Talking Football: Manchester City too slick to miss out on title and Pep isn’t making Mourinho or Conte’s moods any brighter

SPORTS writers John Barrett and Adam Lanigan mull over the latest goings on in the world of football including Manchester City’s domination of the Premier League, Mourinho’s discontent and who they’d buy if they became a billionaire football club owner…

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LONG odds-on favourites

.In imperious form and scoring goals for fun. And most significantly, eight points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Can you think of any reason why Manchester City WON’T be crowned champions this season?

JB — Short answer? No. As things stand, they are almost literally in a different league to the opposition.

Obviously, things can change when the weather turns, the fixture lists get manic after Christmas and injuries to key players bite.

But they are spending the autumn squirrelling away points for the possibility of a hard winter and if they carry on in this vein of form even for just another month, they could make themselves immune to future blips.

So far, City have played three of their title rivals — Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal — and won all three games convincingly.

None of their rivals can come close to that record.

On paper, neighbours United are the biggest danger, but their weakness is their conservatism in away games against the rest of the top six.

In Jose Mourinho’s last 10 fixtures against the other five big clubs, his teams have scored just a single goal.

Pep Guardiola, on the other hand, is always on the front foot.

He knows that’s where the strength of his team lies and he makes sure he uses it.

If nothing else, it means his defence is rarely tested because the opposition is too busy stopping Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane, Kevin de Bruyne and David Silva.

Sure, in theory, it might all go belly up, but I don’t think it will.

AL — Of course there are reasons why City won’t be Champions.

Injuries, loss of form, the slog of English football.

City’s squad is very strong in certain areas, but weak in one or two spots.

There is no obvious replacement for Fernandinho in midfield — and he does a vital job for the team — while Fabian Delph is still a makeshift left-back.

Plus, this Saturday marks the start of 11 Premier League games between now and January 1.

Throw in two Champions League games and a Carabao Cup quarter-final and there is barely time to think.

It’s almost impossible for City to carry on winning every match during such a relentless run.

But what their good start has done is allowed them a cushion in case they do have one or two iffy results.

Are we looking at another Invincibles season?

JB — Guardiola says that Arsene Wenger should not be worried because there is no way he will take his unique achievement away from him.

That Arsenal team was brilliant going forward, but it had much more defensive steel than City do and that got them through a lot of tricky drawn games during that unbeaten campaign.

Logically, Pep has to be right. Even the greatest players have the odd off day.

What City will almost certainly do is break the current record of 103 goals in a Premier League season, set by Chelsea in 2009-10, because if they keep scoring as they are, they’re on course for around 130 goals.

AL — It is far too early to talk about that. We are in November and there are still 27 games left.

If City get through the winter slog and are still unbeaten in early March or April, the conversation will become relevant.

As John says, the Premier League goal record of 103 is much more realistic.

They need 66 more at a rate of 2.44 goals per game to do it and they are currently averaging more than three a game.

No-one seems to think Antonio Conte will be at Chelsea next season. Why is that? He is the manager of the champions after all . . .

JB — There are several reasons.

Firstly, Conte is an extremely-volatile character who has walked away from big jobs before if he hasn’t got the backing he’s felt he merited from the boardroom and the dressing room.

Secondly, Chelsea’s business plan is that the manager is a medium-term appointment.

No-one ever completes a third season. They will sack the incumbant without qualms because history tells them they can appoint someone else and win the League the following season.

Thirdly, the dressing room is a notorious source of player power and in the past has played its part in the dismissal of coaches like Phil Scolari, Andre Villas-Boas and Jose Mourinho second time round.

Conte may last this season, but I wouldn’t put money on him lasting next.

AL — Managing at Chelsea is notoriously difficult because everyone within the corridors of Stamford Bridge is trying to please Roman Abramovich.

Therefore, the manager doesn’t have the same sort of relationship with his superior as at most other clubs.

Conte’s fiery Italian personality is not to everyone’s tastes and sooner or later, the power brokers at Chelsea will get fed up with his constant public sniping about their transfer business.

Neither party sees this as a long-term appointment, so a parting of the ways next summer is probably the most likely conclusion.

Is it fair to say Pep Guardiola, Mauricio Pochettino and Jurgen Klopp are media darlings? And is Jose Mourinho a bit jealous?

JB — If you’re asking if Jose has a chip on his shoulder, I’d say it’s more like a sack of spuds!

It wasn’t always that way. In his first spell at Chelsea, he was loved by the media for his touchline passion, his one-liners and his piratical attitude towards authority.

It’s worn thin over the years and though the trophies have kept on coming, his demeanour has soured as he’s matured.

His bust-up with Chelsea doctor Eva Carneiro was a watershed moment in terms of tolerance of his antics, and since then, the public’s perception of him has changed for the worse.

Guardiola, Pochettino and Klopp all have the advantage that they’re newer to English football and haven’t built up the reservoir of negativity Mourinho has.

Jose insists that he’s not given enough credit for the success he’s had and that is undoubtedly true. He’s an excellent manager. It’s just that sometimes he’s very hard to like.

AL — Jose Mourinho’s biggest problem at the moment is a dispute with the neighbours.

He looks at Manchester City and sees a team that is ahead of Manchester United in the table, scoring more goals and playing better football. And he’s completely jealous.

The media are purring over City scoring five, six and seven goals a match while his side have managed two in their last four league games. Try not to be miserable in those circumstances!

The “Big Six” are already in the top six positions and likely to stay there. Someone’s got to finish seventh. Who do you think is best of the rest?

JB — At the start of the season, there was only one position in the Premier League that had a club’s name already indelibly inked into it. That was seventh and the name was Everton.

The Toffees have recently made the spot their own because they’ve been not been good enough to break into the top six while being significantly better than the others.

Obviously, that’s clearly not the case at the moment, but with the right managerial appointment, there’s still time for them to haul themselves up the table and claim what’s almost become their birthright.

There’s not a lot to choose between the 14 clubs outside the top six, which is why the likes of Watford and now Burnley have briefly threatened to win the “best of the rest” title.

If I was forced to choose, though, I think my money would be on Leicester, who still have the core of their Premier League-winning side and seem to have made an astute move to secure Claude Puel as boss.

AL — Wow, this is a hard question! There is so little between any of the clubs outside of the Big Six.

Southampton have some excellent players and should be aiming for seventh, but they have seemed a bit conservative under new manager Mauricio Pellegrino.

Everton and West Ham were others who should have been targeting a high finish, but they are fire-fighting after disastrous starts to the season.

On that basis, with Claude Puel now at the helm, Leicester probably look as likely as anyone to finish in seventh, especially if he gets the best out of Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez.

PSG apart, Europe’s superpowers haven’t looked so super this season, which gives the Champions League an open look. Who’s your fancy to win it?

JB — The obvious shout is PSG, but it’s premature to write off any teams that possess either Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi.

Both Real Madrid and Barcelona seem to be facing transition periods and of the two, I’d fancy Barca more simply because they are further along the road in their rebuilding programme.

Bayern Munich are still strong enough to have a say and you can never rule out Italian clubs, but I don’t see the winner coming from there.

We’re expecting all five English clubs to reach the last 16, but the only one with a realistic chance of winning it is Manchester City.

I had my doubts until they played Napoli the other week. Now I believe it’s realistic.

If the draw keeps them apart, I’d go for a PSG v City final, or perhaps more accurately, the mega-rich Qatar-owned club versus the mega-rich Abu Dhabi-owned club!

AL — I have been very impressed by PSG, but they might find it harder in the knockout stages to go from non-competitive league games in France to the intense knockout football in the Champions League.

Bayern, Barcelona and Real Madrid don’t seem quite as strong as they were and Juventus don’t appear to be the same team that reached the final in Cardiff last season.

The English clubs are looking strong again and of all those, Manchester City have the ability to score goals and make chances against anybody.

So I’ll be patriotic and say City to lift the famous trophy in Kiev next May.

Arsenal are currently favourites to win the Europa League (before the Champions League drop-outs join). A perfect swansong for Arsene Wenger?

JB — Mourinho proved last season that this is now a trophy worth winning and if Wenger takes it seriously, it would be a good way to bow out if he chooses to call time on his Gunners association next summer.

Incidentally, according to Mourinho’s method of totting up trophies, did you know that Wenger is currently the most- successful manager in the Premier League?

When The Special One lists the stats that prove he’s a serial winner, he always includes Community Shields to boost his silverware count.

On that basis, Wenger has won six trophies in the last three years, compared to Mourinho’s five.

In that period, Guardiola has also won five trophies.

Who’s the specialist in failure now, Jose?

AL — I think everyone in football is now more or less agreed that Arsene Wenger should stand down as Arsenal manager.

But he had the perfect chance to leave last summer after winning the FA Cup with that victory over Chelsea, and sport doesn’t offer too many perfect scenarios like that.

The Gunners are already playing catch-up in the race for a top-four spot in the Premier League, so there is no reason why they shouldn’t go full tilt at the Europa League.

But I don’t see Arsenal winning it. Wenger has played a weakened team so far and I have a feeling he will persist with that and get found out after Christmas.

You’ve become an oligarch overnight and can afford to buy any club in the world. Which one do you want, which manager do you want, and which one player do you want?

JB — The last English club with real potential that’s not already been snapped up by foreign money is Newcastle United, and that situation is likely to change in the coming months.

So I’d gazump whatever is offered Mike Ashley, hand Guardiola a bigger salary than he’s on at City and tempt him north with the delights of the Bigg Market.

I’d need a figurehead head player to fill the famous black and white No 9 shirt, so I’d pay a world record transfer fee for Harry Kane.

AL — It would be easy to say a club in the Premier League, but that’s awash with money already. So I’m moving abroad and I’m going to pick Roma.

It’s a great club in one of the world’s great cities. That should be an advantage in attracting the best players.

And there would be a big ambition for Roma to overtake Juventus and the Milan clubs as the dominant power in Italy.

As for manager, I’d bring in Mauricio Pochettino, and Harry Kane’s goals would be the perfect spearhead for my revolution.

If Pochettino was successful, he might even become the most popular Argentine in Rome — just ahead of Pope Francis!