Ian Cheeseman: Forever Blue

Back to back away games, at Brighton and Nottingham Forest, have been negotiated successfully by Manchester City this week and it’s been two wins from two.

They were very different matches. Brighton tried to go toe to toe with the Blues and ended up losing heavily. I’ve heard lots of City fans in recent weeks bemoaning the fact that opposition teams often set out a very defensive formation, which can make the game less exciting.

They’re right of course, but I don’t blame them. City are the best team in the World right now and taking them on at their own game is foolish, they’re very unlikely to succeed. Forest took a completely different approach when the two teams faced off at the City Ground on Sunday. It’s true to say they are desperate for points, as they battle for survival in the Premier League, but they were more pragmatic. They know their talent is not at the current heights City are enjoying.

That said, I thought Forest created a few good chances, generally playing on the break. I think it’s fair to say that City rode their luck at times and it took a second goal, late in the game, to end Forest’s brave battle for a minimum of a point.

As I watched the game unfold, from behind the goal, stood among the travelling City fans, I particularly enjoyed watching City’s defending. It’s easy to sing the praises of Pep Guardiola’s creative players, but it was the less celebrated players that caught my eye.

Everyone knows the value of holding midfielder Rodri, who’s now gone well over a year without playing in a losing team. He can certainly describe himself as an invincible, but what about players like Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji. Neither player screams for attention, they just go about their business without fuss and seeking no stardom.

I’ve rarely seen a player who reads the game as well as Nathan Ake. Pep Guardiola once said that he doesn’t coach his players to be fierce tacklers. Ake shows why. The Dutchman glides alongside attacking players, apparently effortlessly, by reading the situation perfectly. He takes the ball away and quickly moves it on to another City player. Akanji has the same skills and is also deceptively fast and strong. They’re two City players who deserve just as much recognition as Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland.

With four Premier League games to go, the Blues are now red-hot favourites to lift the trophy for a fourth year in a row and it’s that combination of highly skilful creative players, humble, hard working defenders and an unbelievable team ethic, created by Pep Guardiola, that is almost certain to carry City over the line. Time will tell, and of course things can go wrong, but I expect City to triumph again.

In other football news, the Premier League clubs have voted to investigate a new type of financial control. Instead of having limits on spending dictated by the profit and loss account, they prefer a spending limit. City were one of the clubs that voted against this and

it appears that FIFA may soon pave the way for domestic games to be allowed to move abroad. That might mean City v Spurs could be played in New York rather that at the Etihad Stadium. Let’s see how that progresses and whether fans will welcome it or react like they did when the European Superleague was suggested.

This weekend City face Wolves, in Manchester. Here’s hoping that having won two tricky away games, the Blues remain fully focussed for what might seem a more straightforward home fixture. As always, It’s Great to be a Blue!