Man City's faltering title challenge will come to an end on Super Sunday, says Jamie Redknapp.
City's title challenge will come to an end at the Emirates, says Jamie
A lot of people have blamed Manchester City's dip in form on fatigue, but I'm not sure that's the reason.
A fatigued team wouldn't come back from 3-1 down to draw level with five minutes to go like they did against Sunderland on Saturday; they just wouldn't have the aerobic capacity to do that.
The problem, for me, is in midfield. They've only scored six goals in the league from the middle of the park since Christmas Day and David Silva in particular looks like he's lost a little bit of confidence.
At the beginning of the season he played with no fear and every time the ball came near him you expected something to happen. There was so much flair and imagination about his play, but he is yet to register this year, while you have to go back to January 22 against Tottenham to find his last assist.
In comparison Manchester United's midfield have chipped in with 12 goals in that same period of time and players like Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young have scored some really vital goals.
Historically United are always strongest at this time of the year and it's proved to be the case once again, but collectively City haven't been able to react in a positive way, and I don't think they can win the title now.
I don't see them beating Arsenal on Sunday which means the deficit could be as much as eight points by Sunday night, and if I was a City fan my main concern would be are our biggest rivals going to win it in our own back yard on April 30.
Arsenal had a blip away at QPR last week after a great run of form, but even though they didn't perform to the level Arsene Wenger would've liked, you have to give QPR credit. They battled and worked hard and it was a fantastic performance, which is why I expect Arsenal to bounce back against City, especially considering City's recent away record.
They've only won two of their last six away games in the league and both of those were narrow 1-0 victories over Wigan and Aston Villa.
Pressure
It looks like they're going to end the season without a trophy this season and I think that will be a huge disappointment for the owners, so it's inevitable that Roberto Mancini will come under huge pressure, especially given the amount of money he has spent.
If he was the manager at Chelsea in this exact situation he would definitely get the sack, but Sheikh Mansour might be a bit more lenient, as long as they don't completely disintegrate between now and the end of the season, although I wouldn't put money on that.
I've been in similar positions during my Liverpool days to what the City players find themselves in now and it's honestly like you're running on quicksand. And I don't think it is fatigue, it's a mental issue, not a physical one. You start making bad decisions, you don't pass the ball as fluently as you did at the start of the season and your confidence slowly ebbs away.
It's strange and it shouldn't happen because these are all players who have won major trophies like European Cups, World Cups and various league titles across the world, but it just looks as though their nerves have gone.
I don't think Mario Balotelli has helped their cause, either. Yes, he's a very talented player and he can win you games, but he can also be a poisonous influence in that dressing room.
Rowing
You don't see United players rowing with each other on the pitch like Balotelli does and Saturday against Sunderland wasn't a one-off. I've been in situations where you take free kicks and you have an argument with your mate, but it seems to be every other week with him.
A few weeks ago it was Yaya Toure who was the problem when they had words in the tunnel at Swansea, this week it was Aleksandar Kolarov, and next week it will be someone else.
By all accounts he just does whatever he wants to do in training and that's something that's not going to go down well with the rest of the players. You can't have a Balotelli rule and a rule for everyone else, and unfortunately I think the cons outweigh the pros with him.
As for Arsenal they'll be looking over the shoulders a bit at Chelsea, as will Tottenham. Roberto Di Matteo has done fantastically well in recent weeks, but they're still in the FA Cup and the Champions League and that fixture congestion could hinder them a bit.
Top four
In contrast Arsenal can concentrate purely on finishing in the top four and securing a place in next year's Champions League and you get the feeling if they beat City on Sunday they'll beat Chelsea too in a couple of weeks.
Last weekend's result aside, they're playing with so much confidence and style and having a back four of Bacary Sagna, Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Koscielny and Kieran Gibbs intact has made a massive difference, while in midfield I've been so impressed with Alex Song.
His passing from deep has been as good as anybody else in the Premier League this season. It's very easy to play safe, but he's always looking for that forward pass and you can see whenever he gets on the ball Robin van Persie is on the move and looking for it because he knows Song can execute an inch-perfect pass which he can get on the end of. I've loved watching him play this season.
He'll have a big part to play on Sunday and I just don't see Arsenal getting beat. The best City can hope for will be a draw and that won't be good enough to win the title.
