Will Manchester City’s indiscipline prevent them from becoming a world class club?
With Manchester City spending over £160 million this season, several pundits tipped them to be serious challengers for silverware this season – and why not? There is now a wealth of talent at the club, with some high profile names, and a manager who has claimed three Serie A titles with Inter Milan. Surely, the conditions look right for City to storm ahead of their rivals and secure some well awaited glory.
The reality of the situation is a far cry from what many believed City were capable of at the start of the campaign. Granted, City still find themselves in both domestic competitions, but fans will surely be disappointed about the lack of challenge in the Premier League, and also the surprising exit from Europe this month. But why has this happened to a team full of stars, managed by a previously highly successful manager? Answer: discipline.
Recently, Premier League clubs have been no strangers to issues of indiscipline, with Ashley Cole proving that it can happen to even the most experienced of players. However, Man City have been plagued with issues regarding the players’ discipline, a factor which I believe has caused them to underachieve this season.
The discipline problems first surfaced around £37 million signing Robinho and his apparent lack of desire to play for the club. More recently, Captain Carlos Tevez displayed similar signs to that of Robinho and many thought his move away from Manchester was inevitable this January. Disharmony in the dressing room was plainly aired to all those who cared to see it, as former Arsenal stars Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor exchanged blows during training also in January.
Up until recently, Roberto Mancini has been careful to avoid any accusations of mismanagement, but the fiery Italian became embroiled with fellow national Mario Balotelli after a long running dispute. Balotelli’s reputation was well known in Italy, after the player famously wore the shirt of arch rivals AC Milan in public. However, the situation in England seemed to become uncontrollable when Balotelli was sent of during City’s Europa League aggregate defeat to Dynamo Kiev. It was the latest in a string of controversial incidents involving the 20-year-old, with manager Roberto Mancini branding him “stupid” for the latest misdemeanour. Yet, Mancini has appeared to lose all control after he threw a suitcase at Balotelli after the match. Mancini doesn’t appear to be backing out of the confrontation, after failing to bring the striker on during City’s loss against Chelsea; instead opting for defender Dedryck Boyata.
Mancini’s actions in not bringing the striker on appear to be personally motivated, which is never a good sign for a club. Although many top managers including Sir Alex Ferguson have been guilty of misconduct in the dressing room, Mancini is increasingly becoming the common denominator in player feuds. This indiscipline will cost Man City’s chances in top flight European football, as it has already done in the Europa League. Therefore the question must be asked, is this a product of poor management, or the football culture of high wages and players who increasingly don’t care about the club they play for? If any club is guilty of pioneering such a culture, then surely it is Manchester City.
