Manchester City Fans – Anyone Feeling Nervous?

For Manchester City the season is quickly being reduced to just two games, where only winning will do. No one wants a runners up medal.

Sometimes as a Manchester City fan it is easy to forget how many times we have been in similar positions before. Where everything comes down to a single game and a positive result. Of course, we have often blown it in these moments before – when we have taken the ball to the corner to waste time when we actually needed to score.

This time though the pressure around the games seems different in some way, heightened. As though in some crazy way there is more at stake or more to lose when the reality is we have been in these situations before and winning the title is just as important now as it was back in 2012.

Whether this is because it is Liverpool and the impact of all the “red” media onslaught or it is just the uncomfortable thought of being the team to gift Liverpool a title? Has that piled on the anxiety, knowing it will be impossible to go on any social media for about 3 months!

More from Game preview

• Penalty miss from Haaland and later scored, late equalizer from Sheffield and final moment from Rodri extend City’s perfect start in the Premier League
• Manchester City vs Manchester United FA Cup Final: Predicted Lineup for City
• Manchester City vs Brighton & Hove Albion: Predicted Lineups
• Manchester City vs. Real Madrid: Predicted lineup for Manchester City
• Manchester City vs. Real Madrid: The 3 Keys to Victory

The 2011/12 title race was decided momentously in our favour thanks to the wonderful Aguero goal. Although we went through the full range of emotions on that final day as the title was in our hands, wrestled away and then secured. But did we really fear a sense of loss given we had never tasted the victory of a Premier League title?

In 2013/14 the title race felt like an impossible chase as we hunted down Liverpool but as the momentum built, the confidence grew and I can not recall feeling any real jeopardy as the final games counted down.

In 2017/18 we were so far in front there was no title race. The opposition was blown away and it was simply a question of how soon we wanted to finalise the trophy.

So this season feels very different. The jeopardy is there because we have tasted the sweet victory already and do not want to lose it. It is amplified because of the thought of losing to Liverpool and their fans. So there are plenty of nerves around.

There are also real and painful memories of “typical City” and an expectation that not only do City like to do things the hard way but we sometimes seem to want to create our own drama. A lot of City fans are fully expecting Brighton to score first on Sunday just to make the task that bit more tricky and to ramp up the anxiety levels of the fans.

Some City fans seem oblivious to the looming pressure and are simply able to carry on regardless and I envy those at this point. I am finding the nerves are beginning to bite already and consequently work has been a steady trudge this week. In the next couple of days managing the stress will prove more difficult as we get closer to kick off.

There are of course lots of self help websites and on line tutorials to help with nerves. Unfortunately most of these provide suggestions City fans will not want to follow! They say things like imagine what is the worst which can happen and realise it is not so bad. However if I imagine the worst which can happen – City losing the title on the last day – it is really bad and would be devastating!

So, there are precious few suggestions around to manage the nerves as we move towards this last game other than the tried and tested. So I shall seek solace in the ways I have managed the anxiety before – I shall aim to get quite drunk and to watch the game in the company of other City fans! Sunday evening can not come soon enough.