Pellegrini under pressure to build on last season's success

Manchester City are victims of their own spending.

They were worthy winners last season, but not particularly popular ones.

They proved The Beatles wrong. Money couldn't buy them love.

Beyond the Etihad Stadium, only Manchester United supporters and Evertonians were rooting for them to deny Liverpool the title and even Red Devils fans were caught between a rock and a hard place.

So this is how City's season will almost certainly play out.

If Manuel Pellegrini's men emulate the feats of United and Chelsea and successfully defend their title, melodramatic obituaries lamenting the death of the Premier League will be swiftly penned.

City will be snootily dismissed as a dynasty designed not by a coaching committee overseen by Eric Harrison at Carrington or Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, but by faceless Middle Eastern investors.

And that's if they win.

If they lose, they face nothing but failure; unmitigated failure at every turn.

If the title isn't retained, Pellegrini gets the push. If cups prove impossible to come by, the entire club will be castigated.

If the European dream turns premature nightmare once more, scapegoats will be dragged across the back pages and routinely slaughtered.

Pellegrini's position is practically untenable already. He either takes City where no previous manager has taken the club before or he risks the wrath of karma.

With untold riches stretching from the Middle East to Manchester, via feeder clubs in Melbourne and New York throwing up freakish Frank Lampard loan deals, City are on the brink of dominance.

They are one campaign away from taking a stranglehold on the Premier League for the next decade. Their financial grip is sustainable and absolute. City's petrodollars make their owners look like Popeye to Roman Abramovich's Olive Oyl.

And yet, there is an intriguing paradox.

In previous decades, Sir Alex Ferguson's dynasties were usually blessed with only one pretender to the throne at a time.

Newcastle were replaced by Arsenal, who stepped back for Chelsea, who slipped into Man City's shadows.

Now they're all suffering delusions of grandeur. Three of those four clubs are plotting assaults on the Premier League summit (the Magpies aren't of course. They just suffer with delusions of grandeur.)

Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have all strengthened; either desperate to build on a successful campaign or to make amends for a disastrous one. Their pre-season additions mostly outshine those made at City.

REINFORCEMENTS

At £32 million ($66.6m), Eliaquim Mangala's acquisition was the most expensive - and most essential - taking much of the £49m net spend limitation imposed on the club by Uefa due to their Financial Fair Play irregularities. The French centre back should slot in seamlessly alongside skipper Vincent Kompany - eventually.

By his own admission, the French defender isn't match fit after his World Cup exertions. His obvious replacement is 33-year-old Martin Demichelis whose ageing frame held up until the end of 120 minutes of the World Cup final.

Free transfer Bacary Sagna provides useful cover anywhere along the back four. Willy Caballero does likewise for Joe Hart, but whether he proves useful remains to be seen. Olivier Giroud had no problems beating him from 30 metres in the Community Shield last Sunday.

Fernando's inconsistency resembles the resume of an odd-job man rather than a decisive midfield enforcer and the Brazilian must work to shake off the perception of being a lightweight Fernandinho.

Compared to the glamour names strutting through the doors of Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford and the Emirates, City's purchases appear considerably low-key.

But their title defence depends not on new faces putting pen to paper, but on existing personnel finding their fitness.

In pre-season, Stevan Jovetic offered enough gumption to convince Pellegrini that the Montenegrin has the potential to partner Sergio Aguero.

Jovetic started only twice last season. Aguero missed half the campaign. If Pellegrini can keep the two together, he believes he can keep the trophy.

With David Silva committed for the long term and Yaya Toure no longer blubbing over a forgotten birthday cake, City's spine should send shivers through every Premier League dressing room.

But, in the short term at least, the spine is splintered. Aside from Mangala and Demichelis, Kompany, Aguero, Pablo Zabaleta, Sagna, Fernandinho, Hart and James Milner are all in doubt for tomorrow's EPL opener against Newcastle United after their World Cup commitments.

To add insult to exhaustion, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea then make up three of City's next four games. There was little sympathy for the Red Devils' tough opening fixtures last season. They'll be even less for City; a club where cups are now considered commonplace.

The Premier League represents not a renaissance, but a routine. Pellegrini's princes are expected to follow United and Chelsea and win a second consecutive title.

Domestic and European success is no longer a pipe dream, but a prerequisite.

Such expectation can be overwhelming. The fear of failure will follow Pellegrini all season long.

Money can't quite buy love for City. And it can't buy patience either.