Filed under: Manchester City, Premier League, Football
The loser was always likely to fall victim to a considerable fall-out but Manchester City's defeat at Chelsea throws up the same old questions about Roberto Mancini's regime and its future.As we have come to expect, they went away to a top five rival with plenty to play for and decided not to try to play and, having mustered a grand total of two shots on target, left Stamford Bridge with a 2-0 loss.
Mancini still has his name sung by City fans but supporters remain hard to pin down on the Italian.
One caller to a Sunday phone-in - hardly the last refuge of the sensible - admitted that all he wanted from the season was to finish in the top four, beat United in the FA Cup and then lose the final to ensure that Mancini is pushed out this summer.
Whether that is sensible or not - whether Jose Mourinho could really be persuaded to leave Real Madrid for Eastlands - all depends on the kind of managers available.
So we can only really look at what the future might be like if Mancini, who has one year remaining on his contract, stays around.
Edin Dzeko has received plenty of criticism in the wake of the game at Chelsea but the Bosnian may be the only senior striker - along with the incredible survivor Jo - left after the summer.
Few would be surprised to see Carlos Tevez depart, surely they would be glad to get their money back on Mario Balotelli and both Emmanuel Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz have been allowed out on loan for a reason.
David Silva has been an outstanding signing, Yaya Toure has also been a fine addition, Nigel de Jong, like him or not, remains as reliable as ever, but the right blend in midfield has remained hard to find.
In defence, Micah Richards has come on considerably and Vincent Kompany has emerged as one of the finest in Europe. But while Joleon Lescott has impressed, he could be improved upon and Aleksander Kolarov has divided opinion.
For all the money that has been spent there is still much to be done, making mockery of the suggestion that only two or three arrivals will be enough this close season.
Knocked out of the Europa League by Dynamo Kiev last week, they remain four points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham, who still have to travel to Eastlands and have a game in hand.
They are 10 points off leaders United, who have rarely got out of third gear as they look for a 19th title. Mancini talks repeatedly of having "closed the gap" on United but there is little to suggest that the Blues have made significant strides from 12 months ago - certainly not the sort of strides that the money invested should have brought.
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