A tale of two Citys

For the second year in a row, Manchester City has been doing something rather odd - progressing to the quarterfinal round of the FA Cup (last year's appearance their first in something like two decades) while absolutely tanking in the league. The EPL season hasn't been kind to City - they've crawled no higher than ninth, currently sit just six points clear of the relegation zone, and have lost the ability even to win games at home. Since the conclusion of their surprising post-Christmas three-game winning streak, which concluded with a 2-1 win over Everton on New Year's Day, City are 0-1-4 in the league and have scored just a single goal. In the same period they're 3-1-0 in FA Cup games, although it probably bears mentioning that all three games have come against Championship opposition. City's opponent tomorrow is Blackburn, a club that City have already lost to twice this year by a combined 7-2 scoreline. In fact, boding particularly well for this tie, City last beat Blackburn on August 25, 2003, long enough ago that the winning goal was scored by Nicolas Anelka, who hasn't donned the City shirt since I started following the club, but whose goalscoring prowess certainly appears sorely missed.

With just ten games left in the season and staying up no longer the certainty it once was, perhaps it would be best if City lost to Blackburn on Sunday, which history seems to dictate they will anyway. Inability to finish has been the thorn in City's side all season, and putting all their eggs in Mido's basket only to see Spurs hold onto him at the eleventh hour of the transfer window means that the only candidate to save the season, aside from someone like Vassell or Samaras going on a seemingly unlikely tear, is Emile Mpenza, a Belgian striker whose highest all-competitions scoring total in the past six seasons is six goals in 2002-03. You will forgive my skepticism.

The point is that the FA Cup may well be a distraction. City's fortunes during last year's FA Cup run were decidedly better - four wins and five losses in nine games may not be anything to write home about, but it's certainly better than a draw and four losses in five. It's a bit suspicious on the heels of a three-game win streak. Maybe all the time off in February contributed to the sluggishness in the Wigan loss, but how do you explain 3-0 to Blackburn? (Other than the obvious fact that City can't beat Blackburn.)

There are some big games coming up. City still must host Chelsea, United and Liverpool, and there is probably no game in the remaining ten more important than April 6 when Charlton come to Eastlands. If City are still holding on by only a couple wins at that point, points will be absolutely paramount (as though they weren't already). But who's going to score? Joey Barton leads the team with five league goals but hasn't scored in the Premiership since December 17. Samaras has four goals but they've come in just two games. Vassell has found the net in the Cup, but not since November - and just once total - in the league.

It's dire. City seem to look worse with every league game, and as they've plummeted to 17th it's brought relegation worries to the front of my mind. One of the many reasons I chose to follow City was I didn't think they had much danger of being relegated, since they were a Robbie Fowler penalty miss out of Europe in 2005 when I picked them up. In 2006 they started hot and then faded to 16th; this year has been even worse. They're just 2-1-1 so far against the three teams currently occupying the relegation zone; if that number doesn't improve to 4-1-1 between now and the end of the year, things could get a lot worse.

So do I want City to advance in the FA Cup? Well, of course. It would be nice to see them exorcise the Blackburn demons, for one thing. But if they can't figure it out in the league, would it even matter? Has a Premiership team ever won the FA Cup and been relegated in the same year? I'm confident that City have talent so I don't know why it struggles so much to show itself - but if there was ever a time where they really, really needed to do that, it's now.