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Forever Blue: City are reaching new heights

Etihad Stadium.

Was Manchester City’s performance against Bayern Munich their best performance of the season? Was it one of their best ever?

That certainly is what a lot of City fans have said to me since that magical night at the Etihad Stadium. It was definitely one of the very best. Bayern looked really good at times and it felt like every one of the Blues players had to be at their very best to win the game so convincingly.

I don’t know how Pep Guardiola does it, but he has motivated and coached the players so well that they are now playing every game as if their lives depend on it.

This is Pep’s seventh season at the club. How has kept the standard so high for so long. It’s definitely not just about money. Not only are they winning trophy after trophy but they are winning games by big margins and racking up record after record.

Back in the days of Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford they won lots of titles but they didn’t need to produce win after win after win, like Pep’s City do.

The Blues have been pushed by United, Liverpool and now Arsenal and are not allowed to drop points. I go to games expecting City to win them all. It’s not because I’m arrogant, it’s just that they never know when they’re beaten and they fight for every ball.

Back in my school days, I wasn’t bad at Badminton, but sometimes my big rival was better than me, but he couldn’t out fight me. I never accepted defeat. I chased down every drop shot and fought to return every shot.

That’s how it feels when I watch City. When it looks like the ball is going out, the chasing player not only keeps it in, but he finds a team mate, who in turn has already seen what the next pass.

Every player in this Guardiola team wants to win every tackle and even when they’re beaten, they come back at you. As soon as a player, any player, including the goalkeeper, is gets the ball they immediately look for the next positive pass. It’s unrelenting and as an opponent it’s like to stop the tide coming in.

Against Bayern it was impossible to pick a man of the match. All eleven were magnificent. When I chatted to fans after the game, for my match day vlog for YouTube, the first person I spoke to simply said, “I’d give every player ten out of ten tonight”, and I couldn’t really argue.

I’ve already booked my trip to Germany for the second leg, but it does seem a bit of a foregone conclusion now. I can’t see Bayern turning around a three goal deficit and more significantly I can’t see City surrendering their advantage. I say again, that’s not arrogance speaking, it’s a professional judgement based and what I have seen with my own eyes.

Next up for the Blues is Saturday’s visit of Leicester City in the Premier League and it’s hard to imagine any other outcome than another emphatic home win. The Foxes seem to be in freefall and in my opinion, they’ll go down to the Championship with Southampton and one other team.

The only chance of Leicester have of getting anything at the Etihad Stadium would be if Guardiola makes mass changes to his team, like he did at Southampton in the League Cup, but I can only see him making minor changes this time.

I’ll be having a quick look at the cost of flights to Madrid and maybe even Istanbul over the coming days as this amazing season gathers momentum and this City team threatens to be their greatest of all time. You’re allowed to dream in football and that’s what I, and my fellow Blues are doing right now.

It’s Great to be a Blue! 

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