6th August

Top four. Here we go.

MAN CITY

It feels weird to be sat here and saying that top four is a failure for Man City. But to be frank, top four was a failure for Man City. They were a team expected to challenge for the title, and after Chelsea's collapse they were expected to run away with the title. Even as late into the season as February they looked like they were probably still favourites for the title. But a collapse in the late season saw them plummet down the table, and lose fifteen points on leaders Leicester, as well as letting Spurs, Arsenal and Man United outstrip them, and they were lucky to hold off their arch-rivals. 

So what went wrong? Well truthfully, not a lot. They just lost a few big games in February, which made them lose motivation. By March, they looked out of the title race, but secure in a top four slot, which coupled with a serious Champions League run meant that they sleep-walked through the last two and a half months of the season, and nearly paid the price for it. 

The key period for City came after they were blitzkrieged by Leicester on Saturday 6th February, the first of a six game league run where they won just once and lost four times, to Liverpool, Spurs, Leicester and United, all of this intermingled with their Champions League battles and their cup final win over LFC. This period was where the wheels came off, a two month period where City were fighting on too many fronts with a squad that wasn't big enough, with key individuals either injured or simply not good enough for the big stage, Pellegrini was found out and yes they were unlucky on more than one occasion with poor decisions.

And after that they were just cruising, resulting in draws with Newcastle, Arsenal and Swansea, as well as a heavy defeat to Southampton, with half their side rested and the players that were playing demotivated. They did enough to secure fourth, but the title always looked beyond them. 

That's not to say that City didn't have their problems before February, just that that two month period is where they lost the title. Truthfully, they should have had a firm grip on it before that. After winning their opening five games without conceding, including a 3-0 demolition of Chelsea, everyone was raving about City. And even after they were beaten by West Ham and were hammered by a terrific Spurs team, they quickly silenced the doubters by putting a combined eleven goals past Bournemouth and Newcastle. But already, the lack of squad depth was starting to show and City were creaking. They rested players against Liverpool and paid the price, as Coutinho and Firmino made Otamendi and Mangala look like the rank average they were, before Stoke piled on the pressure in early December. 

This was a City side that played well in fits and starts. A 3-1 win over Southampton followed up by that loss to Stoke. They humbled Sunderland, but lost to Arsenal. Pummeled Palace, but drew with West Ham. 

Overall, it would be fair to say that City were a side who looked incredibly impressive against terrible opposition but failed hard against the good teams. They picked up a draw and a defeat against Leicester, Arsenal, West Ham and United, and lost twice to both Spurs and Liverpool, only winning one of their fourteen games against the top eight, and picking up just six points, meaning that they picked up a walloping sixty from twenty-four against the other teams. They were very good at looking better than they were, against teams who were significantly worse than them, but had no plan against the big teams. 

So looking at City's problems? Conceding goals against the big sides. Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs all just found ways to tear holes through City, and Leicester didn't struggle either. City just didn't seem capable of defending against top sides, and moreover tactically they were all over the place in the big, cagey battles, although it would be unfair to claim that they wouldn't have been happy with all of their draws against said big teams. 

Pep Guardiola has work to do, but he has the raw materials in front of him. This is a City squad that had the best team in the league on paper, contain the league's best striker, arguably two of its best attacking midfielders, bags of talent in the wings and in Vincent Kompany has one of the league's best defenders. But he needs to sort through the deadwood, bulk up the squad and, most importantly, work on their tactics. Because most of their defeats in the big games were because of Pellegrini's ineptitude. And that won't happen under Pep.

The Hard and Fast Section

• What a tussle the Road Race ended up being. 
• Adam Peaty set a world record in his heat. Favourite. 
• We beat Barca 4-0. Oh my.
• And Bairstow and Moeen put England in control. Good stuff.