Football

Man City are a joy to watch — but their Treble only gets 5 out of 10 from me


As a footballing entity, Manchester City are magical. They get the ball down, pass it through the lines and create fantastic angles. They play with a brilliance and an intensity that is an absolute joy to behold.

Pep Guardiola’s attention to detail is incredible as well and the fact he is on at his players in a bid to get the best out of them day in, day out, really is a joy to behold.

I’d go as far as to say it’s almost football perfection.

But, even so, I’m not afraid to offer the caveat that their achievement in becoming the first English team to win a domestic Treble still leaves me cold. Because, frankly, everything is set up for them to do it.

They have such deep pockets and so many resources that the difficulty level for them to win all three competitions has only really been a 5/10.

Big-spending City have now won five of the last six major domestic trophies

It certainly doesn’t compare with Nottingham Forest winning back-to-back European Cups in the Seventies, or what Leeds did in the old Division One in the same era. And it doesn’t compare with Leicester winning the Premier League in 2015-16 or Wigan winning the FA Cup six years ago, if you’re looking for a heartwarming story.

For Leicester to be crowned champions of England three years ago was TWENTY out of 10 in terms of difficulty, and the sheen on the title that year was certainly different to the sheen on it this time out.

Manchester United’s Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League Treble in 1999 was a 9.9/10. And Arsenal’s Invincibles of 2003-04 were not too far behind.

For City to win the top flight these days is only a 2/10 or 3/10, given the backing they have.

 

The Buses carrying the Leicester squad and trophy make their way through the the streets
Leicester’s astonishing title triumph was a much bigger achievement, says Collymore

I know there’ll be plenty of people saying, ‘But Stan, United have the highest-paid player in the league’, or, ‘Liverpool and United both spent more money than their rivals when they were dominating and nobody said anything about that’.

But Manchester United got to be Manchester United by making very good decisions regularly over a long period of time. The same goes for Liverpool and the other historically big clubs around the world.

I do understand where City fans are coming from when they say it’s nice that another club can challenge the established order. But when you can roll the dice every day and they always come up in your favour, your winnings won’t have the same lustre as those you’ve had to graft for year after year.

 

United’s Treble replaced the League Cup that City retained this season with the far more prestigious European Cup

Let’s say I won the EuroMillions on Friday and went out and bought myself a Ferrari.

It’s the same Ferrari I’d buy if I’d made the same amount in business, having started out selling clothes-pegs on the street. And I guarantee I’d enjoy driving the one I’d earned more than the one that had been gifted to me, because that’s just the way life is.

So I’m more than happy to acknowledge City’s brilliance, the fact they have some world-class players at the club and a world-class manager. There are also some wonderful people working behind the scenes at the club.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t also acknowledge that, with the resources at their disposal, there’s nothing miraculous about any of it.

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