Paul Dickov: Man City's strength in depth could lead them to Premier League glory

Sport360 staff 12:42 08/09/2017
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  • With the attacking players both sides have, I think it will be an open game. Roberto Firmino’s in good form, Mohamed Saleh, Sadio Mane, there’s a lot of pace in the Liverpool team going forward, a lot of strength in midfield.

    But I do feel they’re a bit suspect at the back and, depending on what formation Pep Guardiola picks, it’s going to be interesting to see. But it’s two top teams going at it, two top managers.

    Jurgen Klopp’s not going to come to the Etihad and sit back. He’ll want to play so it’s going to be great to watch.

    But I think with the firepower City have, they’ll have too much. The main area is going to be wide. We’ve got Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy, two quick, powerful boys who are up against Mane one side and Saleh the other, so I think that’s where the game could be won and lost.

    There were a lot of people last season who said maybe City struggled because Pep was surprised by how tough Premier League is, but I don’t buy into that at all. I keep having arguments with people about this.

    He would have known. He’s a really intelligent guy and his knowledge of football is fantastic. It would have been impossible for him to come in last season and get rid of 25 players and bring another 25 in. I think he strengthened where he could last summer.

    This summer the manager came out and said that the money has been spent where it needed to be spent. This summer was probably a one-off because money needed to be spent, particularly with the four full-backs gone.

    If you look at the squad, the majority of the players in the starting 11 or first 18 were over the age of 31 last season.

    The Premier League is a tough title to win and I think it’s virtually impossible with players the wrong end of 30 to go and do that. The manager’s addressed that fantastically well.

    And it’s the ages of the signings that have impressed me, it shows you he’s buying for now but the ages of Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling, they’re frightening now so just imagine in three or four years time. There’s a lot of players who could be here for a long time.

    The signings we’ve made have been fantastic and the ages we’ve signed them at, if you look at the majority of them, even last season with Sane, Jesus and John Stones. Walker’s a little bit older but Benjamin Mendy and Bernardo Silva are fantastic players, we’ve signed some top, top players.

    I think the big difference for me from last season is the strength in depth the squad’s got now. City dropped some points last year and if you look at all the games this season, you could say all of them, Brighton, Everton, Bournemouth, in each of the games you’ve had Sane, Sterling, Bernardo Silva, Sergio Aguero coming off the bench if something’s not quite working with 25 minutes to go.

    The firepower we’ve got or the manager’s got to change things is a bit scary for everybody else.
    I think what City and Pep’s struggles last season prove is that the Premier League is the best league in the world.

    There’s no other league like it. Look at the other leagues and there’s two teams, really, in each league. Apart from when those two teams play each other you virtually know what the results are going to be, and you can’t do that in the Premier League.

    Anybody can beat anybody at any given time and it’s tough. Everybody’s strengthening, there’s a lot of money going into it, even the clubs in the bottom half, they can afford to go and spend £30m on a player now and that was never the case before.

    For the last 15 seasons the best players have flocked to the Premier League and now, arguably, I think we’ve got the best managers coming here, add Conte, Koeman and Pochettino to Pep, Klopp and Mourinho.

    As a City fan, I’m feeling confident about the season. I think this will be one of the most open title races in years. United, Liverpool look very goof going forward, Everton have made some great signings, Arsenal will come good. There’s Tottenham, Chelsea, it’s going to be good.

    Four or five years ago you were talking about a nailed on top four. Last season it was a top six, this season it’s probably a top seven, all fighting for the four Champions League places.

    It will be difficult but I just feel City’s strength in depth this season could be the difference. So absolutely, I’m tipping them for the title.

    *Paul Dickov was speaking at a football camp run by Mundipharma, whose BETADINE range is the official healthcare product partner of Manchester City.

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