Source: Team_Talk
Title drum to move to City beat
TEAMtalk's James Marshment explains why Manchester City can make a decent fist of challenging for the 2010/11 Premier League title.[LNB] Just a day after their defeat to Tottenham at the back end of last season, I urged Manchester City supporters not to feel too disheartened at their failure to earn a spot in the Champions League. I argued at the time that missing out on a place at Europe's top table could prove a blessing in disguise - provided they put their focus into an assault on the Premier League title and not place too much emphasis on the Europa League.[LNB]Ten weeks later, I see no reason why they cannot put that plan into action - especially given the quality players they are assembling at Eastlands.[LNB]Last season, then-City boss Mark Hughes splashed the best part of £110million on recruiting established Premier League talent.[LNB]This summer, under Roberto Mancini, the club have been casting their net further afield, with top talents Yaya Toure and David Silva already arriving at Eastlands.[LNB]And I don't think the spending is likely to end there, with reports as I write suggesting Aleksandar Kolarov could be added to their defensive ranks. Mario Balotelli and James Milner have also been touted as possible targets as City embark on their one-club crusade to solve Europe's economic crisis![LNB]It's fair to say their two midfield arrivals so far in Toure and Silva already compliment a burgeoning squad, which now has genuine competition in every position in the side.[LNB]And if Mancini can stumble on his preferred line-up - no easy feat when you have Adam Johnson, Silva, Toure, Gareth Barry, Nigel de Jong, Vincent Kompany, Patrick Vieira, Stephen Ireland, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Michael Johnson all vying for midfield positions alone - then City can make a genuine stab at becoming Premier League champions 2010/11.[LNB]City have already been installed as 5/1 third favourites for the title - and bookmakers don't often get it wrong! Last season's one-two Chelsea and Manchester United have quite rightly been listed as favourites, but these two clubs seem unlikely to heavily invest this summer (at least not to the tune of City's spending spree) so will quite possibly retain similar squads. They have proved over time that they are more than capable of competing at home and in Europe, but City's absence from the latter ((the Europa League just doesn't command the same respect, attention or energies of players) could hand them a slight advantage.[LNB]So, with a bit of luck, a bit of focus, supplemented with the ability to take points off their main rivals and clutch a few points from the jaws of defeat, then I believe this might just be City's year.[LNB]One thing is for sure though, if a top-four finish was the target last season, then this term it almost certainly has to be to make the title a three-way fight and possibly, just possibly, bring the title to the club for the first time since 1967/68. Anything less will for certain be counted as failure.
