Share Comments By Tyrone Marshall 06:00, 12 JAN 2019 Sport opinion City have been in irresistible form recently Get Manchester City FC It’s the tribalism that often makes English football the spectacle that the rest of the world wants to watch.
The loyalty to clubs, the passion of the fans and the contempt for the opposition. We all get wrapped up in the emotion of the game on these shores.
From arguments about the size of the grass, light-hearted discussions about exactly how many goals City should be scoring and barbs about the money they’ve spent, there’s plenty of people lining up to throw mud at the Blues, as is the way in our game.
But sometimes you have to take a step back. City’s eviscerations of Rotherham and Burton Albion provide the ideal time to do that.
This is no normal football team as 16 goals in 180 spell-binding minutes proves. The opposition might not have been up to much, but thrashings of this size remain relatively rare, never mind two in four days.
Read More Man City might find their ideal Fernandinho replacement at the Etihad on Monday The intensity of this season’s title race will inevitably lead to some animosity, but this is a team to be appreciated. Pep Guardiola’s side are rewriting the rule book when it comes to English football.
It’s the standards they set last season that have forced Liverpool to raise their own game, with Tottenham now trying to respond as well.
The sheer beauty of some of the goals City have scored recently has to be admired and against Liverpool they combined that grace with guts to haul themselves back into the title race.
It was wave after wave of attack against Rotherham and Burton, with the Championship and League One sides mesmerised by the speed of the passing, the movement and the angles. While you had to have sympathy with the opposition, this was wonderful to watch.
Pep Guardiola's City have scored 16 goals in two games (Image: Getty Images) Guardiola may have spent plenty of money since his arrival at the Etihad, but it’s impossible to say that it’s not money well spent. Other teams have splashed the cash and failed to get results. Guardiola has spent and with that money he’s produced one of the best football teams this country has ever seen.
Forget the argument about where this City side rank against Arsenal’s Invincibles, or United’s treble winners. Ultimately it’s impossible to compare them.
Instead, appreciate them for what they are and the fact that they’re the here and now.
It would be a surprise if Guardiola stayed at City beyond another couple of years. Before then, get to a TV every time City are live and take every chance you get to watch them in person.
English football might not appreciate what it has until it’s too late.
Read More Pep Guardiola gives Man City injury update on Sergio Aguero Read More What Man City team told Ederson after risky turn in penalty area vs Southampton in Premier League
