A Mail article reports that if Man City truly decline, other Premier League teams would be justified in criticizing them on moral grounds. But one day, other big clubs should also look in the mirror and ask themselves why they cannot do slightly better – why they cannot learn something from Man City.

The report states the issue is not fraud. We know what fraud is and what we think of it. The issue is value for money. The issue is buying the right players. For a long time, Man City has done this better than any other team.

Doing this is not simply about having money – wherever that money comes from – we saw the evidence of that yesterday at Anfield.

Elliott Anderson was named man of the match, and we all know his situation. Nottingham Forest values him at over 100 million pounds. With money, any of us could buy him.

But who scored the second and third goals? What about Doku and Cherki? These two players were signed for 55 million and 30 million pounds respectively, and hardly anyone expected them to be decisive in the match.

When Doku joined in 2023, he had only eight senior caps for Belgium; Cherki was not called up to the French national team until the day before he signed his contract in June 2025.

Doku delivered an impressive performance off the bench at Anfield, changing the course of the match. Rooney called him "irritating, quick and powerful" on "Match of the Day." Cherki scored a beautiful goal and is currently Man City's closest player to De Bruyne.

Any Premier League giant can afford players like these, so this is not about where the money comes from. The key lies in judgment and value for money, as well as having enough courage and confidence to take risks and bring in promising players from abroad.

For example, Doku's fee was similar to Kudus when he joined Tottenham from West Ham. Cherki's fee was also comparable to Tielemans' asking price when he moved from Aston Villa to Manchester United.

I watched both players perform at Old Trafford on Saturday night, and perhaps it's best not to dwell too much on that.

We can and should discuss why players choose Man City and what kind of foundation this club is built on. This discussion should not stop.

But if Man City are truly relegated from the league, what competition would be left for the rest of the world? Who is ready to genuinely challenge Arsenal? Who is responsible for this, and what does it reveal about their own complacency?

Only six rounds into the season have passed, but English clubs spent heavily in the summer – an estimated 3.5 billion pounds – yet, aside from Brighton and Brentford, it seems no one has made significant real progress.

Premier League teams can certainly enjoy seeing Man City "collapse," but they should also ask themselves whether anyone can truly fill the void they would leave behind.

That question may linger for a while.

Haaland's overlooked quality

One thing money cannot buy is fitness. And in that regard, Haaland should stand out.

Liverpool struggled at Anfield without Isak, and Ekitike and Gakpo were also absent; Man City's opening goal, which decided the match, came from a powerful left-footed strike by Haaland.

This is the 26-year-old striker's fifth season at Man City, and the most overlooked aspect of the Norwegian player is his consistency.

In fact, reliable statistics from Transfermarkt show that Haaland has only missed more than a month of football due to injury once during his time at Man City, and has only missed more than six consecutive matches once.

The strength of the Nordic giant is as evident as his physical attributes.

Iraola should reflect

Liverpool and Man City were evenly matched, and before midfielder Gravenberch was sent off, they even appeared more likely to score first. The final score did not truly reflect the match dynamics in the first hour.

However, when Liverpool manager Arne Slot complained about referee Chris Kavanagh sending off his player, he could also ask himself why he has not used this Dutch midfielder more this season.

This was only Gravenberch's third league start this season, and he likely only featured because Szoboszlai has not fully recovered.

Gravenberch is Liverpool's most reliable midfielder, and the sooner Slot recognizes this, the better.

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