance to equal two Premier League records set by their neighbours, winning three titles in a row and winning five in six years.
It’s hard to find reasons to doubt them. We spent most of last season debating whether Pep Guardiola needed a high-class centre-forward after the retirement of Sergio Aguero, all the while City were scoring 99 league goals without one and then they bought one anyway. However long Erling Haaland takes to settle in the Premier League, Guardiola knows they can score goals without him and won’t be concerned about scoring goals with him.
The rotation of players within the same formation is supreme, and virtually impossible to stop. Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo are full-backs only on a technicality. Kevin De Bruyne roams deep and wide and wherever he senses danger can be created. The forward line will be a whirligig around Haaland.
And that’s not even City’s biggest strength. They conceded 26 league goals last season, faced almost 20 per cent fewer shots on target than any other Premier League club and only trailed for 365 minutes across the entire league season. They give you so few chances that it increases the pressure on you to take those chances. And even then, often by the time your first good chance comes you are already two goals down.
Manchester City are a machine, they have teams psychologically half-beaten before they start and they are well set to do exactly the same this season as they did last. If they are not quite insurmountable, it can certainly feel that way when they are ticking through their league wins with ominous nonchalance.
Likely weaknesses
Servicing Haaland is going to require a change of attacking strategy, as we detailed here. That’s not to say that City will struggle to do it, that it will take a long time or that it makes City weak even if it does, but they must now adapt to one of the most dominant centre forwards in the world. Having sold Raheem Sterling, City are committed to that shift. Sterling was pivotal in the goalline pull-back-and-shoot methodology.
The only lingering issue is the tendency of City to occasionally be stumped having fallen behind, whether that be a mental or tactical issue. It may well have been exorcised by the late-season comebacks against West Ham and Aston Villa that secured City the title, but there is still a suspicion that conceding can cause a mini-meltdown.
Aside from that, fitness is the only headache with the mid-season World Cup likely to cause the more senior members of the squad – Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Ilkay Gundogan – fatigue later in the season. Even then, City are fairly well set: every club has the same problem and Haaland and Mahrez will get a month off.
Summer business
The summer has been dominated by the signing of Haaland, on favourable terms despite the huge fees paid to his representatives and then a period of selling fringe and first-team players to generate enough money to easily afford Kalvin Phillips while making a net profit.
We wrote here about City’s strategy of buying players specifically to loan them out and then sell at a profit, but it’s the departure of Sterling, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus that are more interesting. Guardiola usually prefers continuity but he has never wished to stand in the way of a player if they wish to leave. This summer, it so happens that several members of the squad were seeking more regular minutes.
One interesting aside was City’s happiness to walk away from a deal for Marc Cucurella, with the £50m asking price deemed too high. That’s probably the right call, but it does suggest that Guardiola wants a left-back and, as yet, doesn’t have one.
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The expectation is that Guardiola will extend his contract next summer, but it is interesting that he will allow it to reach the point of expiration before doing so. Unlike Jurgen Klopp, who chose to renew with more than two years remaining to remove all doubt, Guardiola will see what this season brings before making his call.
That said, Guardiola has reportedly agreed in principle to a new deal and would presumably be buoyed by another season of dominance. But what about too much success? There is virtually no chance of him leaving during this season or on anything other than his own terms, but would a Premier League and Champions League double persuade him that he had achieved all he wanted and was ready for a break?
Prediction
With the caveat that the Champions League dream can be a distraction, they are rightly favourites again. 1st
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The post Man City predictions 2022-23: What fans can expect from Premier League season with Haaland leading the line appeared first on inews.co.uk.
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