Manchester City needs work in the summer transfer window, but their efforts have to start in Manchester well before that time.
The journey from Manchester City to Liverpool earlier this season was important: it was the first time in almost seven years that they were not favorites to win a Premier League match.
That was completely back in April 2017, when Champions-Elect Chelsea won 2-1 at Stamford Bridge to justify the opportunities and to emphasize the gap that Pep Guardiola had to bridge if he wanted to conquer English football. It would also be the last league match that the blues lost for nine months, and although the Centurions deserve the majority of the honor, the work began before the transfer window was opened.
City won six and attracted two of their remaining eight league matches in the 2016/17 season, scored 22 goals and gave only five while they confirmed a top-three finish that meant that they avoided the Champions League qualification for the next season. What is even more important, Guardiola used that time to spot exactly who he could count on as part of the great rebuilding and whose time in the club was up.
There were some ruthless decisions, such as Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling in Middlesbrough in favor of Gael Clichy and Jesus Navas to make a point about the defensive work that the manager wanted and needed from his wing players. It also took until the last match of the season, after two goals in a 5-0 win in Watford, for Guardiola to confirm that he wanted to be sure that Sergio Aguero would stay after the year that he would do more of what Rookie Gabriel Jesus took off the ball.
However, four straight victories to end the season were enough for the city to speed up in the summer and a clearer vision on exactly what was needed to bring them to the next level. Eight years later, after Liverpool has done the double over Guardiola for the first time on the way to de -rejecting his team as champions, a similar approach is needed.
The manager praised the performances against both Newcastle and Liverpool as 'brilliant' and those games have shown the future of the team with the help of arrivals in January. Omar Marmoush (26), Nico Gonzalez (23) and Abdukodir Khusanov (20) have all quickly adapted to the Premier League and have dragged down the average age of the team, so that Erling Haaland (24), Josko Gvardiol (23) and Phil Foden was (24) look less isolated.
In his first season in English football and only 20 years old, Savinho has been one of the best players in the city in recent months, while Jeremy Doku (22) and Rico Lewis (20) have both age on their side for their value to prove. Throw Oscar Bobb (22) and Vorror Reis (19) and many of the pieces that the blues need to return to the top are already there.
A winning framework, in addition to the best of these players with the more experienced stars in the team that are still able to contribute, must be found between now and the end of this season to give the city their best chance To prove that the era of the club of winning is not over yet. There are still 13 winning league games between Wednesday and the end of May, where every experimentation for next season would not cost a top-five finish that will guarantee them a place in the Champions League of next season.
If the last week has shown what a task city has in the summer, they have three months to get a lead at work.
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