With a squad containing the likes of Robinho, Nigel de Jong, and Gareth Barry, the recently-announced signing of Carlos Tevez, and reports of John Terry, Emmanuel Adebayor, Maicon, and David Beckham potentially joining the club, Manchester City gaffer Mark Hughes looks set to create a squad of Real Madrid and Gold Coast United proportions.
But will it work?
Last year’s big-money ventures, thanks to multi-billionaire owner Sheikh Mansour, saw them struggling for cohesion throughout the domestic season, finishing 10th on the league table, and failing to earn any silverware.
Their biggest signing – also the current British record fee for an incoming transfer – 25-year-old Brazilian superstar Robinho, sparked various controversies in mere months of his signing, such as his regular disappearances from training, unexpectedly departing to Brazil without prior notice to the club, and even an arrest over rape allegations.
Despite finishing the season as the team’s overall top scorer with 15 goals across all competitions, his year was relatively underwhelming, and he was known to go unnoticed during matches.
This could very much be down to the team formula, and the lack of understanding Robinho had of the team’s style of play, and the team’s lack of understanding of how Robinho plays. Robinho arrived with a different pre-season to that of his counterparts, and was expected by most to slot into the squad without problem.
Without the knowledge of team tactics and the abilities of your fellow teammates, even the greatest players will have problems finding their feet, in a new environment.
With what seems at times like a large influx of new players joining the Citizens’ ranks, the team cohesion required of a title contender could be difficult to see, in the upcoming season.
I’ve been a long-time advocate of what I’ve come to call, “Finding the formula for the team, not the team for the formula.” This basically entails the requirement to decide what is required to make your team a success, and getting the most of the players you already have at your disposal. It then allows you, in a transfer window, to focus only on finding players that can fill the gaps that need filling.
Current Schalke 04 coach Felix Magath proved that this can be a success, leading Wolfsburg to their first ever Bundesliga title. Real Madrid have shown with the Galacticos that, despite containing some of the world’s biggest names of the time, doing the opposite can easily cause grief for all involved, and little silverware over an extended period.
Former Real Madrid Galactico Zinedine Zidane put the era’s failures down to the name ‘Galacticos.’
Their hindrance was far from just a branding error.
Big-money stars are regularly labelled as divas, are known to fall out with teammates, and criticised for losing the interest in playing to win.
While a lot (if not all) of the recent signings have been due to the money at their disposal, Mark Hughes and the staff at Manchester City must still be applauded for their success in bringing names like Robinho and Carlos Tevez to a lesser-known club, and adding extra excitement to the spectacle that is the mid-year transfer window.
The team’s cohesion is likely to cause a lot of problems, in the upcoming season, but like Robinho’s 08/09 season, we will only see glimpses of the magic we should expect from such a lineup.
Thankfully, managing a club is a constant learning experience, and Mark Hughes will no doubt learn a lot from this experiment.
Macs.football
Roar Rookie
Robinho can and probably will play on the left wing.
Infarction
Roar Rookie
Back to the subject article. Adebayor is now official. Impressive strike force. Has Tevez done the right thing for himself choosing City? Adebayor and Robinho will be up front with Ireland just behind them. Then there is also Sata Cruz and Bellamy. I wonder where are they going to get some defenders from? Last season showed that is where there main isses were (asides from Robinho's inconsistent form) Should be an exicting year for Man City fans
Infarction
Roar Rookie
Gee.. Have a cry.. Why didn't you use your real name then?
Knives Out
Roar Guru
No it isn't. It's an ironical reflection of the Australian insistence on childish pseudonyms.
Infarction
Roar Rookie
By the way Knives Out.. Is your name a Radiohead reference?
Infarction
Roar Rookie
:) Got to love Spurs fans.
Knives Out
Roar Guru
'Have you never seen a new manager come into a club and make a massive difference? It happens all the time, it in no way means that the club would have played as well all season if he was there from the start.' Yes, but I have also seen new managers completely ruin a club. Redknapp maintained that burst throughout the season. Again, I would ask you to consult some football history and examine the career history of Redknapp. 'Tottenham have done ok all things considered. They never live up to expectations though.. There will be no top tier finish and they won’t even live up to your expectations of a top 6 this season.' That's nonsense, I'm afraid. The top 4 is basically impenetrable and yet a club with a 36'000 seater stadium only finished 5th 3 seasons ago due to food poisoning. The club then replicated that the next season. Two Carling Cup finals - which were quite clearly worth a lot to Chelsea and Utd - and 3 consecutive seasons in Europe is hardly doing alright. What on earth has Arsenal achieved over the past 4 seasons. 'That’s what i am talking about, Spurs fans think the club is so much better than it is.' What are you talking about? I don't think you know. You're attempting to suggest that there is a generic Tottenham attitude, and some delusional sense of self-entitlement whereas in reality (see above), the club has a very strong recent record and is very well run with a solid financial basis. If anything Spurs have overachieved for the past few years, unless, of course, you are unaware of the huge financial chasms in the Premier League and would actually like to offer an argument on why Tottenham have just 'done ok'. 'Best you got is to hang your hat on Carling Cup results.' That sort of comment is both ignorant and petulant, and for the third time I would ask you to examine the records and see what teams Chelsea and Man Utd put out for their finals. Try Wikipedia, I think it's around your level.
Derm
Roar Guru
Gosh I can't get an edge in wordways in this topic about Manchester City. :)
Infarction
Roar Rookie
Have you never seen a new manager come into a club and make a massive difference? It happens all the time, it in no way means that the club would have played as well all season if he was there from the start. Tottenham have done ok all things considered. They never live up to expectations though.. There will be no top tier finish and they won't even live up to your expectations of a top 6 this season. That's what i am talking about, Spurs fans think the club is so much better than it is. We get told they are going to achieve things they don't seem to be able to. Hence promise so much deliver so little. Best you got is to hang your hat on Carling Cup results.
Knives Out
Roar Guru
'You can’t seriously begin to know what would have happened over the course of a year if harry was manager, what a silly argument.' It isn't a silly argument, it is very sustainable. Logic dictates that if he were capable of rising from the bottom to the near top, then I would presume he could do better over an entire season. 'Spurs fans seem to have this image of grandeur in their minds regarding their club that fails to match the reality of the situation.' No, that is a corruption that you are forcing onto the matter. The fact of the matter is that the record of Tottenham over the past four seasons is a good one. Case closed.
Infarction
Roar Rookie
You can't seriously begin to know what would have happened over the course of a year if harry was manager, what a silly argument. Spurs fans seem to have this image of grandeur in their minds regarding their club that fails to match the reality of the situation. The passion of the fans is what makes Football fun, i look forward to hearing your thoughts as the season progresses.
Knives Out
Roar Guru
I don't think you grasp the concept of football, nor football management. It is a sustainable argument that had Redknapp managed Spurs from the beginning of the season that they would have qualified for Europe which would have meant three very good seasons out of four - which allied to two finals and consistent high European placing does not quite ring true as 'delivering little' - which logic dictates is a pattern. In that context an 11th placed season under Ramos is clearly an aberration. A 'mickey mouse' cup?! What a deeply profound comment. Do you think Chelsea would have agreed last season, do you think that Ferguson would agree as his season gradually fizzled out? I doubt it. I also doubt that you understand the breadth of your 'deliver so little' 'argument'. Following that logic I could argue that the only clubs to do well last season were Fulham and Stoke. I suggest you read up your football history.
Infarction
Roar Rookie
How they deliver so little is irrelevant. Fantastically unlucky? Haha. We will see what this season brings. Their only chance of Europe will once again be through the mickey mouse cup playing against the top teams youth squads.
Knives Out
Roar Guru
That's preposterous logic. Tottenham Hotspurs isn't a monstrous, erratic, free-thinking entity who plays football. Tottenham Hotpurs is a football club managed (Note the word 'managed'.) by a manager. Hence Martin Jol and Harry Redknapp produced good results. Juande Ramos did not. You seem to conveniently forget the fact that it was mismanagement by Ramos that took the club so low, and that it was good management by Redknapp that brought the club so high. As it stands Spurs were fantastically unlucky not to qualify for Europe. They are a well run, rich club.
Infarction
Roar Rookie
You just proved my point, in your own worlds they have a roster of talent, money and so called "pedigree", yet could only finish a tie with West Ham. Promising so much and delivering so little.
Knives Out
Roar Guru
Of course it doesn't, but it is obvious that Tottenham have a roster of talent, just as they have for the past four seasons, hence the three consecutive seasons of European football. It took Redknapp to realise that, just as Jol had, and just as Ramos had not. West Ham does not have that roster of talent and nor does it have wealth commensurate with Tottenham, nor the recent pedigree. Incidentally, you forget to mention that West Ham spent far longer than Tottenham did in the top half of the table, and far less in the relegation area. Regardless, if a team manages two 5th consecutive 5th placed finishes and two consecutive Carling Cup finals interrupted by one poor showing from a clueless manager it would take a pessimistic character to write that team off.
Infarction
Roar Rookie
Knives Out. Hammers came from out of the relegation zone, changed managers and players and tied with Spurs. Hardly means they will break into the top tier this season. Spurs have a habit of promising so much and delivering so little. Can't see this changing in the new season.
Knives Out
Roar Guru
If Harry Redknapp buys Peter Crouch then I will curl up into a ball and whimper. Football is very much part-time for me (although it does affect my week if Spurs lose), and yet even I could spot the glaring deficiencies in Crouch's game. He's good in the air they say. Not really, and he never attacks a ball like smaller men do. He has good feet for a big man. Perhaps, but there is a difference between a big man's foot play and somebody like Robbie Keane. He links play well. I don't think he does. Plus, he is incredibly unathletic and is so slow to get off the deck once he has inevitably been beaten to a header and subsequently plonked on his arse. Grr... I can't stand Crouch. No, I prefer to spend my Saturdays at the Stoop, if at all possible. That's down to basic economics as much as anything. My friend has a season ticket at West Ham so sometimes I'm found at the Boleyn. I can't stand the club but it harbours a close-knit atmosphere which is nice. At Spurs you can buy a half-time salmon bagel. At West Ham you can buy a half-time pie. I suppose that sums me up. I think top 6 is a good place to be, although I do worry about injuries to key players and the fact that our front line is still so unbalanced. Redknapp is a good Premiership coach, nonetheless. I have faith. On the other hand Wenger seems to be a bit of a raving lunatic who treats his job like Fantasy Soccer. I would love to finish higher than those dopes.
Derm
Roar Guru
Bent is hopefully on his way out. Pav will be held onto only because Harry thinks he'll need 4 strikers to fight on cup and league fronts - though he has no Euro cup distractions. If he gets this Roma guy, Vucinic, maybe that'll change. He will seek to deliver Carling Cup again and a Top 6 - that's the minimum. FA Cup is still regarded as a sufficiently top prize by the Big 4 and Man City no doubt. I wouldn't underestimate the gooners - they were hit and miss last season but should improve. Except. If they lose Adebayor to Man City, they're going to struggle, as he got a number of critical goals for them last year. Talking of Crouch - will Harry take him off Portsmouth's hands? I will go permanently into decline if he does. By the way, do you go to the Lane often?
Knives Out
Roar Guru
Yes, you're probably right, Infarction. Coming from the relegation zone, having changed managers and a host of players, to finish 8th clearly suggests that another medicority of season will ensue. I'd forgotten all about Roman, Pothale. And Darren Bent too, come to think of it. Surely if teams are willing to pay comparatively big bucks for Chopra and Crouchy then someone will step in and take these two duds. I still fancy us to finish top 6 with a whole season under Harry. Man City will either do very, very well or implode, and Villa have lost their midfield heart beat. I'm not sure about Arsenal. I don't rate them, frankly. All in all it should be an exciting season, especially now that Man Utd have lost their star and Ferguson can't attract any big names to his squad (The schadenfreude emitting from my every pore is overwhelming.).