Since the takeover from Dubai Group, Manchester City has quickly become the richest football club in England, even if not the richest in the world. The objective of the owner is clear- to win the league as soon as possible and takover Manchester United as no.1 team in city of Manchester by acquiring the best football talents possible. Two seasons ago, the team has broken the British transfer record by signing Brazilian ST Robinho at 32.5M. Last summer, major acquisition included big names from rivals ex-Arsenal Togo CF Adebayor and Ivory Coast CB Kolo Toure, ex-Man. Utd. FW Tevez, ex- Aston Villa England CMF Barry and ex-Everton CB Lescott. From their player acquisition, it's easy to see that their plan is not only to strengthen their own squad talent pool, but also to weaken rival's squad quality. Yet, do spending big money means instant success? We can look at Real Madrid in recent years and they have yet gained any success in Europe in recent years despite buying all the big names. To display the players' true potential and lead them to play as a collective and effective unit, a top manager is essential. The key reason why Chelsea could achieve sucess so quickly is not because their Russian owner spend big on big-names, but more due to the hiring of Mourinho as their manager. Despite rising to 5th place last season, the Dubai owner is clearly not satisfied. Although Italian manager Robert Mancini's performance has been superior to his precedent Mark Hughes, Mancini will probably be given no more than half season to show the owner that he is the right man to lead City to become the team in England! This could also apply to the squad as the owner's demand is skyhigh. Will this pressure be a motivation or a burden for the team?
Unlimited spending spree is again provided to Mancini this summer. So far, Mancini has been going at the right direction for majority of his transfers. Instead of adding more skillful individual stars, hardworking and team-oriented players have been the focus of transfers as Mancini understands that winning team tends to possess unselfish hard workers fighting for the team. (For example, in the past, French DMF Makelele has been the X-factor for Real Madrid, Chelsea and France. He is someone who doesn't demand the ball and personal glory but perform all the dirty work for his star teammates. Since losing Makelele, Real Madrid can never win major trophies for many years) Despite acquiring at relatively over-price as expected, Barcelona Ivory Cost DMF YaYa Toure, Hertha German DF J.Boateng and Lazio Russia LB Kolarov all seem to be efficient players who can make the team hard to beat. English hard-working WG/MF James Milner should also soon be joining to further improve the team work-rate and efficiency. To improve the team creativity and flair in midfield, Valencia Spain star AMF/WG David Silva has also been acquiried. Combining these new signings with the existing talented squad make Manchester City the deepest team in England. In fact, the team currently has too many players that Mancini need to off-load some of their good players like Wayne Bridge and Wright-Phillips! On paper, they now have the talents and depth to compete with Manchester United and Chelsea. Now it all depends how quickly can new players adapt to English football and how well can the team play under Mancini. Since Manchester City do not invlove in Champion League like Man.Utd., Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham, they are the dark-horse to win the league title, but it certainly won't be easy. If their owners unwilling to stay patient and provide time for the team to develop teamwork and understanding, but instead over-demand and blindly spending on more big-names, then City will never reach their dream.
Strongest line-up: <4-4-2>
Prediction: Top 3
Unlimited spending spree is again provided to Mancini this summer. So far, Mancini has been going at the right direction for majority of his transfers. Instead of adding more skillful individual stars, hardworking and team-oriented players have been the focus of transfers as Mancini understands that winning team tends to possess unselfish hard workers fighting for the team. (For example, in the past, French DMF Makelele has been the X-factor for Real Madrid, Chelsea and France. He is someone who doesn't demand the ball and personal glory but perform all the dirty work for his star teammates. Since losing Makelele, Real Madrid can never win major trophies for many years) Despite acquiring at relatively over-price as expected, Barcelona Ivory Cost DMF YaYa Toure, Hertha German DF J.Boateng and Lazio Russia LB Kolarov all seem to be efficient players who can make the team hard to beat. English hard-working WG/MF James Milner should also soon be joining to further improve the team work-rate and efficiency. To improve the team creativity and flair in midfield, Valencia Spain star AMF/WG David Silva has also been acquiried. Combining these new signings with the existing talented squad make Manchester City the deepest team in England. In fact, the team currently has too many players that Mancini need to off-load some of their good players like Wayne Bridge and Wright-Phillips! On paper, they now have the talents and depth to compete with Manchester United and Chelsea. Now it all depends how quickly can new players adapt to English football and how well can the team play under Mancini. Since Manchester City do not invlove in Champion League like Man.Utd., Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham, they are the dark-horse to win the league title, but it certainly won't be easy. If their owners unwilling to stay patient and provide time for the team to develop teamwork and understanding, but instead over-demand and blindly spending on more big-names, then City will never reach their dream.
Strongest line-up: <4-4-2>
Hart/Given
Boateng K.Toure Lescott Kolarov
Milner Y.Toure Barry D.Silva
Tevez Adebayor/Robinho
Prediction: Top 3
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