Manchester City's thin title hopes took another blow as they suffered a surprising yet deserved defeat to Burnley on Saturday evening and it's down to looking to defend the Premier League...
The Citizens secured the league title last season due to Liverpool's final falter in the last months and despite looking likely to finish second place as they won they were excellent even to the most bitter of United fans.
Now they look like the opposite of the United side that tormented them throughout their 26-year dominating period of English football in which time they won 13 league titles.
In terms of attacking threat they are one of the greatest sides since the inaugural Premier League season in 1992. Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure and David Silva have been key to both their title wins having all joined pre-2011, so the argument that City have failed to achieve squad stability due to the millions of pounds spent on new signings is no longer arguable.
If anything. stability is holding them back from trying something new in a desperate attempt the defend the Premier League title. Manuel Pellegrini has consistently used a 4-4-2 formation with small variation and little change despite the huge differences in the 19 Premier League sides they have to face.
And I think that his reluctance to change as well as the squad's reluctance to change in accordance with the more attacking teams sprouting out of the relegation battle is key to the brief downfall of this side.
This Manchester City side seemed to have sat down at the beginning of the season and looked to defend their title. Fernando, Eliquim Mangala, Willy Caballero and Bacary Sagna were all secured early on in the summer to shore up an arguably weak defence. The club did fantastically to finish their summer business before the last week of the window and it was the sign of proper champions.
However, in search of defending their title they should have looked to win it all over again. Pellegrini should have had the same mentality that they had when he arrived, to win it once more like they had failed to do the previous season.
As they play now they don't have the swagger of champions or the driving determination to regain the trophy as they did last season. More so, Chelsea look like the champions with swagger, as do Arsenal in some respects, whereas City look like the same plucky new-boys who swiped English domination off Manchester United in 2011/12 without the constant attacking brilliance.
It was obvious from the get-go that Chelsea would be the team to beat with Eden Hazard and Diego Costa in scintillating form as the season began in August. So with that in mind Pellegrini should have changed the mindset of the club to win the title not defend it.
Defending it involves playing like champions, playing like Jose Mourinho's Chelsea side with dominance. City play like a top four chaser of which they were seven years ago. Yet now they should be playing like champions.
Due to their inexperience in terms of Premier League titles and success compared to the three teams surrounding them - Chelsea, Arsenal and United - I think their mentality is not that to be champions. If they are to have any chance to 'defend' the title come May 24th they must act unlike the complacent champions they have been throughout this season.
The mentality of a winner is to win not to defend. One season is entirely separate from the other. As shown by Manchester United and Liverpool, demise can follow success extremely quickly. Lewis Hamilton spoke after his victory in the first Formula 1 Grand Prix of the season and seemed overall relieved to have won, but ultimately he said “I’m here to win. I’m not here to defend anything,”
Manuel Pellegrini needs to follow the example of Hamilton and win not defend the title he made his own last year otherwise he's going to be wiped away by the end of the season.