ALEX Ferguson once said “attack wins you games, defence wins you titles” which was why he waited until his final game in charge of Manchester United before allowing them to draw 5-5 at West Brom.
To be fair, United had recently sealed their 20th league title so they were entitled to put on a jamboree at The Hawthorns. Since then the English top-flight has been (mainly) dominated by Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool, with the latter two taking things to a new level in the last three seasons. 198 points across two seasons in 2017-18 and 2018-19 was evidence that Pep Guardiola had “solved” the Premier League. Perpetual league titles would now surely travel to the Etihad on a conveyer belt of domination.
But instead City have faltered heavily this season and it has not been their attack that has misfired. With seven games to go Guardiola’s team are seven goals up on champions Liverpool and have already scored more than 49 previous champions of England have in completed seasons, including Arsenal’s Invincibles of 2003-04 and a Cristiano Ronaldo-powered Manchester United in 2008-09. No, the fault line running through the team has been a defensive one, with the departure of club captain Vincent Kompany and a long-term injury to Aymeric Laporte for most of the season being the hammer blows.
As it stands, City are allowing their opponents an xG of 1.06 per game, which is a significant decline on their first three seasons under Guardiola (0.76 per game in 2016-17, 0.63 in 2017-18 and 0.66 in 2018-19). Liverpool have also regressed slightly this season (0.96 in 2016-17, 0.90 in 2017-18, 0.76 in 2018-19, and 0.94 in 2019-20) but crucially not by that much, and, even more crucially, not in the biggest moments.
City have lost eight games this season, which is one more than Liverpool have suffered in the last three and it’s been sloppy errors at key moments that have left them so far behind the new champions of England. Even the game at Chelsea that ensured City would relinquish the title was notable for a glaring mistake by Benjamin Mendy that let in Chrsitian Pulisic and a desperate handball from Fernandinho to concede a penalty and a red card. Fernandinho at centre half was totally fine as an occasional option but expecting nigh on a season from a 35-year-old midfielder playing out of position was a bridge too far.
Even hitherto semi-flawless players like Ederson have succumbed to the defensive malaise at the club. The goalkeeper’s performance at Old Trafford shortly before the Coronavirus lockdown was a series of calamities, culminating in him throwing the ball straight to Scott McTominay deep into injury time, with the Manchester United midfielder gleefully ramming the ball home from long range. On a pitch where City have invariably dominated their local rivals in recent seasons it was a stark illustration of the club’s decline when it comes to controlling games.
Liverpool will receive a guard of honour at the Etihad on Thursday evening and rightly so, but the fact remains that if City had been able to guard their goal with the same organisation this season then this match could and should have been a title decider to rival the same fixture last season. That night, Liverpool suffered what would be their only defeat of the entire season, the decisive moment in a title race for the ages. A year on and the once-tight margins have become chasms, but with some clever defensive recruitment from City, 2020-21 should be a much closer contest.
Jurgen Klopp’s team are worthy champions but their eventual winning margin at the top of the league will say as much about Manchester City’s season of haphazard defensive lunacy as it does about Liverpool’s determination to end their 30-year wait for title number 19.
