Manchester City’s recent decision to rest stars could backfire
If Manchester City lose to Dynamo Kyiv tonight, their decision to play the youngsters in the FA Cup might ultimately be judged as a foolish one.
It is important to preface this argument by saying that the Football Association and the BBC screwed Manchester City. There is no punchline there. They screwed City by having them play Chelsea on a Sunday in round five of the FA Cup, even though they knew that City have to play in the round of 16 in the Champion’s Cup just three days later.
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For that, the Football Association and the BBC should be ashamed. They could easily have scheduled the game on that Saturday, but didn’t. Had it been Chelsea or Manchester United in that situation, would the same decision had been made? Probably not.
But I digress. As everyone knows, Manchester City chose to play an unprecedented eight teenagers in Sunday’s 5-1 loss to Chelsea. Six of the youngsters started, and two came off the bench. Five of the six starters were full debutants. Fans, that is those that do no support Manchester City, criticized the club for making a “mockery” of the sport, and “blatantly disrespecting” Chelsea.
Again, the FA and the BBC are to blame here. They simply put City in a bad predicament, and in the process decreased the value of their tournament by inadvertently encouraging City to favor Champion’s League glory over just another FA Cup.
But enough about that. We all know what benefits the decision to rest the City stars will serve if they come out tonight and destroy Dynamo Kyiv. However, what if they don’t? What if they go out there and lose anyway? At that point, would the decision to rest the stars and start the youngsters backfire on Manuel Pellegrini, who, in a sense, has become a lame duck manager?
City find themselves in quite a precarious position. A victory, while not guaranteed, would quell the doubters. A loss would not only be a massive upset, but also the final nail in the proverbial coffin.
A loss diminishes Manchester City’s chance at winning the Champion’s League for the first time. This would also shine a brighter light on their domestic endeavors. They are currently six points behind Leicester City in the Barclay’s Premier League with 12 games to go. They are, as of Sunday, out of the FA Cup. They are also in the finals of the Capital One Cup.
A loss tonight means that they would only control their destiny in the Capital One Cup. This is disastrous to the team and its fan base that once dreamt of winning four major trophies in one season.
A loss to Dynamo Kyiv will bring about further questions about Pellegrini’s decision to start so many youngsters against a club like Chelsea, who despite having a miserable season, have really turned it on in recent weeks.
In defense of City, their next two fixtures after the Chelsea match are against Dynamo Kyiv and the Capital One Cup final against Liverpool. Realistically speaking, there was never any way that City were going to play their regulars in all three games. Rob Pollard of Bleacher Report was adamant in his argument that City players would have been exhausted by the time the match against Liverpool came around. Speaking of Pellegrini, Pollard made it clear that the manager made the right call.
"“If he went ahead and played the same players in all three games, by the time the League Cup final (City’s best chance of silverware this season) came around on Sunday, they’d have been dead on their feet,” said Pollard. “Wouldn’t that have been disrespectful to that proud competition?”"
There is no denying that Pellegrini made a sound and justifiable decision. There is no debate here. However, if City fail to get past Dynamo Kyiv, arguably their best shot (ever) at making it to the quarterfinals of the Champion’s League, and if they lose to Liverpool in the Capital One Cup final, that decision will be chastised all summer long.