Source: Daily_Mail
Kenny Dalglish: Mancini's Manchester City prove why defence should come first
This season's title race promises to be the closest and most gripping the Premier League has seen. Is that because standards are higher or because the top teams aren't as good as they used to be?[LNB]The reality is that both are true and it sets the stage for a thrilling second half of the season. With Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal showing signs of vulnerability, Manchester City and Tottenham will genuinely feel they can be champions this season. And even Liverpool will be left thinking what might have been had they not lost so many points at the start.[LNB]To start with the positive, I'd argue that there has been an overall improvement among the less-fancied teams in the division, which means nobody, not even the top sides, can ever be guaranteed an easy three points.[LNB] Plan at the back: Mancini's defensive style may not have won him many friends, but City are grinding out results[LNB]The season has been littered with unpredictable results because no team are seriously out of their depth. Often newly-promoted sides are weak but this time West Bromwich have won at Arsenal and Everton, Newcastle put six past Aston Villa and five against Sunderland, while Blackpool's win at Anfield against Liverpool was fully deserved.[LNB]But the improvement in some teams is only half the story. An impartial judge would also have to say it's close at the top because the big teams aren't as good as in the past, particularly in defence, the cornerstone of any title-winning side.[LNB]Patchy season: Chelsea have struggled without the likes of John Terry and Frank Lampard[LNB]When you think United are said to be playing poorly yet are still unbeaten, Arsenal are allegedly lacking a backbone while Chelsea have been going backwards after starting like a house on fire, you'd find it hard to argue there has been an increase in quality at the top. [LNB]In many ways, 2008 represented the absolute peak for the Premier League. [LNB]United and Chelsea contested the Champions League final in Moscow and I don't think too many disputed at the time that they were the best two teams in Europe.[LNB] But fast forward two years, United have lost two-thirds of their glittering strikeforce in Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez and Chelsea's players are getting older. [LNB]Key figures like John Terry and Frank Lampard, bothof whom Chelsea could rely on every week, are picking up injuries.[LNB]You wouldn't say now that two English teams will make the final in this season's Champions League at Wembley. Of course, the standard at thetop of the table is acceptable but it's stillnot as high as in the past. [LNB]I don't think United, in action against Arsenal tomorrow, have played as well as they can and Chelsea, at Spurs today, are below the standards they have set themselves.[LNB]You could easily find this season's champions win the title with a record low number of points and while I'dsafely predict the top six this season will be, in alphabetical order, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, City, United and Tottenham, I wouldn't liketo guess the order in which they will finish. None of them looks good enough on current form to emerge from the pack with a long winning streak. [LNB]I think the inconsistency stems largely from defensive problems and the club who sort out their centre of defence can become champions. That's why Roberto Mancini, the one manager who makes it his priority to build fromthe back, will fancy City.[LNB]United and Chelsea have relied on RioFerdinand and Terry respectively for so long, but they are unable to play every week now. Arsenal have had to pair Premier League rookies Laurent Koscielny and Sebastien Squillaci because of Thomas Vermaelen's injury. Their attitude seems to be 'if you score three, we'll try to getfour'.[LNB] Spurs are fantastic going forward and William Gallas has done well the best defender in the league this season along with Nemanja Vidic but injuries to Ledley King, Jonathan Woodgate and Michael Dawson has meant they still haven't been able to keep a clean sheet in the league since the opening day.[LNB]City are the exception. Mancini is building his team the traditional way, from the back, relying on organisation anddiscipline rather than throwing men forward and going for the scruff ofthe neck like their rivals.[LNB]It has disgruntled some City fans and is probably not what Sheik Mansour expected when he shelled out money to see some fantasy football. But the ability to defend may prove to be the best weapon City have. I'm not bold enough to say they will be champions but neither would it surprise me in this season of falling standards and unpredictability.[LNB]Manchester United still have more grit than their rivalsAll the best teams have that impressive knack of rising to the occasion and doing enough to win when they have to. [LNB]Manchester United have honed that art in recent years and maybe that's why I feel they will just have the edge against Arsenal tomorrow night. [LNB][LNB] Coping: Manchester United have missed Rio Ferdinand for much of the season but have still picked up results[LNB]Both sides have excellent individuals but it's that know-how as a team, that experience of being successful, that might prove decisive in the end. [LNB]Wayne Rooney appears to be getting some form back all he needs now is a goal to get him going again. He hit the woodwork against Valencia and it would not surprise me at all to see him on the scoresheet in a 2-1 United victory at Old Trafford.[LNB]Harsh treatment: Former Newcastle boss Chris Hughton[LNB]Chris Hughton is owed big timeI trust Newcastle United will fulfil their contractual obligations to Chris Hughton by paying up his contract promptly. If so, he will be one of the luckier ones. An awful lot of managers aren't treated fairly after getting the sack.[LNB]Clubs who are happy to talk money with a new manager don't always find the time to sit down to discuss a fair settlement with the last one. [LNB]It's a difficult situation for the League Managers' Association when one of their members takes a job at a club where a manager has beensacked and have not settled on compensation.[LNB]I'm sure the LMA would love every manager to be paid right away at least a percentage of what is owed on their contract. [LNB]They could ask their members not to take a job at a club untilthey have paid their dues to the last manager. But it would be very difficult to ask someone out of work not to take a job.[LNB]Genius has no need for statsClubs spend thousands on Prozone, Opta stats and the like but I've never seen a better bit of football tech than the eyes and ears of Bob Paisley. [LNB]He was a genius who could compute any footballing problem and invariably come up with the right answer.[LNB]Players now are reputed to have the best scientific and medical advice available but still seem to spend longer on the treatment table than ever. Bob, through his experience and instinct, seemed to judge exactly when a player could come back without doing himself damage.[LNB]And as for the modern game's global scouting networks, when they can find an Ian Rush for £300,000 or an Alan Hansen for £100,000 as Bob did I will be impressed.[LNB] MANCHESTER CITY
