Burnley 1 - 0 City: What Did We Learn?

Well that was just depressing, wasn't it? City did what they've done all season long, holding the ball for a really long time, ultimately accomplishing nothing with it and dropping points to a team we could very well see in the Championship next season. So what did we learn from this surprising loss?

1. Pellegrini is gone

While some of the criticisms leveled against the Manchester City boss have seemed unfair at times this season, Manuel Pellegrini has certainly made his share of mistakes, which will result in his axing come the end of this season.

To be honest, I don't necessarily blame him for a loss to Burnley. The manager of a club like City should be able to put anyone on his team out against a relegation candidate and see them play better than City did yesterday, and the players deserve some ire for making Burnley look more effective in what possession they did have than City was. But there was one small move from Pellegrini that just made him look out of touch with this team.

That move was the decision to bring Stevan Jovetic on for the final 15 minutes or so of the match. While it's entirely possible that this is an overreaction, and Jovetic was professional enough to look alive out there, Pellegrini burned this bridge by (understandably) keeping Jovetic out of the Champions League squad and following that up by not playing him in Premier League games. It felt like Pellegrini had already burned his bridges with Jovetic (the guy may have already picked out a new team for goodness sake), making that move more awkward than effective.

One of the hardest facets of managing an elite club is being able to manage players to make sure everyone stays involved and engaged. Pellegrini struggles with that at times, which will be one reason (other than the results, of course) that he will be axed.

2. This was a huge missed opportunity

Today, Chelsea dropped points in a 1-1 draw with Southampton, which could have left the door open to some extent for City had they done their job and claimed three points against Burnley on Saturday. Obviously hindsight is 20/20, and the gap between City and Chelsea still could have been six points after Chelsea's game in hand, but a loss to Burnley hurts even more when it could have helped keep a dead looking title race alive, even if by the faintest of pulses.

Perhaps even more disappointing is City missing the opportunity to further separate themselves from other clubs attempting to enter the top four and claim a Champions League place. With this loss, City sit just seven points clear of fifth place Liverpool, who have won four straight and look far more capable of consistently winning games than City does at the moment.

As a result, instead of being able to put everything we've got into Barcelona, we've got to keep an eye on our rear view mirror in the Premier League as well.

3. This center back situation looks bad

Another game, another case of Vincent Kompany looking like a different player than the one we call our captain, with another game added on to increase the sample size. And that's to say nothing of Demichelis, who wasn't awful, but isn't a player I'd trust too far down the road, even though we've done just that by giving him an extension.

City let Nastasic, who looks like a promising player, go for good. Will they usher Denayer and Rekik into the fold at some point? Or, as it was eloquently put earlier this week, will Demichelis continue to be the "safe pair of hands" at the back to exist with Kompany and Mangala? Because if it's the latter, City's defense may not be safe at all.

Feel free to disagree vehemently with me, and vote in the poll, below.