Opposition View: Manchester City

Whilst Brighton have nothing to play for on the final weekend of the Premier League season, it’s a huge day for Manchester City at the Amex.

Victory for the Citizens will ensure they become the first club since Manchester United a decade ago to retain the title. It will also set them on their way to becoming the first side in English football history to complete the domestic treble, having already won the Carabao Cup and with an FA Cup Final date with Watford to come (no reminders of how they got there, please).

Most pundits seem to have assumed that Pep Guardiola’s superstars winning in Sussex is a formality, but not City fans – rather like us, they’ve seen one too many cock ups down the years to believe anything is certain. That’s the view of James Sproston from Main Stand Musings who spoke to us about the game in prospect, what City need to do to become even stronger and how impressed he is by Albion supporters.

So it all comes down to Sunday. How confident are you about City being crowned Premier League champions at the Amex?
There’s no hiding that City are favourites with just the one game left, but we’ve been in this position before and nearly messed it up. You won’t be able to find a proper City fan who thinks it’s already wrapped up. In retrospect, I’m sure we’d all love another Agüero moment but I don’t think my heart could take another roller coaster like that.

Given how rubbish that we’ve been since the turn of the year, we’ve actually done quite well in our last couple of games with the big six taking a point at Arsenal and only going down to a brilliant last minute winner from Christian Eriksen at Spurs. Is there any worry among City fans that the Albion could derail your title bid?
The fact that you’re already safe has steadied a few nerves, but it also takes the pressure off the Brighton players. Brighton are never easy to beat, and you’ve shown that against Spurs and Arsenal. I think our best trait these last few games has been our patience, and we’ll be sure to need a lot of it at the Amex. No one should ever write off Brighton at home, no matter how bad your form has been.

We only met five weeks ago in the FA Cup Semi Final at Wembley. What were your thoughts on the game that day?
Tense. It was great to start the way we did but I was well aware that we’re most susceptible to a slip up once we’ve gone one up. Brighton’s fans were class, and spurred the team on to battle until the final whistle, and could’ve got a goal on a couple of occasions. City certainly weren’t at their best, but I’m so glad that we’re in the final. Having a shot at the domestic treble is huge for us, and it’ll be our sixth trip to Wembley this year.

Speaking of the domestic treble, where would this season rank if City did become the first side in English football history to do it? Or how about if the unlikely happens and you end up with just a Carabao Cup?
Either way it’s been far more memorable than last season. What we managed to do last season was daft, but we were so good that there weren’t that many standout moments besides the 100-point winner against Southampton on the final day. It’ll be a far bigger success this year if we come away with three titles, especially considering the competition in the league. With the women’s side winning both the Continental Cup and the FA Cup, securing every domestic cup available would be a huge achievement. If we just come away with the Carabao Cup, then we’ll only have ourselves to blame, but it would still be a season to fondly look back on. As much as it’ll feel like a disappointment, there are a number of our rivals that have had many consecutive trophyless seasons, which should give us a good sense of perspective.

You exited Europe to Spurs. What’s needed to help City take those final few steps towards winning the Champions League?
I honestly think that game was lost in the first leg. You could sense the fear in Pep’s team selection and that reflected on the pitch. Agüero’s missed penalty encapsulated that anxiety and we didn’t really look like scoring for the rest of the game. We didn’t come away with an away goal because we weren’t brave enough, and Spurs were more than bold when they came to the Etihad. Likewise, looking at Liverpool, they went to the Camp Nou with fear but blew Barça away at Anfield. That’s what we need to do. Of course we need to have some tactical sense about us, but we need to be confident enough to play the way we know how on the biggest stage. I’ve only ever seen Pep approach a game with that much fear when he’s taken us to Anfield. It rarely works out so we just need to stick to what we’re best at.

Looking ahead to next season and a strengthened City is a scary prospect for anyone. Where do you need to add players and who do you think Pep Guardiola will be bringing in?
Unlike last season, it feels like we’ve got a bit of deadwood to shift. Nicolás Otamendi, Fabian Delph, Claudio Bravo and Danilo all look set to leave, and a few players that aren’t getting enough game time might also want to move on. We’ve been really effective at buying younger players and seeing them become more senior figures so I hope we do more of the same. Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sané, Aymeric Laporte, Bernardo Silva and John Stones all look to be the future of the club, so hopefully we sign some more youth. Bruno Fernandes has been heavily linked to strengthen our often-depleted midfield, and I’d love to see Joao Felix come to the Etihad as well. More so than that, I’d like to see Pep trust a few more youth players with first team opportunities. Eric García, Felix Nmecha and Ian Poveda have all impressed in their brief cameos, so hopefully they can follow the footsteps of Phil Foden and start to make more appearances in the first team.

Finally, a prediction of what you think is going to happen?
I’m notoriously bad at making predictions, but based on recent games and the semi-final, I’d back City to win 1-0. Having said that, I can see Florin Andone screaming one past us with five minutes to go. That would be far from ideal.

Thanks to James for answering our questions – and hopefully he’ll be celebrating another Premier League title come Sunday evening. Anything but Liverpool winning it! You can offer your congratulations if that is the case by sending a tweet to Main Stand Musings on Twitter.