Steven Gerrard.
City's problem as I see it, is that we are still a team that is based around talented individuals. People seem to forget that most of our players have been here for a few months, and even the coaching team is pretty new. Lakey will be able to tell us if this actually matters in football, or is just a simple media excuse. From my experiences of teams in my profession, it matters quite heavily.
Due to this, we are very much a team who is desperately scrambling to learn. Learn about each other, learn about Mancini's style of play, learn about his tactical changes midway through the game. At the moment, Mancini has completely closed us off defensively, which was the stick used to beat Hughes with, and he has started to pick up points that you would have feared losing under previous management.
However, the balance of the team is still wrong, and I don't think we can put all of that at Barry's feet. Due to this, I don't see City as a team who can go on a 14 game winning streak, our style of play by it's very nature is risky and the Stoke result will happen again.
If we recognise that we are going to drop points against several teams yet, we have to look around us in the league. To me, Liverpool are the only one of the challengers who can go on a streak until the end of the season, if Gerrard is in form and throwing caution to the wind. However, if he is slightly off his game, they will also drop points which make them no better than us.
We are certainly in pole position for the place due to our games in hand, and perhaps I'll change my answer if we beat Stoke and Everton, but for now, I still believe that Gerrard and his form may be the difference maker between us and fourth.
City's problem as I see it, is that we are still a team that is based around talented individuals. People seem to forget that most of our players have been here for a few months, and even the coaching team is pretty new. Lakey will be able to tell us if this actually matters in football, or is just a simple media excuse. From my experiences of teams in my profession, it matters quite heavily.
Due to this, we are very much a team who is desperately scrambling to learn. Learn about each other, learn about Mancini's style of play, learn about his tactical changes midway through the game. At the moment, Mancini has completely closed us off defensively, which was the stick used to beat Hughes with, and he has started to pick up points that you would have feared losing under previous management.
However, the balance of the team is still wrong, and I don't think we can put all of that at Barry's feet. Due to this, I don't see City as a team who can go on a 14 game winning streak, our style of play by it's very nature is risky and the Stoke result will happen again.
If we recognise that we are going to drop points against several teams yet, we have to look around us in the league. To me, Liverpool are the only one of the challengers who can go on a streak until the end of the season, if Gerrard is in form and throwing caution to the wind. However, if he is slightly off his game, they will also drop points which make them no better than us.
We are certainly in pole position for the place due to our games in hand, and perhaps I'll change my answer if we beat Stoke and Everton, but for now, I still believe that Gerrard and his form may be the difference maker between us and fourth.