5 biggest mistakes made by teams last season
It is interesting to note how a small error in judgement can bring down a football club’s fortunes instantly. Just like every season, the 2014/15 season was no different as we saw some clubs miss out on their potential targets due to differing reasons.Had the manager/ club thought differently about their transfer strategies, formations, long-term planning, etc., their particular seasons could have ended on a positive note. Here, we take a look at such clubs who committed some mistakes during the course of the recently concluded season and ended up failing to achieve their desired targets -
#1 Manchester City\'s over-reliance on Yaya Toure effectively
Manchester City was one of the clubs expected to battle it out with Chelsea for the Premier League title. However, the 2013/14 champions rarely looked convincing in their displays and subsequently lost crucial points during the course of the season, eventually conceding the title to Chelsea.
One of the major reasons for the club’s dismal campaign was the form of midfield linchpin Yaya Toure, combined with their over-reliance on him.
The former Barcelona man had one of the best seasons of his career with City in the 2013/14 campaign, scoring 20 goals in 35 appearances in the league, which propelled the Citizens to the title. Normally, he was expected to be their star man for the next campaign, but that wasn’t to be the case.
Toure scored just 10 goals in the league and was accused of ignoring defensive responsibilities for the club. It was also telling that City lost a lot of points when he had gone on duty for the African Cup of Nations.
Ever since his move to Manchester City, Toure hasn't had to compete with anyone for a starting berth in the team and has always been one of the first names on the team-sheet on any given day.
The club have only themselves to blame as they haven’t found another box-to-box midfielder like Toure who could chip in when the going gets tough. New signings were bought in the form of Fernandinho and Fernando who were expected to replicate that role but so far, they haven’t lived up to the hype during their time at the club.
Juventus star Paul Pogba looks like the perfect box-to-box player, who has been strongly linked with a switch to Manchester City during this summer. Such news will be encouraging for the Sky Blue fans, but with all the European clubs lurking around the French international, City can expect a tough battle.
Even if they fail to sign him, Pellegrini must make sure he signs a midfielder of the ilk of Toure to relieve some of burden on the African star or expect another disappointing season ahead.