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Former Manchester United star Roy Keane called them dips. They come up regularly in his new book about teams who struggled with form. We were having a dip, new players had come in... Even someone as demanding as Keane accepted dips come to all champions but he outlines how quickly teams respond from them can be the difference when it comes to becoming champions. We are now through 10 weeks of the season and heading into Sundays Manchester derby (live on TSN at 8am et/5am pt), one side of Manchester are in a dip. Not United. No, they are in a full-on rebuild. They are not good enough to call this a dip. City, the current Premier League champions, are good enough yet here they are, once again after winning a title, falling into another dip too quickly. This was not supposed to happen to this team. Manchester City were supposed to be a genuine superpower by now. Six years on from winning the football financial lottery, they remain a million miles away from Europes elite clubs, stuck in an identity crisis of exactly what they need to become on the field. Make no mistake, the brand, their academy and their executive board have improved immensely since 2008 and domestic success would suggest the playing team have done the same. Two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and a League Cup is an impressive return over that time for a club that was stuck in the doldrums for far too long in English football, yet this is not a time for this club to stand and admire their recent history. With the amount of money they have spent, this is a time that City should be kicking on and becoming better. A champion is often seen as a harder opponent to defeat once they have learned how to win but Manchester City are on the verge of gaining a reputation of complacent champions. Their latest setback came in a 2-0 loss at home to Newcastle in the Capital One Cup in midweek, a competition they won last year. On the surface, some may not feel the need to read too much into a defeat in a tournament that is losing its credibility every year. However, unlike their opponents, City played a strong side to attempt to get back to winning ways. And they still lost. It has been that kind of season so far for Manuel Pellegrinis men. Poor performances in the Champions League against Roma and CSKA Moscow mean they are looking at the bleak prospect of being thrown into the Europa League come the New Year if they cant find a way past the Italians and into second. In the Premier League, they have already lost at home to Stoke and away at West Ham and have seen leads against Arsenal and Hull evaporate. The manner in which they dominated games with tempo and arrogance last season has disappeared. There is no collective swagger, their combinations have no chemistry and they are scoring goals and earning points by relying on individual moments of brilliance. Even Pellegrini, a gentleman who conducts his media appearances with class, could no longer hide his concerns heading into Sundays match with Manchester United. My feeling is that we are not playing well, he admitted. We are in a difficult moment with a lack of trust. Of course, we must be worried - but we must find a solution and we must address it. We will see with the players which is the way to try and recover that confidence because its not normal to see this team playing the way we are now. Not normal. You can say that again. This is not a team built for dips. One day, yes, but not now. Great teams are defined by eras and eventually they all come and go in sports, and even the best are forced to re-think and come back to the top in different ways by re-building. This was how Jose Mourinho found Chelsea when he arrived at the start of last season. Flush with money, like Manchester City, they had made a commitment to young players by bringing over the likes of Eden Hazard and Oscar, future world class stars of the game, but ones whose inconsistencies would mean the team would need time to grow. When they progressed, only then did they add the necessary quality around them. City did the opposite. Before last seasons title-winning campaign, they spent 100 million pounds on five players in their prime, who could make a difference immediately. Martin Demichelis, Jesus Navas, Alvaro Negredo and Fernandinho all played crucial parts in their Premier League success. Only Stevan Jovetic struggled, mainly through injuries. This offseason, City continued that trend, bringing in players to make an immediate impact in Fernando, Frank Lampard, Bacary Sagna and Eliaquim Mangala, the most expensive defender in British football history. No team expects to spend 32 million pounds on a project and, although the former Porto man has so far been a liability, make no mistake he does not represent a different philosophy in how City are re-building their team. He is not their Kurt Zouma. And this is why City are between a rock and a hard place in building a team, stuck in an identity crisis, of what they want to become. This is a club whove only been good for the football equivalent of five minutes and, rightfully so, want more of it immediately, so when success doesnt follow, it is right to wonder what this team could look like in a couple of years. Financial Fair Play has stopped them spending tons of money on immediate stars and future stars so they have done all of their shopping in one area. Yet, when you look at their players, with the exception of the more games being played by a healthy Sergio Aguero, there are too few examples of growth. This is a team full of international stars; winners who know what it took to get to the top but now, far too many of them are having a dip in form. Make no mistake, the red half of Manchester have much more work to do to get back to the peak domestically yet, as the two teams get set to meet at the Etihad, the pressure all falls on Pellegrinis players. This Premier League race is a two-horse race but in its third month, one of those horses is still in the barn. Six points back from a formidable Chelsea side after nine games is alarming and these champions need to learn quickly about how to perform when they are not at their best so they can go on to be considered a truly great team. Keane, who won seven leagues titles, including back-to-back championships twice, gives them the perfect lesson in his book The Second Half: When I became a player, I learnt, quickly, that winning League titles is not easy. We had to fight for our success. But we were hungry. I dont think we were ever blasé about previous successes. I never thought we could live off the past and switch off for a year or two. The top sports people arent content with a single victory or triumph. I was surrounded by players who were like that. Dont relax just because you have won a few now. You win something and you say its gone. Citys performance against Keanes former team on Sunday will show us just how much they are living in the past or the present. Brad Marchand Jersey . 3 seed Phillip Kohlschreiber from Germany. Defending champion Marin Cilic also reached the semifinals -- his fourth in Zagreb -- defeating fellow Croat Ivan Dodig. German qualifier Bjorn Phau beat Dudi Sela of Israel to reach his first semifinals in nearly five years. Derek Sanderson Jersey . LaQuinton Ross scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half, hitting his first four 3-pointers, to send No. http://www.thebostonbruinshockey.com/jar...-hockey-jersey/. The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. Davis responded to his selection earlier in the day as a Western Conference All-Star with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 on Friday night. Bobby Orr Jersey . Canada wasnt in the game from the outset. Head coach Dan Church left Calgary in the morning without addressing the players. He told The Canadian Press he felt the organization lacked confidence in his ability to defend the Olympic gold medal in February. Milan Lucic Jersey . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two.SOCHI, Russia - Formula One officials are preparing to impose a speed limit to slow down cars during dangerous situations on the track, following the Japanese Grand Prix accident that left driver Jules Bianchi fighting for his life.Formula One race director Charlie Whiting said Friday it would be best to give teams the ability to cut speed automatically if there is danger on a course, rather than leaving it up to the drivers.Whiting presented a report on Bianchis accident to motor sports governing body on Friday and later joined top officials in briefing reporters.Whiting said Bianchi had slowed down in his Marussia car before skidding off the wet course in Suzuka and ploughing into a recovering tractor. But not all drivers had slowed down during a double yellow-flag situation and many did not reduce speed a lot. Whiting would not say at what speed Bianchi was travelling at when he lost control.Jules slowed down, Whiting said, adding that it was a matter of degrees and that more data will have to be studied before his speed could be given with certainty.With international federation president Jean Todt sitting next to him, Whiting showed previously unreleased video of Bianchis crash, which shows him driving into the tractor as the marshals had lifted a green flag to signal all clear.If Bianchi had crashed into a safety tire barrier at the speed he was travelling, he would have escaped serious injury although it would have been a hefty crash, Whiting said.There was no sign of any mechanical fault with Bianchis car at tthis time, he said.ddddddddddddWhiting said the race control did not see that accident immediately because the cameras were pointing in another direction and took about 20 seconds to react.Nothing could have been done better, Whiting said of the reaction to Bianchis accident.Whiting said he had asked Suzuka organizers to start the race earlier because of heavy rain and fading light but was turned down. He said the time of the start was not a factor in the accident.The planned speed control would enhance a system already available and would, in some situations, replace the safety car. There was no safety car on the track during Bianchis accident.Its probably better to take the decision to slow down away from the drivers, Whiting said. The aim was to build a way to control speed with complete certainty and clarity, with the same effect as a safety car.The idea of the plan, Whiting said, was to slow down to a given and well-known speed at a relevant place. He said it was easy to do in a small area.Formula One officials were beginning talks with the teams on Saturday, but Whiting said it would be unrealistic to expect any new systems to be in place before the next season.Todt, who had requested the report, said he would ask the FIA safety commission, which includes Whiting, to make a study and proposals so that such an accident never happens again.Todt is a friend of the Bianchi family and knows the French driver well. Todts son is Bianchis agent.Motor sport is a dangerous sport, unfortunately, Todt said. ' ' '