Updated:
Feb 6, 2023
Manchester City, a club that has been at the forefront of English football domination, has now found itself in a major crisis.
Not only is their League Title slipping away from them, but they have also been charged with over 100 breaches of financial fair play rules between 2009 and 2018.
The Club sent out a statement regarding the situation.
“Manchester City is surprised by the issuing of these alleged breaches of the Premier League Rules, particularly given the extensive engagement and vast amount of detailed materials that the EPL has been provided with,” the club said in a statement.
“The club welcomes the review of this matter by an independent commission, to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position.
“As such, we look forward to this matter being put to rest once and for all.”
The six-time Premier League Champions have also been charged with breaching:
12 rules breached on player remuneration
5 breaches of Premier League rules
25 Premier League rules involving profitability and sustainability between 2015, and 2018.
30 breaches of financial investigation between 2018 and 2023.
City Boss Pep Guardiola insisted that he would walk away if he found out that the Club had lied to him.
“I said to them: ‘If you lie to me, the day after I am not here. I will be out and I will not be your friend any more. I put my faith in you because I believe you 100% from day one and I defend the club because of that.’
Pep Guardiola: Mirror
League Form
But what is most concerning, is the form on the pitch. After two emphatic victories at home to Spurs and Wolverhampton Wanderers, the derby clash with United as well as yesterday’s defeat in North London suggests that something is not quite right for Quadiola’s side.
And failure to capitalize on Arsenal’s defeat to Everton means we are back where we are at the start of the weekend, with the Champions still five points behind Arteta’s Gunners, and with United breathing down their neck in third place, these are testing times for Gaurdiola’s side.
Too ‘Haaland-Dimensional’
When the Norwegian striker arrived at the Etihad Stadium, you would have thought that this would make the team more lethal, especially with his presence in the box, but it seems as if his presence is perhaps starting to affect the way the team plays.
Usually, Guardiola’s City love to play a more possession-base style of football, play the extra pass, and Haaland is the sort of striker who thrives in playing direct football and wants to be in the box more often than not, and you rarely see City’s wide players i.e Mahrez and Grealish stay wide, and put crosses into the box, they always want to come inside and stretch the opposition’s backline.
This is why letting go of someone like Gabriel Jesus, and may have proved to be a costly one, as if the latter had gotten injured or was out of form, he could have come in and done the job, as he had been playing under Guardiola the past five years.
It’s not to say that Julien Alvarez isn’t a good backup, but when you let go of a player who has been playing under your philosophy and tactics, it can sometimes be very difficult to replace him.
Haaland is more suited for teams who like to play direct box-to-box football, and Guardiola’s side isn’t really that type of team, they are more possession-based.
It almost seems like City has pushed the panic button too early, after letting Aguero and Jesus go. instead of finding a striker that suits the way they play, they’ve gone for a striker who scores goals but doesn’t really suit their system.
And what was even more baffling, was the sight of Kevin De Bruyne on the bench, who did come on in the second half, but barely had an impact on the game as he usually does.
What is the point in that?
Unless they are horribly out of form, world-class players should always be staring in big games
It’s not to say that City don’t have a chance of making a hat-trick of League Titles, but they look far from the team they were last season, in the sense that teams like Spurs and United don’t find them as intimidating to face.
Next up for City is Aston Villa, who will be hoping to bounce back from the 4-2 defeat to Leicester City.
Given Villa’s form has been decent barring the two defeats to Leicester City and Stevenage, this may be a tricky game for Guadiola’s side to play, before the big showdown with Arsenal next Wednesday.
And with the Gunners five points ahead, with a game in hand, this is now crunch time for City to show their Title winning mentality.
So, in spite of this financial crisis, what does the future hold for Manchester City Football Club?
For more updates, stay tuned to World in Sport.
