Last chance for Mancini to win title

Posted Sunday, March 18, 2012 by The Sun

Last chance for Mancini to win title
WHAT'S GOING ON? ... Mancini's City have shipped points at the top of the table

HISTORY shows that you have to take advantage when Manchester United are not at their best — because you might not get a second chance.

And that is why Manchester City and Roberto Mancini could live to regret it if, as other sides have done down the years, they shoot themselves in the foot in the title race.

If United win the league, they will be worthy champions but there is no denying this has been something of a transition season at Old Trafford.

And it would be a poor reflection on the rest of the Premier League, and City in particular, if they cannot finish ahead of them.

Mancini will be all too aware the pressure will build if it turns out that City miss out after having a five-point lead — especially when you consider United have not been without their problems this season.

They won just three of their 10 games in Europe this season and were knocked out of the Carling Cup by Crystal Palace and the FA Cup by Liverpool.

Alex Ferguson will be aware of their shortcomings and you can almost guarantee his side will be stronger next season.

Their young players will be more experienced and you would expect there would be further investment in the squad.

If United become champions this season it would be a formidable achievement.

Consider what has gone on over the past year. Last summer, Edwin van der Saar and Paul Scholes retired and Gary Neville had hung up his boots not long before.

OK, Scholes has since come back but that is a hell of a lot of experience to lose in a short amount of time.

On top of that, you had the likes of John O'Shea and Wes Brown moved on and Nemanja Vidic and Darren Fletcher missing the vast majority of the season through injury.

Sure, they brought in David de Gea, Phil Jones and Ashley Young but they are young players and, in Europe, they have not been quite up to it.

That change should have left United vulnerable in the Premier League too but, having got themselves a healthy lead, City now find themselves a point behind.

That will become four today because United will beat Wolves, racking up the pressure on City to beat Chelsea on Wednesday.

And it looks like it could be the same old story of United coming good in the second half of the season and managing to overhaul a rival who had got their noses in front.

Go back 16 years and Newcastle had a 10-point lead at the end of December but United were able to overhaul them.

People talked about the signing of Faustino Asprilla messing up Newcastle but I don't think that's the case.

The key was us winning at St James' Park in March with an Eric Cantona goal.

It's probably only in hindsight that Newcastle realised what a big opportunity they let slip because they have been nowhere near winning a league since and it's unlikely to happen soon.

OK, City are better equipped to be an enduring force because of their financial clout but with that comes expectation.

Mancini will be aware that a young United side is only going to get better and finishing ahead of them in seasons to come will be more difficult than it is now.

It's still in their hands and I think the Manchester derby next month will go a long way to deciding the title but City look to be lacking United's know-how.

It's not that United have to be in fantastic form but they know how to string results together.

Since successive defeats by Blackburn and Newcastle, they have taken 22 points out of a possible 24 with four of those wins coming by a single goal.

It might not be as big a fightback as United had in the 1995-96 season but it would be impressive nonetheless.

And it would give United confidence that they could see off the challenge from their 'noisy neighbours' in the years ahead.

Our prayers for Muamba

OUR thoughts and prayers are with Fabrice Muamba and his family.

Every now and again you get a reminder that, however much we all love football, it is only a game.

The FA Cup tie between Bolton and Tottenham will have meant the world to players and supporters alike.

But then things were put in perspective by what happened at White Hart Lane.

The sight of a player falling to the ground in the middle of a match for no apparent reason is a frightening one. To hear he had to be resuscitated on the pitch and is fighting for his life is shocking.

There have been a few instances of players collapsing like this in recent years. At least it has seen defibrillators being put in grounds for when something like this occurs.

Why all the flag waving, Drogba?

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