Look, I’m certainly not the only one who spotted potential difficulties with this Manchester City squad. In fact, I’m sure the vast majority of footy fans could see this from a mile away. You take a team with virtually NO historical significance, with their cross-town derby being the only blip on anyone’s radar, add a billionaire sheikh and voila, a “Superclub”. The fact that they bowed out early in this year’s version of the UEFA Champions League isn’t the issue – the group after all was quite challenging. What makes it a particularly hard pill to swallow for City fans is that manner in which they exited – basically, with their tails between their legs. And don’t think I’m the only one sitting back applauding as I sip what’s left of my beer.
How does this sound – the two points that Man City earned in their Group is the worst result by any English side in the history of the group stage of the competition. Take that, Mancini!
We’ve said it on our show (World Football Roundtable, airing every Monday and Thursday at 10pm EST) time and time again, buying a championship isn’t as easy as spending record amounts of cash come transfer time…though that has been known to help! A well run club will consider group dynamics, which seems to be lost on the current squad. Because of the fact that, individually, they have extremely talented players, it is enough to provide them with some success, as seen in their second spot in the Premier League table. But I would argue that it doesn’t always mean they will reach their potential, and it’s money spent stupidly.
Of course the four-headed beast up front are very talented – not even I can poke holes in that. Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli, Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez are all legitimate scoring threats, and are certainly far from old – in fact, Tevez is the elder statesman and is 28, with Balotelli being the baby at 22. The difficulty is that all four believe they need more time. That, and they are mostly rich sucks. City only plays two of them at a time, and naturally each believe they should be one of the two more often that not. Is that causing problems? I think it is… it must be like a soap opera at the Etihad some days.
Added to the problem is their personalities. Certainly there are some very outspoken personalities who have little sense of tact it seems – Balotelli, while a great, funny follow on Twitter, is never shy to tell it like it is. Sounds like a good quality, and amongst us blokes it is, but it can prove costly in football where egos seldom fit through standard sized doors. Tevez is, well, Tevez, and I don’t have the stamina to reiterate all the stupid things he’s done. Aguero had his own share of problems last month with his verbal lashing of Premier Leauge officiating, saying foreign players are treated unfairly. It’s never a smart think to make officials look stupid. And Nasri, whom I didn’t yet mention mostly because it pains me to even utter his name (as it does most Gooners) is just an idiot – a self-serving idiot.
It would seem that clubs can get away with haphazardly loading their talent pool at the league level – as I mentioned, City sits a few shy of the Red Devils in second spot in the EPL table, and that ain’t bad. After all, the season is long, and having a litany of quality players to choose from each week is quite an advantage. Even if they can manage to repeat as Premier League Champions, I wonder whether they, including their fans, would consider the season a success given their 1-0 loss to Dortmund, which sealed fourth spot and their way-too-early exit from CL play? Certainly the mood around the Etihad Stadium is anything but cheerful.
Sadly, I would venture to guess that come spring time, this team is going to be vying for the Premier League crown. If successful, I think fans might forgive their horrendous Champions League results. But, if they fail to secure the trophy, panic and chaos will ensue. Heads will roll.
I don’t like Manchester City because they stand for a growing problem in football – that is, paying astronomical sums, thereby driving prices to exorbinant levels, and demolishing the middle class. Stockpiling talent is not new, I’m not that naive, it’s the financial implications that leaves me with such a bitter pill to swallow with the almost empty pint I have before me.
Catch the LWOS Footy guy son “World Football Roundtable” on Last Word Radio every Monday and Thursday at 10pm EST.
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