ESPN Soccernet - Correspondents - Manchester City- City's Turnover of Players Continues

Posted by Wallace Poulter on 08/19/2010

Over the past couple of years City have had five really good players. The Stephen Ireland and Elano of two years ago, the Craig Bellamy in the first half of last season, Shay Given and Carlos Tevez. Ireland and Elano are gone, Bellamy out on loan, Given almost certainly the same and Tevez quoted as not enjoying his football and considering quitting in a couple of years.

Part of this, a significant part, is the turnover in managers from Sven to Hughes to Mancini. However no other club is getting rid of its best players the way City are. The replacements, it can be argued, are better than those that have left.

Such change takes time. Hughes was not given the time to create a complete team or squad. Will Mancini? On the evidence of the game against Spurs, an admittedly small sample, City have a lot of work to do.

The reemergence of Joe Hart and arrivals of Boateng, Kolarov, Small Berries, Milner, Silva and Balotelli combined with Adam Johnson comprise a significant makeover one year after Hughes initiated a similar spree. I just do not see this team coming together quickly. The new team that Hughes put together didn't, it's not a stretch to see Mancini similarly struggle.

I agitated for the removal of Hughes for a number of reasons not least the failure of being able to work with his best talent. The loan of Bellamy to Cardiff City is extremely frustrating for practical reasons. I understand that the Welshman does not fit Mancini's vision for the future. However it seems to me that particularly after the World Cup a player of such experience and ability, who did not play in South Africa, would have been a very useful contributor, at least until the end of August.

The summer arrivals and the starting formation against Valencia in pre season lead me to believe that the Inter diamond is one of Mancini's preferred formations. It, the diamond, works in a specific manner and the use of three DMC's makes sense within that context. Yet against Spurs the team lined up in what appeared to be a 4-5-1 with Silva and SWP on the wings and Tevez up front. Tevez will never be a lone striker, ever. His natural tendency is to fill the hole behind a lead striker. As David Silva drifted in from the wing and Tevez came back for the ball the City players got in each others way as the formation became at best a 4-6-0. Time and again City had no one in the box when a cross was being prepared.

Compare this to the Sven era 4-2-3-1 where the attacks went through Petrov on the left and City would usually have four players crashing the box, the striker and AMC initially drawing the defense with Ireland and then Johnson coming in on the back of the play usually to great effect.

City could have, and probably should have lost to Spurs by at least three clear goals so dominant were Tottenham in the first half. The players seemed lost and tired playing in an unfamiliar formation and with new team mates. Would it really have hurt City so much to use a counter attacking 4-2-3-1 with the three consisting of Bellamy, A. Johnson and Ireland for a couple of games while slowly adding in the new players as their conditioning returns after the World Cup? Mancini was quoted as saying he only had one day to work with the team; which is my point. As such I think we should look at the Spurs game as a fortunate point gained.

I suppose my frustration is of what appears to be an opportunity lost. Tonight's game against Timisoara is not one that I relish. With the players that City have, if this game was played in 6 months I'd expect City to walk it in a stroll. Wouldn't be close. There is that potential this evening as well, but there is also the distinct possibility that a well schooled technically inferior squad could do a number on Mancini's men much to the delight I'm sure of the red tops.

The pressure on Mancini must be immense. He has, not unreasonably, decided that he will live or die with the players that he wants on the team. I'm a quite confident that given time Mancini will end the club's silverware drought. I just have an uncomfortable feeling that the route the manager has selected is going to have more than a few bumps along the way.

Comments

Posted by Nick the Blue on 08/19/2010

Small Berries?? Who's that..?

Wallace Reply The watching of Buckaroo Banzai really should be required...

Posted by Daniel on 08/19/2010

Wallace, I again have to state that for all intents and purposes it appears that Bellamy wanted out and was going to force his way out. This is a far cry from the Elano situation where a player wanted to play but a manager undermined him. That's bad man management. Having a player on the squad who doesn't want to be there and is quite willing to be as disruptive as possible to get what he wants is bad man management. We're both on the outside looking in (although if I'm wrong in your case, I apologize.) From my vantage, Mancini tried the last half season to cooperate with Bellamy and make a go of it. For his trouble, he got Bellamy shouting encouragement to Moyes when Mancini and Moyes had a confrontation and a moment where Bellamy high-fived an opposing coach for his victory which sealed Champion's League football. That isn't something you flip a switch and suddenly Bellamy is happy. No, that's a cancer you excise before it spreads.

Wallace Reply You may well be right.

Posted by Jesse on 08/19/2010

Repeat after me: Yaya is not a defensive midfielder... Yaya is not a defensive midfielder. He was brought to provide stability in the middle of the park and to pass the ball - his role is not to sit in front of the back 4. Trust me, he is going to be immense as a "linker" of play. He's the one who created City's best chance on Sat remember (SWP would rather forget)? Check out the passing stats on the Guardian for Yaya, Barry and NdJ -- amazing 90%+ completion rate at WHL.

It seems to me we are playing a lopsided 4-4-1-1. Silva is not a left winger. Instead, he is a hybrid No.10 that drifts in from the left. I'm telling you right now, Yaya and Silva are the two best passers on the team, and once Tevez, AJ and Milner get on the same page with Yaya and Silva, City are going to be devestating. Central defenders are not going to know who to mark with Tevez dropping deep, Silva, Milner and AJ sneaking in behind, and Yaya pulling the strings or rampaging straight at goal.

Wallace Reply Against Valencia you had de Jong at the bottom of the diamond and then Barry and Small Berries able to move forward in support and link. We saw this with Barry's goal for example. Maybe DMC is too limiting in the description, but rather ball winning midfielders...

Posted by Rowan on 08/19/2010

I suspect Mancini will take losing a few points in the first month to rapidly develop an understanding between his players.

The 3 DCM approach Mancini likes requires a dynamic understanding, constant movement and mutual support between those players. It also needs at least two of them (Yaya and Barry in this case) to act as false-playmakers, occasionally drifting into space and playing threatening passes in order to force the opponent to commit their midfield to mark the DCMs tightly. That in turn will give whichever three players are further forward, more room.

Thing is, only a very good mutual understanding and confidence allows the DCMs to act like this: they are not naturally threatening attacking players (though Milner will be an exception if, as I suspect, Mancini plays him in a DCM role; the question is over his positional play and defending). They don't have it yet, so Spurs shut the forward three down, Tevez came back to try to get space and the ball, and that was that.

Wallace Reply yes exactly

Posted by oran on 08/19/2010

Jesse, I am a barcelona fan and was a fan of yaya. he is a defensive midfeilder and battled with sergi busquets for the position, which busquets usually won. barca's midfield has no wingers, they us their two wide forwards or their right or left back, so the three midfielders go like this: right and left central midfields and a defensive central midfielder behind them. barcelona is a 4-1-2-3 and toure was the one.

Wallace Reply Small Berries has also played a credible centre defense against United in the Champions League

Posted by Wilbur on 08/19/2010

For the life of me I don't know why we aren't playing a 4-2-3-1. This would also facilitate Mancini's plan of 2 players for each position.

ST - Adebayor/Balotelli
LCAM - Silva/Robinho CCAM-Tevez/Milner RCAM-A.Johnson/Phillips

LCDM- Barry/Viera RCDM-De Jong/Y.Toure

LB-Kolarov/Bridge LCB-Lescott/Kompany RCB-Toure/Richards RB-Boateng/Zabaleta

Of course there is room for rotation amongst the positions with Boateng also able to play left back, Richards right back. And attacking midfielders to switch sides, etc. Seems most plausible to me.

Posted by Noah Wexler on 08/19/2010

Ignoring the injuries on the back line. I see Mancini going with:
Hart
Boateng Toure Kompany Kolarov
DeJong
Barry
Yaya

Milner/SWP
Silva/Johnson
Tevez

Adebayor/Balotelli

Posted by Benson on 08/19/2010

I hate to say this but Manchester City has probably one of the best secret No.10's in David Silva. I have been following him for years, but it seems like Mancini wouldnt know how to use him.
With Milner coming in I think they should play a 4-3-3. Have Mario up front, Tevez on the right Silva on the left. Then Shrink the midfield with Yaya in the centre, Milner on the Right and Johnson on the left.
The idea is so that as Tevez and Silva drift diagonally in the middle, Johnson and Milner drift out wide (when attacking). While when defending Milner and Johnson shrink that middle and with the work rate of Tevez and Silva they drop in and cover the width of the opposition, pretty much switching to a 4-5-1.

Wallace Reply Love it from an attacking standpoint my issue would be the centre of defense. Do we have the players that are good enough to stand on their own without the presence of de Jong in front of them...

Posted by aaron on 08/19/2010

sky blues as usual.. 2nd class citizen of manchester.

Wallace Reply And yet still the only team in Manchester.

Posted by Michael J. Smith on 08/19/2010

I saw Tevez and Silva almost knock each other over going for a ball right on the edge of the 18-yard box. That's a bad sign for me because neither backed down to allow the other a shot. Silva was in a better position to shoot but Tevez just brushed past him and unleashed an off-target shot for a goal kick. As you said, the lack of chemistry is obvious.

Wallace Reply To be fair it is to be expected. My thought is that Mancini could have brought this in gradually rather than sink or swim!

Posted by Jorge on 08/19/2010

Mancini needs to learn quickly the ins and outs of the English Premier League or else I fear he will get the same treatment Mark Hughes received. How much time will the board give him if results are not as expected in the short term?

How effective will a system of three DCM's be against Teams that are not interested in playing football. He should maybe focus on getting the best out of his players by playing them in their natural positions with a complementing partner next to them. Mancini will also need to balance out his selections and this will mean that his most expensive players will not be able to play week in week out. Silva and Tevez play their best football in the #10 position behind a striker and should be partnered by either Adebayor, Balotelli or Santa Cruz.

It is true he has got rid of some good players in the past but the players who have replaced them are either world champions, champions league winners or players with immense potential while reducing the squad age.

Wallace Reply I'm looking forward to the scenario you state when both Kolarov and Boateng are fit and part of the formation. That will be very instructive.

Posted by Jon on 08/19/2010

Europa League Qualifier
Man City lineup:GK Hart;RB Zabaleta,CB K Toure, CB Kompany,LB Lescott;CM Y Toure,CDM De Jong, CM Barry;CF Tevez,ST Adebayor,ACM Silva.

I think this type of formation is what we are going to be seeing most of the year. Mancini has said he plans on rotating the squad this year but I still have no idea how we are going to keep all the egoistic attacking players we have happy.

Wallace Reply Yes I agree, Kolarov and Boateng to play when fit but I think that is the base and depending on the situation players like Milner, Johnson and Balotelli come in.

Posted by Martin Nazimek on 08/19/2010

Wallace,

I enjoyed the match today, though it was hard to watch as we could not break through all match. That will come with time though. Bollatelli has a mean streak and a good eye for the ball. Though not a lot of Italians do well in the premiere league so it will be interesting to watch. I am interested where milner will play. Will he take the place of AJ or Silva? I dont understand this move at all. Ireland was my favorite city player as he was city through and through. I will definitely watch villa matches to see him play. I think it was a waste of money since ireland is better than milner in my opinion. CTID

Wallace Reply Ireland has such a good footballing brain, if Villa can get that working for them he's going to do well. I think Milner takes the place of Barry.

Posted by clint on 08/19/2010

what ever the formation city has. they will be empty handed this year. too dumb to let go of ireland. sorry guys! lacking of centerback. no spine at all.

Posted by cody on 08/19/2010

vinnie and kolo should be are center backs for the entire season. they look like they have an understanding out there. they were backing up each other, and like spurs, the threat came at the fullbacks as our center backs did a terrific job and continued that form today. that being said I am on the verge of trusting our defense with only 1 holding midfield player in front of them. We really should start playing the diamond 4-4-2 (attacking) once our back 4 settles. With toure, milner, johnson, silva in midfield supporting the strikers we would have no problem penetrating other defenses.

on another note, thought lescott looked good at left back today. he should be our backup there, and our current starter there due to kolarov's injury (even if bridge weren't injured I'd want lescott there). bridge is bad.

Wallace Reply Lescott played a lot of Left Back earlier in his career and is quite capable. His positioning is suspect and when playing centre back has a tendency to play attacking players onside. When he just has to worry about one player he's better.

Posted by Daniel CHeah on 08/19/2010

Spot on article, however I beg to differ regarding Mancini is the man to end your trophy drought. This lad doesn't understand the simplest most crucial fact; stability.

I assure you, IF Sven has had the sort of resources Hughes and Mancini has, or to define it even better, if Sven has had the type of players at his disposal, Sven would've continued his brilliant start of the season and build on it.

I feel, both managers' mistake is trying to build a team of their own in a rapid manner. Yes, you may have money, but you have to know what to add on top of it. What was lacking.

On paper, the players on the team that was brought in, are awesome. It is not merely a matter of being able to "gel" as a team that concerns me. It's more of a matter that some of the players simply don't "make a team". Not this team.

I agree with you on Tevez as a lone striker, it is an awful link. I believe Adebayor has a big part to play, most can't see that. Adebayor for all his flaws, is a potent lone st

Posted by Daniel Cheah on 08/19/2010

Ade has the ability to bring the entire team's build up play. He is strong enough to be up there alone and really be on his own. Most people doesn't realise the difficulty of the job of playing a lone striker.

Mancini likes short passing, he should put Ade up there as how Arsenal did with Ade. Play a 4-2-3-1. And please take out Barry. He is a weak link. I hope Milner replaces Barry, for what it's worth, Barry doesn't suit the system of a fluid play. He's too careless.

I have a feeling this is a merry go round cycle, if Mancini after all the spending, much more pressure is on him, and time is not on his side, he will certainly be gone by mid season if he can't deliver half of it.

Mancini is not Mourinho, he has to remember that. Track back at his trophies, you will realise he inherited the 1st, 2nd was due to zero competition, 3rd was only Juve came back up, too late to force a challenge, as Inter had strengthen every angle of their team.

Wallace Reply That's the league. Mancini has shown the ability to win Cups and it is there that I think City will win Silverware.

Posted by macca on 08/20/2010

didn't watch them in the qualifier, but saw the spurs game and couldn't believe how mancini left it till the 82nd min to actually play a forward. they had absolutely no penetration of the spurs defence, tevez never even got near dawson or King, SWP made some incisive runs in behind but screwed up the opportunnity that he got. In the first half the 3 DM's got in each others way, it was a little better in 2nd half as Barry played more as a left mid, i think yaya will do well this year, he made some good runs into the box and will be a threat from crosses. They definitly need to start either Adebayor or Balotelli this weekend. I don't support city, but will try watch most of their games this season as i would be happy with them to either fail miserably after all the money they spent, but similarly wouldn't mind them finding the right chemistry because it would be great to watch, balotelli is something special.

Posted by HonestJohn on 08/20/2010

Did you ever stop to think that the new ruling on the limit of foreign players in the squad might have impacted mancini's decision to let players go? No disrespect to Ireland, a solid player with a decent amount of ability, but given the option I'd have gone for another foreigner in my squad as well. Perhaps I'm expecting too much from a City fan, though. You lot aren't used to planning for success.

Wallace Reply Ireland qualifies as a "home grown" player under the rules.

Posted by Jon in L.A. on 08/20/2010

I've been a Chelsea fan for about 38 years. We went through a similar phase a few years ago, different managers, formations, some good players leaving.

There are some really good ideas from everybody here, much better than I'm used to on Chelsea blogs!

Today I watched Balotelli's debut and I was in awe of yet another potential formation: Balotelli and Adebayor up front. Talk about a handful.

The truth is there are about 143 permutations of possible formations given your wealth of talent. However, today I think I saw the essential spine of your future success. Kolo, Small Berries, Balotelli. Accessorize with wingers, full backs etc. Silva, AJ, SWP, Bellamy (only on loan).

Yaya IS a great defensive midfielder. But he's more than that and that's why you bought him. He's a terrific passer and, injury permitting, he'll be a mighty midfield general. Kompany, Milner, and Tevez around him, Small Berries will be like Yul Brynner in "The Magnificent Seven".

The future is rosy. Cheers!

Posted by jef on 08/20/2010

milner=stephen ireland+18mil pound=superb deal for villa.thx

with some luck city could finish 4th.currently the players are fueled by $$ to play for city,no passion and determination.

the loss of dunne was immense,now ireland and bellamy are gone.with dunne and bellamy playing,at least man city have 2 very determined player who are willing to fight and put their body on the line.with ireland,the home supporters have something to cheer about their home grown talent from their own academy.

man city might do well in the next few seasons under a new manager and further crazy spendings to get it right but not under mancini this season,i dun think mancini know how to play in EPL.

i think this would be and shud be man city best lineup with chemistry

adebayor,tevez,milner,barry,yaya,adam johnson,kolarov,kolo,kompany,zabaleta.

good luck to man city although i'd like to see them fail big time.

good luck when the owners stop pumping money for the insane wage bill in future

Posted by CiTyBluE on 08/20/2010

As a third generation City fan for 34 years I am quite happy with Roberto Mancini and the players we have, as I am happy about Stephen Irealnd leaving.

I was more bothered about Bellamy leaving than Ireland and I was once a huge Stevie fan from as early as Academy level singing his praises even before he broke through.

Bellamy is on loan, Carlos Tevez is going nowhere and you have to look at given as short term, Joe Hart was always going to replace him eventually as all City fans should have realised by now.

Bellamy is getting to play for his honetown club, so whats to say he does not come back to City a happy man and give us a few more years.

Especially if we have winger injury problems, fingers crossed that never happens.

'This is our City' blogger

Jay CTID

Posted by Josh in Pittsburgh on 08/20/2010

Mancini and Hughes have both made the same mistakes. They are trying to change the squad too quickly. Look at what Ancellotti has done at Chelsea, now given Chelsea have been very successful, he has slowly changed the players in the squad to his liking. He has changed the mentality from defense first to attack. Which has been successful thus far given that they did score 103 last year (but did do quite poorly against your citizens). These are very different mentalities, and rather than go out and spend ridiculous amounts of money to change the squad, he has made due with the players he has and has chose to offload players 3-4 at a time. He has revived the likes of Malouda and Anelka. Malouda seemed to be on his way out the door just a year ago, struggling for playing time, but has proven detrimental to the success of Chelsea. Mancini would we wise to look at his Italian counterpart and take note.

Wallace Reply To me you build a squad by bringing in better players and letting the least talented players on your squad move on. What both Hughes and Mancini have done is essentially start over getting the players they want. And maybe that's the way you do it. Certainly Garrido out and Kolarov in is an example of upgrading the way I would like to see it, you might even at a stretch say the same about Nedum and Boateng.

Posted by John French on 08/20/2010

One used City scarf for sale in Feb when they're 11th.

Wallace Reply No.... it will not get that bad. This is a team that on its day can play anyone off the park but could also lose to Blackpool if they aren't working together enough.

The team at the end of the year that was playing a 4-2-3-1 was starting to dominate. We seem to have done the equivalent of Tiger Woods remaking his swing completely. Break it down with the intent to have a higher ceiling once it is working properly. High risk, high reward.

Posted by Sam on 08/20/2010

City are trying to repair the damage done by Hughes, his signings were poor and have left a number of players not up to scratch in the squad. Hughes problem is that he could not run a big club and reverted to the players he knew, unfortunately most of them are combative and arrogant, hence the need for Bellamy, talented but definitely a Hughes signing to leave. The club will be better off without him. Once these Hughes mistakes are gone you will see a much better unit.
Mancini looks to have a much better plan in terms of long term success. He has signed young, talented players who could bring success to City over a long period, he now has to get them playing together, no easy feat. Who doubts that the likes of Boateng, Balotelli, Silva, Johnson, Toure (younger) and Milner will have bright careers if they come together. Potentially City are looking 100 times better than under the very limited Hughes.

Wallace Reply In principal yes, and the age of the players is encouraging (something Sven did also). Frankly I think the owners should say it doesn't matter what Mancini does this year, he will be judged at the end of the 2011-12 season - and then stick to that commitment. You add one world class central defender to this team and have them play together for a year and they will be scary good.

Posted by Eric on 08/20/2010

Wallace...well-played reply to Aaron, sir! The only thing missing was an inquiry into the quality of the prawn sandwiches at OT this year.

Posted by Trojan on 08/20/2010

City thinks they can buy success? Indeed! Look at veterans in the game, arsenal, chelsea and man u. They made a few changes, i am so surprised that chelsea really didnt buy any players this season and chose to stick to their old men. The managers know what they are doing changing too much too soon will bring failure, teams need time to gel if u flood it with new talent see how berba struggled for 2 seasons?! Man city is making a huge mistake and I will really enjoy their downfall when they finish mid of the table at the end of the season. You cant buy success, go and ask real madrid! after all the money they spent last season they still finished trophyless and were bounced out the champs league by lowly lyon. Mr. Wallace do not over exert yourself. Man city WILL WIN NOTHING THIS SEASON! not even the carling cup.You have no winning culture and have never won squat in ur life!accept the fact that teams like chelsea,arsenal,united, totenham,liverpool,villa,have better chances of winning.

Wallace Reply oh dear, someone needs a history lesson. City were, an the emphasis on were, a major side for many years winning league, cup and European honours. Just as United, Chelsea, Spurs etc. had years where they were in the wilderness so it has been the case for City more recently. These things go in cycles.

United, Chelsea, Arsenal etc. have all bought success. You need only look at the top ten transfers including English players to see Rio Ferdinand #1 for his 31 million pound move from Leeds to United. Rooney is #2, Carrick #6 and Hargreaves #10. The only difference is that United spent their money over a number of years rather than over a couple.

Posted by Kyle on 08/20/2010

Can't believe there's not more noise about Given losing the starting spot. He was easily in the top 5 in the premier league last season. Hart was 3rd string for the national team's weakest position. If Given leaves, this switch will be a huge gamble. I also cannot believe Liverpool or Arsenal haven't snatched him up yet.

Wallace Reply Hart was also top 5 in the Premier League last year and was only 3rd string for England because of Capello's conservative decision making. Hart should have been England's number #1 at the World Cup.

Personally I would have sent Hart out on loan for another 6 months and recalled him in January. Ten looked to move Given next summer...

Posted by Femi on 08/20/2010

Tevez alone up front is an awful idea. he loves to play the hole. 4-2-3-1 is hands down the best possible formation for them. Adebayor, and maybe Jo or Santa Cruz can fill the lone striker role. with the arrival of Milner, Silva, Balotelli and the return of Robinho, the team has an overwhelming number of creative attacking midfield/forward players. Yaya is definitely the most creative of the deep lying centermids. He has the ability to drive forward and provoke the opponent and create goal scoring opportunities. personally i think losing Ireland and Bellamy is bad for city. Both are great players when they are at their best and played pivotal roles in last seasons campaign.
but at the end of the day, player for player, if Man city doesnt win SOMETHING this year, it is a HUGE disappointment.

Posted by Rosey on 08/20/2010

You like Stephen Ireland so much you call him The Stephen Ireland. The Elano. Remember the Elano!

Posted by mfmaxpower on 08/21/2010

Most important question of them all:

PES 2011 or FIFA 11?

Wallace Reply Neither... Football Manager 2011 when it arrives (and 10 and 9 etc. before that back to the Championship Manager days...)

Posted by wengermite on 08/21/2010

Agree completely.

1)Too much chop and change to quickly

2)Released some of the better performers. Bellamy, Ireland, Elano now Givens

Posted by kopite on 08/21/2010

Defender came first when you want to built a great team.

MU: bought Stam (won CL 99) then bought ferdinand to further won trophies.
Arsenal: Sol Campbell (won double)
Chelsea: Mour bought carvalho + terry(won first BPL)
Liverpool: Houllier bought hyppia and Henchoz (won treble 2001. Benitez (Hyppia and Carra - CL 05)

Everthing must be done from defender. Last year, City defender is not the best defensive unit compare with other top six team. bought star player in attack but defensively not working as unit won't win a game coz attacker can one day failed to score but if team not leaking goal, draw can still a good 1 point advantage.

Wallace Reply Very interesting thought and yes I completely agree about City compared to the other teams in the top 6.

Posted by Lo Sconosciuto on 08/21/2010

About the top 6's defense: have you seen Arsenal's goalkeeping?

Also, of all kopite's examples, arguably all were built around a defensive midfielder. Certainly, Keane and Vieira were the key defensive players on those teams, and Didi Hammann and Makele and Essien were vital to their teams' success.

Posted by loosetops on 08/22/2010

Questions can still be asked about whether Mancini has the character to handle such enormous talent with the accompanying egos.

He is no Jose Mourinho whose presence rose above everybody else and city is not Real or Barca where the club&fan umbrella outsize the presence of any player, which boxes the players in. With that point in mind, even Real proved that it isn't an easy task binding a pool of great talent.

For me the biggest issue is can he establish and manage camp. Only after that is accomplished do the match day formations matter.

However if the results go heavily against city before Mancini is able to bind his camp, it is probably game over as really bad results create a negative feedback which destabilizes the camp even further.

Without an overshadowing manager, getting City together is first and foremost a big social dynamics puzzle.

Posted by Trojan on 08/22/2010

Dear Mr. Wallace, I didn't say that other clubs didn't buy players they didn't buy as much as city is buying now! I mean the amount of players city has bought is just too much for you guys to expect success anytime soon.Build a team and stick to a manager for at least 3 years, have a formula and a strategy that works. Let the manager know his players inside and out even though he loses 10 games in a season. My point is the reason why Man city wont won anything this season is simply becos you guys want to buy your way into success instead of building your way into it.For the past 5 to 6 seasons chelsea has been using almost the same team and making little adjustments, same as Man U and arsenal. Little adjustments man so that you dont disturb the delicate balance of the team and there will be some continuity. I dont see u guys winning jack this year man. Nothing at all. I even rate tottenham better than city this season and they might actually win something.

Posted by cody on 08/22/2010

adam johnson better start tomorrow. i don't know why he's been relegated to the bench. he had a good end to last season, a good preseason, and has been terrific off the bench. shame on mancini if adam johnson starts on the bench tomorrow

Wallace Reply Silva is a quality player but he like most of the players who took part in the World Cup is having fitness issues.

Posted by zarlceiss on 08/22/2010

"Compare this to the Sven era 4-2-3-1 ....with Ireland and then Johnson coming in on the back of the play usually to great effect."

johnson didn't play a single game for sven you tool. he was signed by mark hughes. how did your so-called play come to great effect???

Wallace Reply Michael Johnson, not Adam. And Adam was signed by Mancini rather than Hughes.

Posted by Daniel on 08/22/2010

After today, that Milner/Ireland swap doesn't seem like a bad bit of business. May change with tomorrow's result, but it was interesting reading Villa fans reactions today and watching Ireland disappear. . . again.

Wallace Reply I only saw the highlights of the game but it appeared that Ireland was in centre midfield in a 4-4-2. Ireland is not a good central midfielder nor, despite numerous other websites saying so, was his best position in the "hole" behind the striker. Even Ireland thinks that is his best position. Ireland works as the right side of the midfield in a 4-2-3-1 when the focus of the attack is down the left (ie when Petrov played). Ireland then has the freedom to drift inside from the right midfield into a central position as the play develops. Ireland has a great footballing brain and his anticipation is superb, hence his runs into the box were so well timed and he was able to impact the games so well in that role.

Ireland is not a central midfielder nor is he an AMC and if Villa or anyone else play him there you will get the same result we saw last year.

I'm just glad Liverpool didn't try and sign him. Hodgson's recent 4-2-3-1 would have been perfect for him.

Posted by Daniel on 08/23/2010

Wallace, I think your analysis is spot-on regarding Ireland's best position. The great tragedy of him is that he's so locked into what he thinks he should be doing that he looks as if he's doing a very unfortunate and very effective job of sabotaging his career.

About him going to Liverpool, do you think he and Cole would have gotten in each other's way?

Wallace Reply If Liverpool built via the left wing then no. I haven't seen enough of Milan Jovanovic to know if that's possible

Posted by esosa on 08/23/2010

i love Mancity but they will certainly win no silver aware this season, please what is the total bill paid on senior player at City?

Wallace Reply Mancini has an excellent record in cup competitions (although in Italy the top teams join later in the competition). I anticipate that City will win one of the 3 Cups that they are in

Posted by Ben Daniel on 08/23/2010

Robinho is still the best player in man city...mancini should work with him , baloti and tevez if he wants us to qualify for the championship..... he should keep sentiment and get the result.... Robinho the greatest in the world...believe that...

Posted by NotoriousNumero7 on 08/23/2010

Did you really call Yaya John Small Berries? LOL. Then Adebayor is John Parker, mon. Boy, if you could do the whole team you'd be a genius. I always did feel like Mancini has a John O'Connor thing about him.

Wallace Reply It's Bigboote that worries me. I call any of them that and they'll hunt me down.

Posted by kopite on 08/24/2010

Man City can't be to Chelsea of Abramovich (in term of spending). When Abramovich start investing money, Chelsea is already a recognize team in the 90's and early 2000's. This is different with City. During that period (espcially during Hoddle, Vialli and Gullit era) they already have a decent squad challenging for honour in domestic and euro. They won several FA cups, cwc etc. Abram is just icing on the cake. Even with ranieri (which i believe is not the best manager) they still manage to place 2nd and lost cl semi (if i not mistaken) before mour took over. city is just a mid table team going in and out of prem before the takeover. it will be a little bit difficult to do a chelsea. But still they have the resources.

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