What is next for City?

With City's ride in the UEFA Champions League over, City continues the season with the Premier League being the sole competition the club is still in, technically. With Chelsea showing few signs of tripping up and City not finding good form, Chelsea looks set for the league title, while City sit and wonder about what could have been and exactly where and when they lost their form. Now, it is crunch time. Teams like Arsenal and Manchester United, 3rd and 4th respectively, are starting to play good football in the league. United do have a difficult run of matches, but their unpredictability makes them a threat, as demonstrated by the 3-0 rout of Spurs. If City continues this slump, with the point gap among the three teams in mind, City could slide down the table. There must be no more distractions and only good football for City to lock up second place. Furthermore, it is time for the City, as a team and organization, to make decisions for next year. Here are some of the decisions that should be considered for next season:

Club captaincy: Because Kompany has had the City armband for the last couple of seasons, it would seem that the big Belgian being City captain is the club's norm. With his poor form in 2015, coupled with a slight dip in leadership, as demonstrated by his fall out with Fernandinho, some fans are wondering if Kompany remains the best fit for City's captaincy. With a string of good performances, especially against Barcelona, Joe Hart should get a possibility at the club's captaincy. It is difficult to quantify the roles of a center back and a goalkeeper, but when one of the two is struggling with form, while the other is flourishing, it makes sense to make a switch in captaincy. With this, it would give a wake-up call to Kompany, one of the world's best center backs, that he must pick up his old form if he is to recover the captaincy in the future.

Change of manager?: With City out of the Champions League and with bleak prospects at the title, much of the blame has been mounted on to the shoulders of Manuel Pellegrini. His reluctance to change formation from the typical 4-4-2 has been a major factor for the desire of the destitution of Pellegrini by many fans. With the lack of results, it is starting to become more and more evident that someone else will take his place at the Etihad. Who is the chosen man? The decisions are beginning to dwindle, with mounting speculation that Diego Simeone, a man once seen as Pellegrini's successor, is now looking to re-sign with Atletico Madrid for the next five seasons. Guardiola remains a candidate, but his contract does not expire until 2016 at Bayern Munich and the lure of a very lucrative management role for the Qatari national team is in his head. Someone like Ancelotti might come in, but the search for a new manager might be a bit difficult in the summer.

Signings: Wilfried Bony came in during the winter, but since his return from the Africa Cup of Nations, the £30 million rated man has yet to score or make a significant contribution for City. With the possible departures of Stevan Jovetic and even perhaps Edin Džeko, it is curious to see who will be signed as a replacement. One man could be Argentine wonderkid, Paulo Dybala. The 21 year-old Palermo man is priced in the region of £35 million, and is coveted by many top clubs in Europe. Being dubbed the 'new Agüero,' his 12 goals in the Serie A have made him a possibility for City. Another man is Kevin De Bruyne, Wolfsburg's attacking brain. This season has seen De Bruyne register 14 goals and 22 assists in all competitions for Wolfsburg. At the moment, City's form makes it evident that a catalyst of De Bruyne's calibre would reignite the depleted side. If signed, both men could make vital contributions next season for City.

City must look forward in anticipation for the rest of the season. The next match is against West Brom on Saturday at lunchtime and if City wants to make a statement of intent, the best moment is to make it is on Saturday by facing a mid-table side at home and coming out on top convincingly.