Firstly, at the (very slight) risk of speaking too soon, congratulations. Overhauling an eight point gap was a brilliant achievement, to go with their amazing feat of keeping pace with United all season. It looks like the first premier league title to be won on goal difference is upon us, and will be completed next week, barring a favour from a Manchester United old boy (Mark Hughes nicking points from City or John O’Shea scoring 12 own goals).
The champions of the most prestigious league in the world is one hell of a title, but with great power comes great responsibility, a responsibility that the only teams to really dominate the league for long spells of time (United and Arsenal) have handled brilliantly, but one I fear Manchester City will not. Lets look at the young players coming through at United, and the experienced players leading them. Not only did the United squad cost a hell of a lot less, it features a ton of young Englishmen, some purchased and some brought through the ranks. Compare this to City’s world-beaters and we start to see the difference. Arsenal dont dominate anymore, but still retain a positive attitude when it comes to promoting young players, and though not a great deal of these are English, the likes of Oxlade-Chamberlain, Carl Jenkinson and Theo Walcott show a positive attitude (even if they are purchased) to building for the future.
My fear is not that Man City will stay successful, but that they will do it in completely the wrong manner, using their unrivalled wealth to cream off the top players from clubs around the world, and even to stick them on the bench as we have seen this season with Englishmen James Milner and the brilliant (and young) Adam Johnson. City owe it to football to give something back, and they need to invest in young players with unfulfilled potential and a youth system that will actually bare fruit, and get a chance in the first team.
City’s position is a dangerous one for the rest of football, their resources are beyond any other Premier League team’s at the moment, and with Champions League football and the title of English League Champions, there surely aren’t a great deal of players (that dont have Man Utd bred into them) that the blue half of Manchester couldn’t tempt into their squad.
I wanted Manchester United to win the title, but this is completely irrelevant, I am making this plea (which will fall on deaf ears) for the sake of the integrity of British football, not for the sake of the Old Trafford faithful.
