Manchester City staged a very disappointing defence of their league title and look back on a season of regrets and failed expectations. Roberto Mancini failed to really strengthen the squad in the summer after that dramatic last-gasp title win and seemed to have too much confidence in his players. His only significant signing of the summer was Matija Nastasic who slotted in as a regular centre-back along with Vincent Kompany and would prove to be one of the top defenders in the league at the end. City started relatively strongly but there was a lack of ruthless touch and power about them. They struggled to beat inferior teams like Southampton and QPR while being lucky to get a point at Liverpool. The Sky Blues were showing some spirit though and grounded out important away wins at Fulham and West Brom and at home to Tottenham after coming back from behind. That merely papered over the cracks though as Mancini plainly had no idea how to use his resources, constantly making changes in formation and shuffling his flair players along the front line. That said, City remained the only team without a defeat in the league going until December merely due to the sheer quality of the team he had and the enduring powers of recovery shown by the players. However, the first big meeting of the season with title rivals Manchester United would have massive repercussions to City's season. They valiantly fought back from two goals down at home only to concede right at the last moment of the game. That 3:2 loss had a real impact on the mentality and belief of the team who lose their air of unflappability at home, losing their first home league game in nearly three years. On the top of that, it was proving another miserable season in Europe where City finished bottom of their admittedly hellish Champions League group, becoming the first ever English team in the competition to bow out without a single win in the competition. Mancini was feeling the pressure from all sides now and another loss, at Sunderland, left his tough with a tough task in the title race as the gap increased to seven points. City never really looked like coming back to catch United, like they did the previous season, from then on and there was almost resignation within the team. They dropped further points in February and a totally miserable 3:1 loss at Southampton left them 12 points behind. The rest of the season was a mere footnote with some players finding belatedly form. Indeed, City put a fine performance to beat United 2:1 at their own patch in early April but it barely postponed the title party of their rivals. City remained in the FA Cup though and had a brilliant chance to win it for a second time in three years after beating Chelsea 2:1 in a brilliant semi-final. Wigan were expected to be obliging opponents in the final but instead City were humbled and completely outplayed and eventually suffered a last-minute 1:0 loss. It proved to be a fitting finale of a desponding season and the owner could not wait another week to give Mancini the sack and promptly fired him in a couple of days. A lot of question marks surround the team at the moment in terms of new manager and players expected but it will be a steep task for expected new boss Manuel Pellegrini to mould a winning side given the big egos in the dressing room that primarily undermined Mancini and were the main reason for his failure to meet the high expectations set to him.
