Ian Cheeseman- Forever Blue

Manchester City have made the perfect start to the new season with another trophy, the Super Cup, added to their bulging cabinet, plus four successive, fully deserved wins in the Premier League.

If anything, so far, the Blues look stronger, though there’s a long way to go yet and things can change, as we all know.

As I watched Arsenal against United on Sunday, the reason City have stepped up to another level, suddenly hit me. In simple terms, it’s about will to win and physically imposing yourself on your opponents. There wasn’t much between the Gunners and the Reds for so much of that game, until the (these days) extended period of injury time. That was when, through sheer physical determination, Mikel Arteta’s players showed bravery and brushed aside tiring United.

When City lost to Chelsea in the 2021 Champions League Final, I felt the Blues were too timid. The post-match debrief centred around the inexplicable exclusion of Fernandinho from the starting line-up, which I still think was an uncharacteristic and costly mistake by the genius Pep Guardiola. In truth, though physical strength and belief play such a big part in sport.

That’s one of the key factors that has separated tennis greats like Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic from their challengers. When things go wrong, when your opponent seems to be in control, as it looked when United’s Garnacho seemed to have scored their winner. It was ruled out for the narrowest of offside’s but even then I thought United would, at least, get a draw.

Arsenal’s players responded by stepping up. Gabriel Jesus, not known for his physicality, used strength as well as skill to lead the response and Declan Rice, who’d had a relatively quiet, cautious game, suddenly hutched up his shorts before scoring the crucial second goal for the Gunners.

City have the man mountain Erling Haaland in their side and against Fulham he scored yet another hattrick and I’ve seen some opposition fans, on social media, label him as the tap in man. He’s definitely not that, but even when he scores a goal that he makes look easy, it’s his physicality, guts and never ending appetite to win that carries him into so many goalscoring positions, and to shrug off so many defenders. We all know what an awesome player and athlete he is, but it’s those characteristics that make the difference.

At Sheffield United, a couple of weeks ago, City conceded a goal quite near the end, but they responded by stepping up, led by Dias, Rodri and others. These players, this squad, is full of players with character. When City search for new recruits, whether through the academy or via the cheque book, they look for strength of character just as much as pure ability, which is, of course, also seen as essential.

During the last few moments of the game against the Cottagers, on came Rico Lewis, Oscar Bobb and Sergio Gomez. All three of them are relatively small in stature, but they have the qualities that Txiki Begiristain (Director of Football) and Pep Guardiola look for.

I host a weekly City podcast, which you’ll find on Soundcloud, iTunes, Spotify and wherever you download your podcasts and my special guest this week was former City favourite Danny Tiatto, who remains one of the most determined players I’ve seen. He was honest enough to admit he’d probably not get into a Pep Guardiola team today, perhaps because of a lack of quality or lack of discipline, but he certainly had that will to win. When allied to the other qualities that modern City players have, the result is a perfect team. Enjoy the International break and remember, It’s Great to be a Blue!