10 People Most Wronged By Man City’s Cheating - Ranked by AI

· GiveMeSport

The 10 people most wronged by Man City’s cheating have been named and ranked by AI.

After the astonishing news broke last week that Manchester City had been found guilty on virtually all of the 115 charges brought against them relating to breaches of the Premier League's financial fair play ( FFP) rules, rival clubs and even players have been quick to calculate how their footballing success was affected.

The charges City have been dealt span across nine years, between 2009 and 2018, a time period where the Citizens heavily dominated English football and stopped multiple clubs from getting their hands on silverware. Many clubs have already begun assessing any potential legal action they could take against City in order to recover some of the profits they could have earned, whilst some players and even managers have gone public (some jokingly) to claim they should be entitled to more silverware after they lost at the hands of City.

Whether they will ever be given their delayed achievements remains to be seen, but it is worth seeing who has been the unluckiest, and how different the years could've been if City hadn't allegedly cheated.

We asked ChatGPT for the 10 people who were most wronged by Manchester City's cheating, and here is the list it gave.

Jurgen Klopp does not feature as he did not come second in the Premier League with Liverpool between 2009 and 2018, when the rules were broken.

AI explanation: > De Gea was United's goalkeeper during the extraordinarily close 2011/12 title race. He has since been among the former United players to suggest that, if City's title were stripped, United should be recognised. More importantly, he was part of a team that accumulated 89 points—a total that would normally be enough to win the league in many seasons.

De Gea has been one of the more vocal players on social media, as he suggested that he could have multiple extra Premier League titles had City not broken the rules. As the AI mentions, the Spaniard was United's goalkeeper during the 2011/12 season, but he didn't leave United until 2023, with United finishing runners-up to City one other time during the period the charges relate to.

AI explanation: > Sunderland lost the 2014 League Cup final 3–1 to City. It's a smaller injustice than the title races, but it's a direct example of an individual who played in a final against a City side whose finances are now subject to the commission's findings. The emotional problem is that you can't recreate a cup final years later, even if a trophy is subsequently stripped.

Lee Cattermole is an unexpected name on the list, regardless of the fact that he has only just sneaked in. However, the reasons do make sense. Sunderland did lose out to City in the League Cup final, and for a team that weren't competing at the top at the time, a successful day out at Wembley would have meant so much for the Black Cats. Unfortunately, they were beaten 3-1, and who knows whether it could have been different if City weren't breaking FFP rules.

AI explanation: > Tottenham finished second in 2016/17, with 86 points, while City finished third on 78. So City didn't actually deprive Spurs of the title that season—Chelsea did. However, City's spending advantage potentially affected the race for Champions League places and the broader competitive environment. Pochettino himself has argued that the damage extends beyond simply handing over trophies.

The USA national team coach finds his way into the list, taking the eighth spot. It is another strange pick to see Pochettino on here, considering Spurs never finished runners-up to City in the league during the time period. As ChatGPT mentions, Tottenham finished ahead of City in 2017, so it raises the question of how deeply Spurs were affected. However, in the 2014/15 season, Pochettino's first in charge, Spurs finished in fifth spot, and City finished second. So it could therefore be argued that Spurs were robbed of Champions League qualification during that year.

AI explanation: > Solskjaer inherited Mourinho's United and finished second to City in 2017/18, although this one is much less compelling than 2011/12: City finished an enormous 19 points clear, 100 to United's 81. I'd therefore put Solskjaer well below Ferguson.

It's a fair explanation and ranking for Solskjaer . He did finish runners-up to City, and he did bring some attacking football back to Old Trafford, but he did ultimately finish roughly 20 points behind City; therefore, it makes it hard to argue that he was robbed of a Premier League title.

AI explanation: > His Stoke City team lost the 2011 FA Cup final 1–0 to Manchester City, City's first major trophy of the Abu Dhabi era. Pulis has subsequently said he felt cheated by the revelations. The FA Cup isn't a financial-rule title, of course, but it was a direct knockout competition in the period covered by the verdict.

The former Stoke manager takes the sixth spot, and it's a very similar situation to Lee Cattermole. Stoke City were another side who didn't have many opportunities to bring home silverware, so when the opportunity arose, and they narrowly lost out to City 1-0 in the final, to find out years later that City had been cheating during that time? It's no surprise that Pulis himself has recently come out saying he felt 'cheated' by the result.

AI explanation: > Suarez was phenomenal in 2013/14—31 Premier League goals and the Golden Boot—but still couldn't deliver Liverpool the title. He had arguably the greatest individual season of his career and left Liverpool shortly afterwards. The idea that a player of that calibre could finish a historic campaign without the league title because a financially advantaged competitor edged Liverpool by two points makes him one of the clearest individual sporting victims.

ChatGPT hits the nail on the head with this explanation. For some time, Suarez was the most feared player in the Premier League, having the ability to decide a game with a single moment of pure skill. As the AI mentions, Suarez dominated in 2013/14, and Liverpool came tantalisingly close to getting their hands on the Premier League trophy, but missed out to City, leaving the Uruguayan trophyless that year.

AI explanation: > Rodgers produced perhaps the best Liverpool title challenge of the pre-Klopp era. Liverpool led the 2013/14 race with three games remaining and ultimately lost out to City by two points. If the commission's findings are ultimately upheld and the financial advantage is judged to have materially affected City's squad-building, Rodgers' near-miss becomes one of the most significant casualties.

Rodgers gets a similar reason to Suarez, with Liverpool producing a spectacular season, only to miss out by two single points. To make matters worse, the following year, Rodgers would lose his job after a poor run of form, but it could've been so much different the season before if City hadn't held an unfair advantage.

AI explanation: > Rooney scored 34 league goals in that 2011/12 campaign and was one of the principal figures in United's title challenge. He has said himself he wouldn't feel comfortable being handed the title retrospectively, because United dropped points they shouldn't have—but that doesn't alter the fact that City finished ahead of them on goal difference.

Another player who has spoken out about the big news, Rooney , takes a podium position for one of the most wronged players. He was part of a dominant Manchester United side, but missed out on the Premier League title on the final day of the 2011/12 season, although he himself wouldn't want to be given the title today. Although he acknowledges that United dropped points that caused them to lose the title, there is no denying that they would have been the rightful winners if it wasn't for City.

AI explanation: > Manchester United finished level on 89 points with City in 2011/12, losing the title only on goal difference. Ferguson's United had won the league the previous season and were minutes away from retaining it until City's extraordinary final-day comeback against QPR. Given that 2011/12 is directly within the verdict period, Ferguson has an exceptionally strong claim.

Similar to Rooney, Sir Alex Ferguson could've potentially added one more Premier League title to his impressive career during 2012, finishing runners-up to City during the time period when they had been cheating. Although he hasn't spoken out, you would imagine he holds a similar view to Rooney, not wanting to be given the trophy years later when his side ultimately dropped points.

AI explanation: > The obvious No. 1. Liverpool finished two points behind City in 2013/14, after a season in which Brendan Rodgers' side scored 101 goals. If City's financial advantage materially helped them build that squad, Gerrard's greatest opportunity to win the Premier League was potentially taken from him. The fact that it was his last serious title opportunity makes it particularly painful.

The Liverpool legend claims the number one spot in this list, although it is an unwanted top spot in a list like this. Gerrard won everything he could in club football, apart from the Premier League. He led Liverpool into battle for numerous years, and was Captain when the Reds fell two points short of becoming League winners, finishing behind City. If things had been different, Gerrard could have had the chance to win the one trophy missing from his cabinet.

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