Man City should be mindful of history

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Andrew Yates/AFP/Getty ImagesManchester City may be tipped as the favorite to win the Prem, but recent history is littered with enough cautionary tales to bring the color back to Sir Alex Ferguson's ruddy cheeks.

Though Roberto Mancini is entitled to enjoy an extended recovery period after his side's ruthlessly dominant display at Old Trafford on Sunday, it's important that he remembers two things once the 6-1 party winds down. One, if you ignore history, you're doomed to repeat it. And two, the team you just walloped in its own church is still Manchester United. Fergie's latest batch of babes may appear to lie between despondent and moribund, but -- like Jason Voorhees around this time of year -- you can never be sure if they're quite dead. EPL lore is littered with enough tales of false dawns, misnomers, outlying results and squandered early-season momentum to bring the color back to Sir Alex's ruddy cheeks.

You see, despite the temptation to scurry to press with the footballing version of "Dewey Defeats Truman," we still have 29 nail-biting Premier League weeks left. Of course, none of it will stop the media, nor the inebriated throngs of hyperbolic bar-stool pundits from spewing forth their sweeping proclamations: AVB tickets Chelsea for glory! Liverpool -- a resurgence in red! Redknapp for England, or jail -- cast your vote! History remains a potent teacher, and three teams come to mind since the forming of the EPL that Mancini should remember before worrying about the font size of his name on the title trophy.

Liverpool, 2008-09

To be a Reds fan is to be trapped in an endless cycle of high hopes and sustained disappointment. Having overseen the Miracle of Istanbul three years before, Rafa Benitez had the red half of Merseyside in rapture over their heroes' seemingly unstoppable early-season form and the possibility of terminating that albatross of a title-less streak. An early 2-1 win over bitter rivals United was accompanied by the memorable 1-0 win at the Bridge, a victory that shattered Chelsea's incredible 86-game, four-year home unbeaten streak. Both wins occurred without Liverpool's gifted Spanish striker, Fernando Torres, and by the end of October the Reds were top and cruising, having managed eight wins and two draws in their first 10 games. Unfortunately, the season didn't end there and it didn't take long for Liverpool to be, well, Liverpool. Incredibly, after 26 games, Rafa's gang had only lost once, but a mind-boggling 12 draws finally led to them losing their grip on the catbird seat for good when Tim Cahill powered home an 87th-minute equalizer in the derby on Jan. 19.

Naturally, to maximize the Scousers' angst down the stretch, Benitez's boys would put on a City-esque performance of their own in completing the double 4-1 at Old Trafford in mid-March, but their epically frustrating 4-4 home draw against Arsenal a month later -- with the Russian Andrei Arshavin scoring all four for the Gunners -- resigned the Reds to second place. It didn't matter that it was still their best finish in EPL history.

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Shaun Botterill /AllsportChelsea's road to glory was derailed by Nwankwo Kanu and Arsenal, among others, in the 1999-00 season.

Chelsea, 1999-00

Amazing, I know, but the Blues of Stamford Bridge were capable title challengers long before they welcomed Roman Abramovich as their well-heeled savior in 2003. With Gianluca Vialli at the helm as canny player-manager, the Blues played expansive, artful soccer, finishing third in 1998-99 after a sparkling season in which they lost just three times all year, held the dominant, treble-winning Manchester United to two stout draws and caught the eye with their abundance of continental flair: French World Cup winners Frank Leboeuf and Marcel Desailly at the back; the great Dane Brian Laudrup alongside Dennis Wise, Roberto Di Matteo, and Gustavo Poyet in midfield; and Norwegian cult hero Tore Andre Flo banging in goals up front were the highlights of a stacked multinational squad.

The 1999-00 season began in much the same vein: a 4-0 evisceration of Sunderland rich with goals every bit as sexy as anything the Fabregas-Nasri-van Persie axis managed under Arsene Wenger, prompting many in the press to anoint Vialli & Co. as the pre-eminent team to beat. (Check the fourth goal in this video, a sumptuous Bergkampian chip by Gianfranco Zola that Poyet scissor-volleyed past the keeper.)

It didn't matter to a fawning media that the warning signs were prevalent -- namely, that new striker Chris Sutton was more profligate than a 2011 Luis Suarez. Although Sutton tallied in a 5-0 romp over Manchester United in mid-October, Chelsea's glory train swiftly derailed: defeats to a Liverpool side between golden generations and a bizarre 3-2 home defeat to Arsenal -- with the ageless Nigerian Nwankwo Kanu notching a hat trick in the final 15 minutes of the come-from-behind win -- in the following fortnight dumped the Blues' title legitimacy as a mere flight of fancy. Chelsea finished fifth, 26 points behind Sir Alex Ferguson, and it wouldn't be until the arrival of its Russian sugar daddy that it would begin stockpiling silverware.

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Allsport UK/AllsportKevin Keegan's Newcastle side of the mid-1990s had many title-winning essentials, but failed to win the Prem.

Newcastle United, 1995-97

Kevin Keegan's Newcastle side of the mid-1990s had many title-winning essentials: Gallic flair from David Ginola, Balotellian madness (and goals) from Faustino Asprilla and two mechanically consistent strikers in Alan Shearer and Les Ferdinand, earning their silky-smooth attacking side the nickname "The Entertainers." Yet the most entertaining part of their vintage squad was back-to-back meltdowns at the height of their pomp. In 1995, the Magpies held a 12-point lead over Manchester United with 16 games to play, winning 16 of their first 22 matches, including home wins over Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Leeds United. Then came The Streak To End All Streaks: five defeats in their next 11, losing 1-0 at home to United and one of the best EPL games in history at Anfield: a 4-3 defeat in which goals from Ginola, Ferdinand and Asprilla weren't enough to prevent Stan Collymore's injury-time game winner. With four games to play, Sir Alex began his mind games, implying that teams weren't trying as hard against the Tynesiders as they were against United, prompting Keegan's legendary "I will love it if we beat them, love it!" outburst (recently voted as the "Best Managerial Moment of Madness" by Brit tabloid The Sun). Of course, the Magpies didn't, drawing their final two games at home to Nottingham Forest and Spurs and giving the Red Devils the title by four points.

The following season followed a similar path: a 5-0 stuffing of Fergie's side in late October -- the beginning of a disastrous three-game stretch for Sir Alex in which United lost three and was outscored 13-4 -- was supposed to be the Tynesiders' crowning achievement. Instead, they won one of their next nine and ended the season with Keegan humiliated into silence yet again.

See anything familiar in all these cautionary tales? The one unifying thread of all these epic, gut-wrenching, nearly-there seasons was the unflinching, unflappable presence of Manchester United, which rallied amid the emotional highs and lows of its nearest foes to lift the league title on all three occasions. Whether or not the 2011-12 season is destined for a similar end remains to be seen, but while the red side of Manchester mourns the desecration of its hallowed home, there are still plenty of humiliating bumps and reality checks along the way even for a team as seemingly title-preordained as the Sky Blues. Enough to give Wayne Rooney, Chicharito and Rio Ferdinand plenty of hope.

James Tyler is a freelance writer who has worked for ESPN The Magazine.

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James Tyler

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James Tyler is an ESPN editor for soccer.