Spurs 4-1 Manchester City: Blues Lacking in Leaders

Manchester City supporters can spend the aftermath of the stunning defeat at White Hart Lane discussing officiating decisions or lamenting missed chances. But for me the overall takeaway from the match was the lack of leadership exhibited on the pitch.

With Captain Vincent Kompany injured, inspirational leader Pablo Zabaleta still out, Goalkeeper Joe Hart missing (the club has claimed it is injury but Manuel Pellegrini had previously stated he likes to give Willie Caballero consecutive games so I have to believe that factored into the decision to sit Hart) and Yaya Toure withdrawn due to injury early in the second half, the Blues lack of urgency was very telling.

The biggest takeaway from the match was that after the second Spurs goal, I never felt like City was going to get back into the match. The last time I felt that way about the Blues was in April 2011 when we got hammered at Anfield and it appeared things were completely coming apart. But days later City beat Manchester United in the FA Cup semifinal. So prior to that the last match I felt this helpless in was at White Hart Lane in December 2009 - and that match led directly to the sacking of Mark Hughes. In the post Richard Dunne world, Manchester City did not develop any leaders until Kompany and Zabaleta (and Micah Richards to a lesser extent) developed that quality.

This time however, no match like facing United at Wembley looms and no Manager change is on the horizon, nor should it be. Instead lots of internal soul searching and thinking awaits those that were left in the side after Toure limped off injured. The Blues looked out of sorts and at times completely disinterested late on - that is not a good sign for a team that aspires to winning the Premier League title this season.