Manchester City players have made unity their greatest strength over the last two seasons, a team spirit few can match.
But there is one issue which DOES appear to have divided the Blues , with Raheem Sterling going against the grain.
The England ace admits that he is enjoying the tension and the challenge of this season’s close-run race with Liverpool, more than he did last season’s runaway success.
And Sterling thinks that the difficulty of keeping their noses in front of Liverpool means that lifting the trophy this time would be even more special.
Last year, the Blues had wrapped up the title with five games to go, and could focus on simply trying to end the season with a record 100 points .
But with two games left, City and Liverpool are separated by a single point, the likelihood being that it will go down to the final day a week tomorrow.
The tension is palpable, and City fans have been longing for the huge gap they had for most of last season.
Not Sterling. He likes it this way, apparently.
He said: “Last year, I didn’t enjoy it as much. It was an amazing feeling, but you have to be grateful for the way we won it.
“It was an amazing feeling, my first Premier League, but there wasn’t the excitement in terms of going to the very last minute, the emotions.
“You knew you were in control of the league, but this year it’s a lot more tense and you have to be more focussed because any slip … you just need to keep winning your games and can’t afford to make a mistake.
“So if we do it this year it will be a lot more special than last year, purely because of how much we’ve had to fight for it, even more than last season - even though that was tough as well.”
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His England colleagues Kyle Walker and John Stones disagree, both saying they would much prefer to have clinched the title by now.
Asked which method of winning the league he preferred, defender Stones said: “Wrapping it up early doors!
“But that’s a situation you get put in, and I wouldn’t change the situation we’re in now.
“It’s something new that, when this season is finished, you will have in the bank - that experience of being in high-pressure games, no matter who you’re playing because someone is on your tail, always trying to take that top spot.
“As players it brings the best out of you, and you really find yourself in games where you might have to be a match-winner, find that bit of brilliance or clear something off the line to save a goal.”
Walker agreed with his back four colleague, saying: “I’d love to have won the Premier League by now – that’s it, it’s in the bag.
“But it’s good for English football, and it’s good for us as players, that we have to test ourselves, to bring the best out of each other, and us as a team in every match.”
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