Read this and piss your sides....

From Luke Edwards in The Telegraph.

There is a reason no English club has managed to win four competitions in one season and Manchester City are not going to break that barrier, no matter how omnipotent they have been under Pep Guardiola.
City are running out of steam and Guardiola knows it. The January bid to sign Riyad Mahrez was a flexing of financial muscle that masked weakness. Having lost Leroy Sane to injury for six weeks, Guardiola wanted to replace him with a £60m purchase, in a position he already has cover in.
The decision to only name six substitutes against Burnley last weekend was a ridiculous attempt to suggest his resources are stretched to breaking point. Subtle mind games, perhaps, but they betray a growing concern that his players are on the brink of exhaustion, flogged hard, pushed relentlessly, in the pursuit of four trophies.

Results have just about held, nobody has got closer to achieving the impossible, so deep into a season, but performance levels are dipping. City are like a 10000m metre runner who set off at a lung-bursting pace, shocking the field, but they are running out of gas.

Fatigue is setting in. The effects are felt both mentally and physically. There is a hint of vulnerability now, but City are too far ahead. The plan was to break their opponents early, to open-up such a formidable lead that the others gave up hope.


It has worked. Jose Mourinho, manager of Manchester United, their closest rivals, has already conceded his team are competing for second-place. City, even if they do falter, should have the title wrapped up sometime in April. But the quadruple, that is starting to look beyond even their considerable powers. 


City have lost only one game against domestic opposition this season – the thrilling 4-3 defeat against Liverpool at Anfield last month and just twice in all competitions, the other coming in a dead rubber at the end of their Champions League group campaign, to Shakhtar Donetsk, in Ukraine, before Christmas.

Rarely has one team being so blatantly superior to the rest in this country, but physically, they could be about to crack. The lack of a winter break will bite them hard, even if  City are a rampaging, ruthless beast hellbent on the destruction of the Premier League’s bold boast to be the most competitive league in the world.

A quick glance across the major European leagues makes for depressing reading. The one thing that has consistently wrapped us in a comfort blanket during our repeated Champions League failings is the fact our domestic competitions are so much more demanding.


The English season, so we have come to believe, is a gruelling, energy-sapping slog for even the richest sides because we have, from top to bottom, from title challengers to relegation stragglers, far more evenly matched opponents.


Our multi-billion-pound television deal protects that, apparently, as does our unique sporting mentality, the refusal of any team to go through the motions. Those illusions appear to have been shattered by Guardiola, but perhaps that theory still holds.

The Spaniard was caught by surprise in his first year. He was the arrogant one and ended his first season chastised and trophy-less. It was he who brought up the fact that, if he had been at a different club, he would have been sacked.

This season, Guardiola has wired explosives to that foundation stone of the Premier League’s appeal and pressed the detonation button.

Their lead over Manchester United at the top of the Premier League, even despite the shock of only drawing at Burnley last weekend, is 13 points.


In Germany, Bayern Munich – who have won the title five years on the spin – are 18 points clear of Bayern Leverkusen. In France, where Paris Saint Germain have distorted the competition with their state backed wealth, lead Marseille by 11.

In Spain, where three clubs, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have slugged it out at similar weights in recent years, Barca currently dominate, sitting 11 points ahead of Atletico.

As for Scotland, the most obvious of one horse races, Celtic are currently only eight points ahead of Aberdeen as they close in on their seventh successive league title.


City have been superb. Guardiola has imposed a style of football that makes everyone envious of his achievements at the Etihad Stadium, but he will not win four trophies. In the end, City will be broken by the huge physical demands made of them.

To win all four competitions, City will have to play at least 68 games this season, more if they need a replay in the FA Cup. It is only February, there are more than three months left of the campaign and City are puffing hard. 


Guardiola may well be able to rotate, but he has not done it often enough. He has asked too much of players like Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling, who have been involved in virtually every game. Do not be surprised if neither manages to shine at the World Cup in the summer.

Having moved in the final of the Carabao Cup, the first leg of an unprecedented quadruple is almost in City’s grasp, but Arsenal are dangerous opponents in the final, a team that if it blows hot, can blow anyone away.

Defeat could come at Wembley, where Arsenal have been so comfortable in the past. Arsene Wenger engineered a win over Chelsea in the FA Cup final last year, when Antonio Conte’s were the overwhelming favourites to do the double.


With the Champions League resuming next week, defeats will come, whether it is in Europe or at home, Four trophies in one season would give City the means to claim they are the best English club side of all time, but there is a reason nobody has done it before and it has not been because of a lack of talent.

he doesn't seem to be able to make a point and go with it...?
other than "it won't happen"..

And players won't be at the top of their game in the WC!

They will if they win a title and 2 or 3 trophies!!

He obviously seems to have a Guardiola dislike.... His jealousy
seems to know no bounds.. Sounds to me like the kid that has always got his own way but now has a rival who is bigger & better.

Yeah, we really looked like we'd run out of steam on Saturday. Maybe we need more articles like this, it only seems to spur us on.

Was this written before we ran out of steam in the second half against an improved Leicester?
To use somebody else's phrase, what a cock womble.

You've got to accept that some City players probably are a little fatigued. Kev, Raheem, Nico, Fernandinho and even Serge have played a lot of games. 

But, and here is where it gets interesting, Spanish Dave is coming back (even if he's had other things on his mind); Leroy Sané is back after a short injury absence; Jesus will be back in a week or so; Delph should be back in a week or two (hopefully); Foden is fit again; Kompany and Stones are back fit; Mendy will be fit to play in about 4-6 weeks.

So, just as the season is hotting up, we have got a few players back from injury and many others that should be back within the next two weeks.

Then you've also got the players that haven't played as much like Danilo, Laporte, Gundogan, Zinky and even Yaya.

We've got a full compliment of 4 CBs right now. 2 LBs (Danny and Zinky and even Laporte if we want) and 2 RBs (Walker and Danny). Plenty of attacking MFs (Kev, Gundogan, Bernardo, Sterling, Sané, Diaz, Foden). Aguero could be rested if we needed to. The only position that we haven't got adequate cover for is Fernandinho. That's it.

So, although we might have a few players that are a little tired after lots of games, we've got the cover available to get by.

I'd rather the 'journo' said it's really difficult to win 4 trophies. Arsenal can be tough in the Caribou Cup Final. The CL is always tricky and there are some very good teams left in it. I certainly wouldn't have us down as favourites. And the FA cup still has Chelsea, United and Spurs left in it.

Fatigue will play it's part, but that applies to all teams. Better to say that the competitions are tough and there are good teams out there.