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Make no mistake about it. Manchester City, driven by the seemingly interminable wealth of talent at Manuel Pellegrini's enviable disposal, will be competing strenuously at the upper echelons of the Premier League.
Chelsea, deservedly, are the favourites but City are equally formidable, just as good defensively as offensively. To compliment their audacious flair, City have assumed the efficiency and clinical nature preached by Pellegrini, the ability to weather opposition storms before applying the finishing touch. It was what helped City over the line last season and it promises to do so again.
At Newcastle, there were moments of outrageous trickery such as Edin Dzeko's silky back-heel to set-up David Silva for City's first, and also instances of stoic defending, with Vincent Kompany and Martin Demichelis stout to deny promising Newcastle substitute Ayoze Perez in the final minutes. Sergio Aguero applied the finishing touch, killing Newcastle's spirited fightback.
Adroit recruitment drive & crucial experience
The victory was promising, more so for the defensive aspect of their performance, but City know they can improve. Pellegrini has substantially upgraded on a squad brimming with talent, acquiring both Eliaquim Mangala and Fernando from Porto, Willy Caballero from former club Malaga and Frank Lampard on a six-month loan from Major League Soccer franchise club New York City FC.
Mangala will bolster a defense more solid than most in the Premier League and Fernando looks a high-quality recruit, anchoring the City midfield at St James' Park. Cabellero will provide stern competition to Joe Hart, the England international performances set to be scrutinized by Pellegrini as the Chilean bids to ascertain his first-choice goalkeeper.
The duo will be judged on a game-by-game basis and Hart seems to be in the ascendancy, producing a solid display, thwarting the lively Remy Cabella, who was a bundle of skills and tricks, and Perez as City clung onto a victory. Lampard, as he attempts to reach full fitness before joining up with David Villa and co in New York in March for the start of the MLS season, will be of use in the cup competitions, most predominantly the Champions League given his wealth of experience in Europe's elite competition. Lampard's former club, Chelsea, have set the precedent, signing Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas and Filipe Luis, but City have been equally adroit in the market.
There is talk of a move for Edinson Cavani, the Uruguayan disillusioned at Paris Saint Germain, but further recruitment seems unlikely, with chief executive Ferran Soriano hinting that City's summer business is complete. Pellegrini has an abundance of talent at his disposal. Even with Pablo Zabaleta yet to assume his buccaneering right-back role, even with Fernandinho and Aguero yet to fully recover from their exertions at the World Cup with Brazil and Argentina respectively, the blessed Chilean was able to field a formidable team.
In Silva, a player they call 'Merlin' at Carrington for his mercurial wizardry on the ball, they have one of Europe's most gifted playmakers, deprived of a disruptive ego. The Spaniard is very much a team player, often tracking his runner, this time in the shape of Cabella and even accumulating a booking for his endeavours. Bacary Sagna, arriving on a free transfer from Arsenal, is further competent reinforcement to Zabaleta, with Gael Clichy showing he can also excel in the coveted right-back position.
City have high-quality reinforcement in each and every position, with Pellegrini, extraordinarily, able to field two sides. Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Mangala, Aleksander Kolarov, Silva, Fernandinho, Yaya Toure, Samir Nasri, Aguero and Dzeko in one, Caballero, Sagna, Matija Nastasic, Demichelis, Clichy, Jesus Navas, Fernando, Lampard, James Milner, Stevan Jovetic and Alvaro Negredo in the other.
Winning mentality instilled by Pellegrini
Soriano, successful at Barcelona, merits adulation for shrewd market business, acquiring many, if not all, of Pellegrini's targets and tying City's most integral, gifted, coveted players to lucrative long-term contracts. Silva signed a new five-year deal and Kompany, indisputably one of Europe's most accomplished centre-halves, was persuaded into agreeing to a five-year contract. Dzeko, revitalised by the visionary Pellegrini, is in talks to commit his future to City while striker partner Aguero has agreed to five-year deal to avoid the clutches of Real Madrid and Barcelona.
City have a winning mentality, borne from their two Premier League triumphs in as many years. Of the squad which triumphed so dramatically under Roberto Mancini's stewardship courtesy of Aguero's stupendous winner against Queens Park Rangers in 2012, twelve remain, so crucial in guiding City to the title last season despite only being on top for fifteen days. They have the belief that anything is possible. "We're Manchester City, we fight to the end," their fans chant. Aguero taught them that.
