What to expect from Manchester City
So is this the year when Manchester City became title contenders?
Roberto Mancini will always be a manager under pressure at Manchester City, though he does well to hide it, grey hairs apart. What the press think and say should be irrelevant of course, but with unlimited funds available (in theory, if not in practice), his team is expected to (soon) rule the world. But as he said to the press last week:
‘This year will be different, but we want to improve on last year. We had our targets then and maybe we could have done better in the league because we were in first position [at one point]. But the players were together last year and that’s why we will be better this time.’
Over the summer he also repeatedly dismissed talk of challenging for the title. But little should be believed that comes from the mouths of managers in press conferences, and the general feeling is that City should be title contenders this season, which is reasonable. They have the investment in players, but not the experience. The question is how will they react? Last season, it was felt that Mancini had to finish in the Top Four to retain his job. Having done that, and captured the first trophy for the club in 35 years, the pressure on him and the team is reduced, but only very slightly.
What does he have to do this season? Another trophy would keep the fans happy. For the owners, who knows? A semi-educated guess would assume they want to see a challenge for the title, successful or otherwise. They, and the fans, will expect to see improvements year-on-year.
The Community Shield showed glimpses of the old City – a calamitous last-minute gaffe, a last-minute winner for Manchester United, an underwhelming performance from the men in all-blue. Very little should be gleaned from what was a friendly, albeit an ultra-competitive one, in the same way that City’s destruction of Inter Milan the previous week told us precious little either. The missed opportunity for Vincent Kompany to hold aloft the world’s biggest 50p will have been disappointing, but will soon be forgotten, along with most Community Shield results. Who won last season? No idea.
Behind the scenes, if you believed everything you read, there is anarchy, chaos, poor team morale, in-fighting, backstabbing and unprofessional behaviour on an industrial scale. Somewhere in there is an element of the truth – there seems little doubt Mancini has had a problem relationship at times with Brian Marwood and Garry Cook, over who wealds power at the club. We are used to a system in Britain of the manager having that power – of deciding who to buy and who to sell, though not always on the scale Alex Ferguson controls his club. And this is how Mancini wants it too – absolute power, his decisions, his team. Unfortunately Brian Marwood sees things a little differently. Mancini wants complete control – down to the hiring of medical staff, and what milk to have in the canteen (Cravendale, if he’s got any sense).
The team itself is strong, the squad is strong. Mancini has repeatedly said over the last week or two that he still wants a couple more signings. The rumours clearly point to a central midfielder, a right-sided midfielder and perhaps an extra central defender too. City struggled last season to mount challenges on numerous fronts, tiring in late-winter until elimination from the Europa League cleared the calendar somewhat, boosting energy levels as a result. The season ahead will be no different, and Mancini will be aware of the need for a deep squad if the team is to keep going at the business-end of the season, as they did last time around.
For City, the Champions League will be a new and exciting experience. As for what City can hope to achieve, it is hard to say – their first objective will be to progress from the group. As 3rd seeds, it could be a tough draw, especially when you consider that the German Champions Borussia Dortmund are 4th seeds. A group of death is on the cards, every sport writer’s ultimate wet dream. Secretly, Mancini would probably rather finish 4th in the group than 3rd.
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A fairly young squad will enter the season a year older and more experienced, strengthened with three defensive signings, possibly Samir Nasri (or Wesley Sneijder, though that looks unlikely ) and a wide-man (Fiorentina’s Alessi Cerci is repeatedly mentioned in press rumours) in midfield, the exciting Sergio Aguero up front with possibly another defender on the way too.
The defence, which was the joint meanest in the Premier League last season has lost the underwhelming Jerome Boateng, and gained Gael Clichy from Arsenal, and the Montenegro defender Stefan Savic, whilst 6 foot 8 inches goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon has come in as back-up to Joe Hart, replacing the departed Shay Given.
Midfield is as you were with the odd arrival or two imminent. No one has departed but the future of Shaun Wright Phillips is up in the air, with a number of other Premiership clubs keeping a close eye on the situation (Bolton or Stoke being the likely destination should he leave). His ill-advised twitter comments this week suggest he wants to stay, but that any departure will be manager-led. Only time will tell, and an impressive pre-season has helped his cause, when two months ago his future at City looked non-existent. Elsewhere it is settled, and varied. The pursuit of Nasri will take away the reliance on Silva, De Jong will continue to protect, Yaya Toure bomb forward, and hopefully the English trio of Milner, Barry and Johnson will offer a bit more this time round (not that Barry did much wrong, despite what you may have read).
But it is upfront where the doubts persist, and the squad seems in a permanent state of flux.
The signing of Sergio “Kun” Aguero is as exciting a signing as City could have made. Comparisons with Tevez will be inevitable, but he is his own man, less trouble (hopefully) off the pitch, with a superb shot, dribbling skills, close control, and the ability to play up front or drop deeper. A stable family man married to Diego Maradona’s daughter with a young son, he will make every attempt to adapt to his new life and succeed.
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As for Carlos Tevez, who knows? Back in the Manchester drizzle that he so adores, Mancini has said that he is happy for him to stay, and that he might well do just that, as no one wants him. Not at the price City demand anyway. His departure was inevitable just a month ago, but now it seems almost unlikely. Only if Inter come up with the money does a move look possible this summer. Alternatively, a deal with Corinthians could be resurrected in the winter or next summer. Whilst him staying at City is on the surface a huge bonus, the thought lingers that perhaps it would be best for him to leave, and for him and the team to move on. Argentina is never going to get any nearer, a third restaurant in Manchester has only just reached the planning stage, and the weather won’t improve for decades.
Elsewhere, much of how City progress this season will depend on Dzeko and Balotelli having more settled seasons. Dzeko’s first touch has disappointed, and concerns continue on whether he fits into a Mancini side, but the goals will come, and he should propser with a pre-season behind him. Balotelli’s contributions on the pitch will depend on controversy avoiding him for a change – if he can concentrate on playing football, his talent will destroy many a team.
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Last season, City’s home form was generally ok, but it will need to become a fortress if the team is going to challenge for titles. It is often mentioned that titles are won and lost according to teams’ records against the other big boys, and whilst I have always felt this argument to be deeply flawed, City will certainly have to improve in this area. Their record last season against the relegation rivals was better than anyone’s. But against the other Top 6 teams, it left a lot to be desired, and Mancini attracted much of his criticism and accusations of negativity when “parking the bus” against Arsenal at Highbury, and to a lesser degree at home to Manchester United. Both times though, City avoided defeat. Perhaps next season they will have to push on and think more about winning these games.
For all of Alex Ferguson’s snide barbs about noisy neighbours, it is clear now that Manchester City have arrived, with expectations to match. If last season was about breaking into the Big Four and challenging for a trophy, then it was mission very much accomplished. Now the team is expected to move on. The Etihad stadium will welcome on Monday a team bustling with talent, the best of a generation, and trophies will now be expected as the norm. The only question remaining, with the world and his wife still watching on waiting for the fall, will be whether the talent, or the pressure on that talent, ultimately prevails.