CAN MANCHESTER CITY BUILD A TEAM?

Manchester City got rich in 2008 when Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan owned Abu Dhabi United Group bought the club. Since then, the Blues have gone on to spend more money on players than the whole world spends on Christmas presents. Last season Manchester City spent over £100million. With the £35million deal for Mario Balotelli soon to be confirmed, and with over £86million already spent on new recruits, City look set to do so again this season.

We saw a similar pattern with Chelsea in 2003. Thanks to new owner Roman Abramovich’s big spending, Chelsea won the league in just their second season after being bought by the Russian – a feat Manchester City have not been able to repeat. Now as the 2010/11 season kicks off, the City hierarchy will be looking for results.

UEFA Champions League qualification is surely a minimum requirement for Roberto Mancini this season after missing out narrowly to Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs, despite City’s big spending, were the team to break into the Top 4 last season. (The so called ‘Top 4’ has been breached 3 times since 2001/02. Interestingly, on each of those occasions, the team to get bumped was Liverpool.)

With all the money being spent, everyone will agree that Manchester City will eventually ‘buy’ success. Every time the transfer window opens, clubs run and hide. They throw camouflage over their prized players and hope that City’s wondering eye passes them by with little fuss. The likes of Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and even Liverpool can no longer compete in the transfer market as players know they can earn more signing for City. And no longer can the ‘we can guarantee you success at this club’ card be played as City will find success. Some are asking the question: ‘How long will it take City to win something?’ but I think there is a more important question to consider: ‘Why have they not won anything yet?’

Possible Manchester City starting XI

I believe City haven’t won anything yet because their buying has been poor. Take a look at some of the players City have bought in the past two seasons and you’ll find the likes of Bellamy, Wright-Phillips, Bridge, Adebayor, Tevez and Kolo Toure… all of whom can be considered ‘cast offs’ from the teams ahead of them. Bridge and Phillips were no longer needed at Chelsea. Manchester United didn’t think Tevez was worth what his owners wanted. Adebayor and Toure were deemed surplus to requirements at Arsenal and Bellamy was surrounded by chaos at Liverpool. It is almost as if City have been trying to build a team out of everyone else’s spare talent. The point is: how can you expect to beat a team when you are made up of their fringe players? On their day, these guys can still be match winners – don’t get me wrong! And there are plenty of teams out there who would snap any of them up if they came back on the market. They are still ‘stars’. They are still good. They are however perhaps not the best.

As mentioned with Bellamy, City have bought some notoriously ‘hard to handle’ characters to Eastlands. Adebayor was said to have been a disruptive influence at Arsenal, Tevez was perhaps overly vocal in his criticism of Sir Alex and Joleon Lescott’s move from Everton was done in bad taste. Add to that the Robinho/Elano affair. Both Brazilians were star performers in South Africa but that form was absent in a City shirt, resulting in Elano being sold and record-signing Robinho being loaned out to Santos. City have the money to buy any player but they seem to end up with the ones with major egos, short tempers, overly strong wills or an inability to be a team player. City’s biggest problem isn’t buying players. Their biggest problem is buying players who can play together and for each other.

I believe that City have bought better in this regard this time around. They have a UEFA Champions League winner in Yaya Toure who has had his own share of minor on-field explosions… but perhaps that can be expected from a defensive midfielder. David Silva is a World Cup and Euro winner and seems like a right decent guy. Jerome Boateng comes in with a good discipline record and his experience levels hiked thanks to a great run in the World Cup for Germany. Despite these good choices, I feel they have made another risky purchase in Mario Balotelli. The talented player can be unpredictable in his childish arrogance and can easily flutter between sheer brilliance and juvenile conniptions.

TRW Manchester City starting XI

With the new squad rules imposed by the FA, City will have to make some sales and we may just see some of the ‘problem children’ move on. They will still have to keep one or two egos in check however and this is where success can be lost or found. If Manchester City can keep everyone happy, keep them all fit and keep them all playing well… then the Premier League’s Top 4 could have a problem on their hands. City still have a lot of work to do however. Yes they have match winners. Yes they have a big squad. But what they need more than anything is to build a team. The biggest reason for Spurs pipping City to the post last season was because Spurs played as a team. This is where Mancini’s ability to get the best out of the players may well determine where City end up come seasons’ end.

I think with the clever purchases they have made (bar Bolatelli) and the faith they are showing in Mancini, success will not be far away for City. Manchester City have become like a rough diamond and all they need is a little work before they become the crown jewel. Maybe it will take some tough calls by Mancini. Perhaps they need the luck of the draw to smile upon them. Perhaps the volatile mix of raw talent and youthful, exaggerated passion will push them further than last season. The fact is money alone can’t do it all for City and the toughest job starts now. City have a point to prove. Hey, and with Nike’s purchase of Umbro, they are going to do it looking good!