Man City Square have now had the chance to rewatch the whole victory against Fulham and have identified three things which caught our eye.
If it Ain’t What You Do, is it the Way that You Do It?
Champions win games. That is the key factor which defines the art of becoming Champions. It is lovely when teams gain titles with swagger like Manchester City did in their Centurions season, but mostly teams grapple over the finish line with grit and determination. Winning messy is a fine skill for any team to have. So we probably should not lessen the way a victory is achieved.
At the moment City are continuing to lead the way in the table – adding 3 points from every game, regardless of the distractions around. Seemingly oblivious to the mind games of Klopp and the fanboy media. City do not care if they are leading or chasing, just clearly focussed on each and every game as it comes.
Against Fulham though there was a new kind of performance. This was not a fanfare of slick football blowing the opposition away. Nor was it a gritty grinding out of the result. This was a new way of winning. City did just enough to win. They played at 60% and it was enough to beat Fulham. It was almost as though someone had undertaken a difficult calculation to ascertain that 60% was exactly the minimum effort required – that 61% would be wasted effort and 59% would be a draw.