City’s prized defender Mangala’s performance doubted

Will Eliaquim Mangala go as far as validating the £32m transfer fee paid by city for his move from Porto? The French player seemed to be facing issues again during Sunday’s 2-2 draw match against Burnley. He appeared to be vulnerable under the high ball. This weakness seemed to be quaint especially due to his physical attributes of being quite tall. The player seemed to be slugging and lacking confident. Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini commented on the 23 year-old player’s performance stating that he does not indulge in analysis of individual performances but he rather focuses on the overall performance of the team. Pellegrini further added that he did not believe Burnley had a great chance to score during the last match and that they scored their level best. He does not wish to blame any one player.

The last part of Pellegrini’s statement, even though it might have sounded disingenuous, rightly summarized the actual state of Mangala’s game. The question is not about finding if they did not win because of Mangala but whether the player has struggled. The player costs about £40m to the club, which can be seen as quite a hefty price even for the best strikers. Arguably Mangala might need some time to adjust to the new club. However, some might also argue that for such a price and at this point of the Premier League, the player should already have started to display his considerable talent during matches.

The best that could happen now is for the Frenchman to catch up on his game and to impress.