It says a lot about the insulation afforded to the super-clubs that Manchester City look like they’re about to have the most successful crisis season in English football history.
Pretty much everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong for the champions.
And yet a couple of months from now Pep Guardiola’s side might have qualified for the Champions League, won the FA Cup, and picked up £97 million for winning the Club World Cup.
Two trophies and a prize pot bigger than anyone else in England; not bad at all for a year that was supposedly a write-off.
That’s what wealth disparity does, would be the cynical take, although we should also give credit to Guardiola for finally steadying the ship – and doing so through psychological improvements, rather than the tactical reshuffle we expected to see.
Before the Crystal Palace game on Saturday, Ilkay Gundogan revealed to ESPN that prior to their FA Cup quarter-final against Bournemouth the team had been taken through clips of their defeat to Andoni Iraola’s side from November.
What they were shown was a lack of fight, spirit, and urgency.
It wasn’t a tactical session but one to highlight how far the players had fallen mentally, and so while the outside world didn’t bat an eyelid when City went on to win their quarter-final, internally they knew it was a watershed moment.
Man City have been much better since, swatting aside Leicester in a 2-0 win, looking organised if a little rigid in the 0-0 draw with Manchester United, and then showing professionalism and calm to come back from 2-0 down to thrash Crystal Palace on Saturday.
In all four games there has been renewed organisation and, above all, a sense of purpose to how Man City have gone about their business.
The result has been machine-like movements, mislabelled as “robotic” by pundits but understood by Man City players and supporters as the old rhythms returning.
That is something the rest of the Premier League will fear.
City only have one more game against sides currently in the top seven, suggesting they can go through the gears now and secure that Champions League finish, made more likely by the form of the departing Kevin De Bruyne and the new arrival Omar Marmoush.
In the FA Cup, Nottingham Forest’s consecutive defeats tells us they will likely buckle against a stoic and experienced Man City at Wembley, and after losing unexpectedly in last year’s final one would expect laser focus to get the job done in May.
They are heavy favourites as it stands.
The Club World Cup remains a mystery to everyone, but City will enter that with as good a chance as any to go deep and hoover up the money.
The future, all of a sudden, looks a lot brighter – the summer rebuild less daunting and Guardiola’s tactical adjustments less all-encompassing - especially with young players Nico O’Reilly, Rico Lewis, James McAtee, and Oscar Bobb leading a more sprightly setup against Palace.
Although all of this, of course, comes with a major caveat: the looming spectre of those charges (which Man City deny), the outcome of which will define the club’s future under Guardiola.
But thanks to the Club World Cup money as long as Man City avoid relegation even the financial hit of finishing outside the top five can be absorbed.
Despite a year of unprecedented turbulence and worry at the Etihad, Man City might just end the season with silverware, riches, and a refreshed team ready to challenge again.
If that was to happen we will look back on 2024/25 as a mere blip, an insignificant moment in a period of total domination.
More from Sporting Life
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.