Manchester City players have received a lot of praise in their careers but found this summer there is not much credit in the bank with some
Ederson and Dias
Ederson and Dias
Manchester City fans struggled to agree on what to conclude from the Club World Cup. Was there enough in the four performances to be optimistic about a new era under Pep Guardiola, or were there enough holes to be worried that the same old problems will lead to more disappointing results next season?
One thing that was certain was that the most glasses got a lot less full after defeat to Al Hilal. All the giddy optimism from four new signings was quickly replaced by criticism of players that are out to prove their worth all over again.
A lot of the online heat does not make its way to pubs or stands and plenty of it in recent weeks has been on the extreme side. Nevertheless, it goes to show that reputations have quickly been discarded among some noisy supporters after the frustration of last season.
The worst was reserved for Ederson and his family, with his wife restricting comments on her social media after some of the abuse aimed at City's No.1. But there was still plenty of criticism dished out to Ruben Dias, Manu Akanji and others for their performances as City suffered an unexpected exit in a tournament where they had hoped to change the narrative.
"They were obviously troubled times for many reasons but you shouldn't doubt each other because of a bad wave," Dias told the Manchester Evening News in May. "That shows a weak house and we are a strong house.
"If anyone doubted, maybe they should learn a lesson for the future. When everyone is available, the conversation changes a lot and we get very dangerous."
As a competition, the Club World Cup was a missed opportunity for the squad - as the FA Cup Final was - to prove their critics wrong and show that they are still capable of being the best in the world. It is something there has been a lot of talk about yet the actions were missing.
That only raises the stakes for the Premier League and everything else that comes next, and the knives on social media will be sharper after another failure. It doesn't make it right, but it is something that every player in the squad is going to have to accept.
Just like Jack Grealish could not live off his performances in a few months of the Treble season, nobody else will be able to turn up to pre-season training at the end of July relying on their past achievements. Any mistakes they make will be highlighted and criticised by supporters who are desperate for the same mistakes not to be made again.
That sense of proving people wrong should appeal to a squad that have made a challenge out of it time after time under Guardiola, but just because they have done it before they will still have to prove they can do it again.
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