Manchester City To Challenge For The Title?

They say the sign of a good side is winning when you’re not playing well. If that is the case then Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City could be a real challenger for the Premier League this season after grinding out another result, this time a one goal advantage as City won 3-2 at Premier League new-boys Blackpool.

It’s not the first time this season that City have demonstrated their title credentials by winning a game that in truth they probably didn’t deserve to. Ian Holloway’s side were much then a match for City, but goals from Carlos Tevez and David Silva were eventually enough to see off the spirited Seasiders.

City’s goalscorers demonstrate just how much quality Mancini has at his disposal. In my opinion there would be no manager in the Premier League that wouldn’t trade his squad with that of the Italians.

The strength in depth that City have is unbelievable, and while there may be other teams have stronger starting line-ups, Mancini really does that many options from the bench which really give City a chance of winning the Premier League this season.

City’s key man is Tevez, if he got injured Mancini would look for Emanuel Adebayor or Silva to step in to his shoes. If you look at Manchester United or Chelsea, they simply don’t have anywhere near as much depth to their squads.

I don’t know if City will go on to win the league, but I certainly feel that this season will bring some form of success. I think success for them will represent a title challenge, which in turn could bring help bring the long term success that wealthy owner Sheikh Mansour desperately craves.

Not only will a title challenge give the club a Champions League spot, which would be crucial in their bid to attract the big name signings, but it would also act a real boost to the clubs general demeanor. While there is a real sense of positivity around the club, there is now a need to push for the big honours to keep the momentum going.

But the immediate sings are looking very good for Mancini and with key players like Mario Balotelli still to come back from injury things could only get better for the blue half of Manchester. However the big tests are still ahead for Mancini’s men starting with the visit of Arsenal next weekend.