Manchester City take on Arsenal on Sunday in an important game for both teams in the battle to finish in the top four of the Premier League. But Manuel Pellegrini is going to have to lift his players after their dismal performance in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.
Andy Gray and Richard Keys, who front beIN Sports’ EPL coverage discuss City’s problems.
ANDY GRAY: If one of these teams is going to drop out of the top four, it’s Manchester City. Arsenal’s last game is at home against Aston Villa which means they should finish with at least 70 points which will guarantee them a top four place. If they can’t beat Villa then they don’t deserve to be there.
So, although they would like to beat Man City it’s not do or die. City’s place, however, is in jeopardy, and their performance against Real Madrid on Wednesday won’t help matters.
Amazingly, for the biggest game they have ever had, they just didn’t turn up. I find it hard to explain why they were so bad in the Bernabeu but the coach has to take the blame for the team he put out.
I didn’t get the inclusion of Yaya Toure and the fact he was still on the pitch for the second half after the lack of effort he put into the first half was extraordinary.
I understand the need to keep it tight but when you lose a goal and get to half time knowing you have to score you have to be positive. You have to go out and take semi-finals by the scruff of the neck and rip the result out of the hands of the opposition and City failed to do that.
Wrong to say #Mcfc would have gone through if they'd had a go. But wouldn't you rather go out knowing, than wondering...? So timid
— Martin Lipton (@MartinLipton) May 4, 2016
Even in the last half an hour when they finally made changes there was no aggression in their game.
Anyway, City now find themselves in a situation where they have a manager who is about to leave the club and a team that will certainly face changes when Pep Guardiola turns up so why should they bother about missing out on a top four place? Half of them might not be at City next season but half of them will.
Everyone is saying Guardiola will get rid of a lot of the players but where are they going to go? If you have a three-year deal at Man City on £150,000 a week where are you going to go where you can get the same money?
So it’s not quite as clear cut as it may seem and I would hope those players will raise their game against Arsenal because if they don’t City will be in grave danger of being caught by Manchester United or maybe West Ham.
The fact that they can be overtaken by neighbours United should be an incentive to get a win but I think Arsenal can come away with a point which isn’t really good enough for Manuel Pellegrini’s men. 2-2.
RICHARD KEYS: Everything I have been saying over the past couple of seasons about Manchester City’s players and whether they have the necessary desire and hunger in big games came home to roost against Real Madrid.
Vincent Kompany should have accepted he wasn’t fit instead of playing and then hobbling off after 10 minutes or so. That was unacceptable selfishness.
And as for Yaya Toure, he just about summed up the entire night – how it took an hour to get him off the pitch, I have no idea.
I can’t see how they are going to lift themselves to beat Arsenal tomorrow and there is a very real possibility that they will miss out on the Champions League and then there will be some serious work to be done by Pep Guardiola who I think is facing the toughest job of his career so far.
Instead of inheriting a good team with world class players, he is, right now, inheriting a shambles. I don’t have much more faith in Arsenal at the moment but they are in better shape and I fancy them to win and put City’s top four hopes on a knife edge, and the sad thing is I don’t think the manager or the players, and half of them won’t be there next season, could care less.
If you have got a group of players who were prepared to play out their manager in an FA Cup final, like they did when Roberto Mancini was in charge, then does anybody really think they will be worried about Manchester United pipping them to fourth spot, because I don’t. 0-2.
