Undoubtedly, this 2 clubs from the 2 most competitive leagues on the globe are stealing all the headlines with the done-deals and continual pursuit of further prospects. Lets have a little discussion about Man City.
New recruits at Eastlands include Gareth Barry, Roque Santa Cruz, Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor.
Until the signing of Carlos Tevez, I really felt Mark Huges, or some might say the new owners at the club, were attracting excellent signing in the quest to be the premier club in Europe. I just have a sneaky feeling that the signing of Adebayor could be one too many for the forward line at Man City. Many pundits have raised their eyebrow and have commented that the deal is a huge gamble and I cannot agree more.
Barry and Santa Cruz will both be great signings for City, Barry adding needed stability and experience to the midfield that already features the excellent Stephen Ireland while Santa Cruz will prove useful upfront for City, especially in away games where they have been really disappointing in the past year.
It is surprising that with the caliber of forwards at their disposal, City are one of the lowest scorers away from home in the league last season. They were the second lowest scorers next to Fulham in the top half of the table. Their performances away from home have been dreadful and will have bored many a soccer fan. It is a stark contrast to their often cavalier approach at the City of Manchester.
This is why I feel Santa Cruz’s opportunist touch and Tevez’s willingness to mix it up when the going gets tough will be crucial in away games. Tevez have shown that he is adapt at scoring crucial goals in late stages. Many will remember his late equalizer at Spurs and Blackburn the previous season which helped Manu Utd to the title. Equally important are his late contributions in games against Porto, Stoke and Wigan last season.
The signing of Adebayor on the other hand, is on the opposite end of the scale. No doubt he is a great talent adapt at scoring great goals, such as his wonder goal against Spurs at the Lane the previous season and his outrageous bicycle kick goal against Villareal last season, however there lies doubts about his commitment and work ethic when the team is struggling.
His total disinterest in both legs of the Champions League semi against Man Utd last season just cannot be erased from my mind. I also wonder why Arsene Wenegr has not tried to convince him to stay considering he is a considered the first choice front man at the Emirates.
His constant plea and lobbying for a move to Milan and Barcelona from the previous season shows he is a problem at the Emiartes, even though he has shown he has the potential to be a 30 goal-a-season player as he has shown the previous season. Even when after a transfer has been agreed between Arsenal and Man City, his last minute effort to try force a move to Chelsea is just distasteful.
Based on these reasons, I do feel he might be a problem at Man City should the going gets tough. Mark Huges will have his work cut out trying to ensure Adebayor is in the right frame of mind to be a real asset to Man City. If Adebayor is in the mood, he is similar to Mark Huges as a player, a player blessed with great psychic and great ability to hold the ball while waiting for support, and of course the great ability to conjure up screamers.
I do also think Mark Huges might have a tough time dealing with players with huge egos at the club. He will definitely struggle trying to choose a frontline from a list that includes Robinho, Adebayor, Santa Cruz, Tevez, Bellamy, Bojinov, Caicedo and Benjani. It is just amazing that City have a frontline that cost more than 120 million pounds in transfers and more than 35 million pounds in wages annually. Staggering!
The sale of Daniel Sturridge, a great talent as shown in his short career thus far, is a little surprising. Sturridge may not be ready for the 1st team yet, but coming off the bench, he has shown he is a great predator and has great potential. He would have been a useful member on the bench, much better than Caicedo, Benjani and Bojinov who I feel all might be heading for the exit door soon if the right offer comes along. However, I do hope Elano stays despite all the rumours of him being offloaded as I think he is crucial to City in midfield.
Despite all this, I do think we have not seen the last of City in the transfer market yet.
How successful Man City will be this coming season will however depend more on which top defenders Man City can attract to the club. It is no good having a great forward line as they have and not having a top notch defense. This has proved to be the downfall of clubs such as Newcastle and Spurs in the past.
The continual pursuit of John Terry is crucial. If they manage to sign him, they will have not just a great player but a great no nonsense leader on the pitch as well. A center pairing of Terry and City’s other defensive target, Joleon Lescott will be impressive on paper and one I am sure will pay great dividends on the pitch. All teams need a strong spine as shown by Man Utd’s title triumph last season when they had the best defense in the league and eking out ELEVEN 1-0 wins.
Chelsea won back to back tiles in 2005 and 2006 with the same approach, a mean defense complimented by hard working midfielders and a great front man with a great goal to chances ratio.
So what are Man City’s chances this coming season? I am sure lots of neutrals are eager to watch them play once the season start. It is hard to envisage a team comprising Given, Richards, Ireland, Robinho, Tevez, Santa Cruz, Barry, Elano and Kompany not challenging to break into the top 4.
However, if they do fail in their pursuit for Terry, Lescott or any other top defenders, it will be easy to see Mark Huges struggling and he might not last pass the Christmas period, considering the pressure he is under to perform from the cash rich and ultra ambitious owners in their pursuit of prime.
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Please feel free to post all comments. In my next post, I will be exploring Man Utd's move for Michael Owen.
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