Picking the top four is never easy at this point in the season. It's hard to study form because we are so early on but from what I have seen so far, City are not a title-winning side. The departure of Sir Alex from their rivals should have seen City capitalise on this and have a head-start in building their own era. Roberto Mancini was doing a good job in managing personalities as well as he can, they are overpaid young men after all, he had brought them a superb triumph in the league over their rivals the previous year. However, they sacked Mancini for Manuel Pellegrini, and while his replacement is experienced and has a good managerial record, a good club is built on consistency. It's very easy for Manchester City to slip into the inconsistency of Chelsea. The issue of Joe Hart is also a tough one, the England number one has been in poor form this season, which he has admitted, and has since been replaced with Pantilimon. I think it's common knowledge that of the two, Hart is the better goalkeeper. But Pellegrini has dropped Hart to teach him a lesson about the standards at the club. Which is a good idea. And a bad one. It's a good idea because it will stop Hart becoming complacent and have time to work on his game and the rest will help him in the future. However, the next time Hart steps out onto the pitch for City he'll be nervous, he won't be able to play his natural game because he will know that one error and he may lose his place again. He may even question how much backing he has from the club. Another problem is the away form, four points out of an available sixteen is a poor record for most sides. They have dropped silly points against teams like Cardiff and Sunderland where they could have used the games to get ahead of the competition. The last match at the Stadium of Light you could argue they were unlucky because of the amount of chances that they created, but you could tell that they just didn't want it as much as Sunderland. There was a distinct lack of passion, and even confidence in their own ability, maybe they just don't feel comfortable when they aren't at the Etihad. That said, they have an amazing team. Aguero and Negredo seem to work better as the season continues and even then they have Dzeko to bring on from the bench. They have world class players in every position and although they have had defensive problems such as conceding three to newly-promoted Cardiff, the players are experienced enough to learn from their mistakes. Despite their initial problems they are yet to drop points at home, which is key. That's why they will finish fourth, they just have too much quality in their side not to.
