The Fiver | Manchester City and the inescapable agents of their downfall

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It doesn’t matter how great a team is: there’s always another that seems to exist solely to be a thorn in their side. Take Lord Ferg’s Manchester United, for example, who rode roughshod over everybody during the late-1990s and early-2000s, yet found myriad ways to debase themselves against Southampton. Bob Paisley’s Liverpool made a habit of losing to Leicester City. As did Bill Shankly’s Liverpool. As did Gérard Houllier’s Liverpool (who weren’t so great, but rule of three and all that). Even the almighty Arsenal Invincibles had a nemesis: Middlesbrough beat them twice during 2003-04. Admittedly that was in the Carling Cup, but they did do that and you can’t say it didn’t happen. Oh Juninho! Oh Boudewijn! How could you compromise the nomenclature!

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