Does this really signal a time of change for Manchester City?
Sealing qualification for next year’s Champion’s League was a prestigious coming of age for the new and ambiguously-improved Manchester City. To add to their triumph, the FA Cup victory over Stoke City was the icing on the cake as far as supporters are concerned. So why is it then, that an air of suspicion and speculation still surrounds the entire club? If it were any other team, the morale would be as high as ever and the entire squad undoubtedly looking forward to next season. At Eastlands however, the manager’s future is in doubt and if that wasn’t bad enough, key players are jumping ship. It’s all very Manchester City.
For the amount of money spent under their Arabian ownership, it was only a matter of time until the blue side of Manchester made an appearance in the Champion’s League. That being said, they just aren’t giving the impression of a successful European club quite yet. Tottenham made it into the European competition last year without spending a fraction of what Manchester City have, and even this year’s finalists Barcelona and rivals Manchester United haven’t spent half of what City have. This just goes on to support that old proverb, ‘money can’t buy you happiness’.
Another key factor to consider is the differing form some teams seem to show in Europe than in their domestic leagues. The Citizens seem to be one such team. Being beaten by the likes of Lech Poznan and Dynamo Kiev just aren’t quite the results you’d like to showcase to certain European giants you’re likely to be playing in the future. It’s for this specific reason that Roberto Mancini, should he still be at the helm of City next August, needs to make this summer his best transfer window yet.
Roque Santa Cruz, Emmanuel Adebayor and Edin Dzeko are all good examples of Manchester City’s recent lack of good value when buying players. The problem now is they’ve been so outlandish in recent seasons, that a team will only hold out on selling them players, knowing the amounts that they are capable of producing. Fortunately for the sport of football, as well as for Manchester City, the UEFA financial fair play initiative will shove these massive bids to the back of Sheikh Mansour’s mind, for fear of not being permitted to play in Europe.
While the initiative may at first seem to take away City’s first weapon when purchasing players, it could ultimately stand to benefit them. The hope is that the club finally learn to do some real scouting and find some youthful value for money, instead of simply tabling ridiculous bids for players in their prime. In short terms, it may just save themselves from themselves.
All that being said, the club is inarguably gaining momentum. It’s undoubtedly nice to see another English club entering the ranks of the elite once more, albeit not for all the right reasons. As aforementioned, the coming transfer window will nearly decide next year’s season. Carlos Tevez, the club’s captain, has all but sealed a move away from England and that has a bigger impact than merely losing his goal tally. Yes, his goalscoring record for City has been immense netting more than twenty times in a second consecutive season, but the morale the team loses when the Argentine isn’t playing will surely tell. The fans reaction when he comes on the pitch says it all, and he will be sorely missed to say the least.
Cohesion is still lacking at the City of Manchester stadium, and if the players don’t find some way to gel in the next three months, then the task of 60 games in a season will prove far above their capabilities. But who knows? They could just dumbfound us all and pull it out of the proverbial bag exactly when it’s needed of them. Like they say, once in a blue moon…
