Vincent Kompany is confident Eliaquim Mangala will show his quality for Manchester City after a difficult first campaign following his £42m move from Porto.
The 24-year-old’s form last season was uneven but the centre-back has impressed starting alongside Kompany in City’s opening two victories, helping to keep clean sheets as West Bromwich Albion and Chelsea were both defeated 3-0.
While Mangala was considered as a makeweight on a loan basis for any deal that could bring Valencia’s Nicolás Otamendi to City, the Frenchman is now to stay at the Etihad Stadium.
Kompany, who scored in both of City’s wins, said: “People always underestimate the hardship of this league. It is very rare, especially with a central defender, for someone to come in and dominate. It is very hard. Our defending against Chelsea was made easier by the fact we defended well as a team. We have a style of play where we play very high with a lot of space, so a lot of individual challenges are required. Because of that, it is only when the whole team works like we did that we get great defensive performances.”
Manuel Pellegrini has strengthened City’s squad with Raheem Sterling, Patrick Roberts and Fabian Delph. The manager is hopeful of adding Wolfsburg’s Kevin De Bruyne, although the Belgium midfielder stated on Monday he intends to stay in Germany this season.
Kompany already believes the strength of the City squad means they can be confident of challenging for the title this year. “I couldn’t pick a man of the match against Chelsea. It could have been Fernandinho, or Yaya Touré, or just about anybody. I thought Bacary Sagna was exceptional against Eden Hazard. I guess we will need the depth in squad. You could see when Wilfried Bony came on it gave us another outlet, that strength to play the ball long and for it not to come back as quickly as was happening.”
City have six points and lead Chelsea by five. Kompany said: “Usually we get written off a bit later in the season, then we come back. It is not a bad way to start but for all of a sudden people to talk about us as favourites – why does it matter? I am happy for people to say Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea are the favourites. If we keep playing like this, you won’t see any sad faces at this club.”
