Manchester City have dominated the Premier League this season, but their influence extends globally, all the way to Melbourne.
The Sheikh Mansour takeover in September 2008 heralded a new era for the English club, resulting in Premier League titles in 2012 and 2014.
During this time, the City Football Group began plotting a series of moves that have been described as the ‘Disneyfication of football’ – a cooperation of teams under the same banner that identifies and develops talent, buys and sells players and creates marketing opportunities across the world. The City Football Group, with its roots in Manchester, now extends to America, Uruguay, Japan, and of course Australia.
The Melbourne Heart takeover was a groundbreaking moment for Australian football. The club was renamed and recoloured in the City image and has benefitted from a string of investments, including a new training base, backroom staff and cutting-edge recruitment methods.
This was to bring best practice to a club that could then feed the ‘first team’ in Manchester or at the least generate funds to support the overall mission of the City Group.
The signing of Aaron Mooy and his subsequent sale to Manchester, from where he was loaned and eventually sold to Huddersfield town for £10 million ($A17 million), sums up Melbourne’s role in the City empire.
(AAP Image/David Crosling)
From an Australian perspective what has been interesting about the success of Manchester City under Pep Guardiola in the Premier League this season (they currently have a 12 point lead) is the style of football they have been playing.
True to Guardiola’s vision, they dominate games. They currently have a 12-point lead on the table and the highest possession count in the league at 66 per cent. They have reached the final third more often than any other team in Europe’s top five leagues this season, and City has one of the highest shots taken-lowest shots faced totals ever at 17-5.
It is beautiful to watch and devastatingly effective.
It is the vision of the City Football Group that all teams in their network, from the seniors of Manchester to the under-14s of Melbourne City, play a similar style of football. This has the dual effect of creating a network where players can switch teams effortlessly and also helping City develop that global brand that will appeal to marketers and fans alike. Given Guardiola’s previous coaching resume and philosophy it is no wonder the group was so keen for him to become the figurehead of their flagship club.
If the playing style is to become ubiquitous, however, then the City Group needs like-minded coaches at their sister clubs. That makes the recent appointment of Ange Postecoglou as Yokohama F. Marinos coach entirely logical given his blatant preference for a style of play similar to Guardiola’s.
(AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
While they have differences, the broad brushstrokes of Guardiola and Postecoglou are similar. They like to dominate games through possession, emphasise constant attacking and promote aggressive, proactive defending. Another obvious similarity is their default system – a 4-3-3 – as well as a penchant for changing formations on the fly, even if it is a little obscure. Guardiola has used systems far more extreme than Postecoglou’s 3-2-4-1.
Where the two coaches are most similar, however, might be in their stubbornness, persistence and unwavering belief in their style of play. Both coaches refuse to compromise their principles regardless of results or context.
Therefore, given the scale of their scouting network and the trajectory of Postecoglou’s Socceroos, it is no surprise the City Group saw him as someone who can bring their global playing style to life in Japan. In fact Postecoglou has already spent time in Manchester observing Guardiola. Knowing the opportunities and potential stepping stones ahead of him as a head coach in the City Football Group, Postecoglou’s departure from the national team is not surprising.
In this context the current situation in Melbourne seems out of character for the City Football Group. While Warren Joyce has done an interesting job changing the internal culture, the style of play is at odds with the philosophy being espoused by Guardiola and the group.
(AAP Image/Joe Castro)
Joyce has used a 4-4-2 for most of the season, preferring the likes of Nick Fitzgerald, Stefan Mauk and Bruce Kamau because of their willingness to track back and make the side compact over bigger names like Tim Cahill and marquee Marcin Budziński.
Melbourne City play defensively – they sit back in a solid, organised block and are happy to play longer balls from the back in attack to avoid turnovers in deep positions. Furthermore, the constant selections of defensive-minded players, like Michael Jakobsen and Osama Malik, as central midfielders demonstrates Joyce’s safety-first approach.
A defensive setup is entirely justifiable, but in the context of Melbourne City as a fish in the City Football Group pond, it surely is not part of the club’s long-term plan.
It’s possible Joyce wants to get the culture right and is therefore focusing instead on creating an environment that rewards defensive discipline and hard work, but Guardiola and Postecoglou’s teams work hard and are disciplined in a different way and still play the kind of football the City Football Group wants their teams to be known for.
Without being privy to internal machinations it is not possible to pass proper judgement on the direction of Melbourne City and Warren Joyce. At face value, however, given the success of Manchester City and the appointment of Postecoglou, it is hard to see how City can continue on their current path.
Kangajets
Guest
Redondo I agree mate
Redondo
Guest
Kanga - I’m not disputing his managerial legacy but Fergie teams played an awful lot of pragmatic and boring football. That was especially the case once Roy Keane faded/departed and Manu had to adopt 2 holding midfielders to replace him.
Kangajets
Guest
Watching Sydney v Newcastle tonight . You gotta love the A league at its best
Fadida
Guest
Are the Chiefs picking the teams and the tactics?
Kangajets
Guest
Redondo That’s the absolute truth of the end of fergie era . But what he achieved will be unlikely be surpassed. However his legacy is of Great management of footballers of all ego and an to spot ability to develop young talent .
Kangajets
Guest
Waz You choking and contradicting abt mental toughness, but blaming injuries is all only applicable to Brisbane, in you world , if Newcastle has injuries, they are mentally week , but not Brisbane. You have confused and contradicting yourself today All the best Would love to see a full strength Brisbane v Newcastle knockout final , may the best team win. Cheers
Kangajets
Guest
Apologies lionheart I misunderstood your point earlier My dig at siege mentality and Queensland is a compliment. I believe that is a great asset to their team . I have no alliance to nsw as a state having come from west aust Apologies once again
Kangajets
Guest
J b He was unable to get the Munich team to win a cl Mourinho won a cl with Porto of all teams From an eye catching point of view , I love Guardiola work . I just have written Mourinho off just yet , that’s all there is too it .
Waz
Guest
And I thought it was just me KJ was having a go at lol
j,binnie
Guest
Kanga - Now you are asking some worthwhile questions. Antonis has just arrived at Victory to join other players like Troisi,Milligan,Williams, and to a lesser extent Valeri,who have all tried overseas football with limited success. This factor can be seen elsewhere in the HAL eg at Jets where Topor-Stanley, Ugarovic and Petratos have all travelled the same road and at CCM with De Siva and Rose ,Taggart at Perth and Regan at Adelaide who are all 'in the same boat Nemesis' dream of having most of the world travellers back in the HAL is a worthwhile dream even though it is unlikely to happen.Cheers jb.
Kangajets
Guest
Fergie spent big not compared to Chelsea . On par with arsenal Also the only manager to produce 6 kids from Manchester to play for England too remember. “” you can’t win nothing with kid”” well that’s fergie legacy really . Guardiola spend big , failed big time at Bayern Munich repeatedly trying to get that champions league trophy Guardiola inherited the greatest team ever at Barcelona and did a great job. But give fergie that Barcelona team, they would have won 5 champions leGues , not 2 . When it comes to spending Real Madrid and the galactic s was the biggest failure
Kangajets
Guest
Fergie spent big not compared to Chelsea . On par with arsenal Also the only manager to produce 6 kids from Manchester to play for England too remember. “” you can’t win nothing with kid”” well that’s fergie legacy really . Guardiola spend big , failed big time at Bayern Munich repeatedly trying to get that champions league trophy Guardiola inherited the greatest team ever at Barcelona and did a great job. But give fergie that Barcelona team, they would have won 5 champions leGues , not 2 .
j,binnie
Guest
Kanga - You appear to have missed that Pepe "inherited" a European championship winning team when he took over at Bayern , jb ..
Redondo
Guest
Manu played some excruciatingly boring football under Ferguson during the Ronaldo/Queiroz years. Lots of single goal wins against poor opposition. Too often they relied on Ronaldo to pluck one out of wherever to salvage a poor performance.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
He didn't fail in Munich at all. He just didn't win the UCL. They're hard to win, simple as that. He'll be the first man to win the premiership in the three toughest football leagues in the world though when he ends up winning the premiership with about 5 games to spare. I can't think of another manager that has accomplished this feat, but I could be wrong I guess. "And I could have coached the team he inherited at Barcelona to win a champions league." Nah... it doesn't work like that. You have to be given the keys to the Koenigsegg Agera RS to begin with. Even then, you still have to be able to drive it without crashing. Check this video out of the greatest road car ever - a bit off topic but I just don't care: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwsgHBFHufU I especially love how the Agera accelerates even faster once it gets to 320 km/hr... awesome! It takes someone like Pep he takes to drive that beast.
Midfielder
Guest
Real I agree with your post
j,binnie
Guest
Punter - Have you been celebrating too much? You mention my name in conjunction with Celtic of 1967 , I was running a team in Brisbane in 1967 and doing so on a shoestring.. The myth of "making your own players" was started long before that when the press christened a Man. Utd team as "The Busby Babes". Not unlike the reporters of today the reporters of the time forgot to check out the ages of these "babes" and it may surprise even you that only a few of the first team were what would be termed "under age". Harry Greg the keeper, was bought from Doncaster, Roger Byrne the full back was 28,the centre forward Taylor was 26 and bought from Barnsley, Mark Jones was 24 and Johnny Berry the winger was 31. The knick-name came about when assistant manager Jimmy Murphy and chief scout Joe Armstrong went public declaring the club was going to try and raise their own players. and Duncan Edwards and Bobby Charlton appeared on the scene to give the knick-name some credibility. In later years George Best could be added to the list but it should never be forgotten that Gregg,Crerand, Herd, Law, Dunne,and Burns,all part of their European Cup winning team in 1968 were purchased elsewhere. Cheers jb.
Nemesis
Guest
Antonis just turned 24. Which Aussies of similar age would you rate higher than Terry Antonis? I'm not saying he's a global superstar, but he's as technically good & tactically smart as any Aussie I've seen his age. Is that good enough? Who knows, but I'm glad he's back in ALeague. I'd like to see every Aussie back playing ALeague, unless they're starting at least 75% of matches overseas.
punter
Guest
Please don't tell me the Alex Ferguson did not also spend big, he had the biggest budget in the PL for many years. As you have constantly told me that football keeps evolving & Fergie' biggest ability was his ability to adapt. When Wenger came to town & changed the way English football can be played only one coached adpated & Man U were able to compete with Arsenal, then Mourinho came to town & the play was changed again & Fergie was again able to adapt but Wenger wasn't. Now Pep is in town & no-one has been able to adapt to meet his standards.
Kangajets
Guest
Ok mate Explain to me How Sydney go from Moore Park to Moore Park Is less the Melbourne to Newcastle then to Sydney Anyhow I seem to have irked your mate waz today by stating injuries I know roar have had injuries. You and waz state it 10 times a week that roar have injuries. I actually sympathetic towards Brisbane but feel Aloisi is your biggest issue Sometimes I praise u Queenslanders and still get brickbats in return . Must be that siege mentality that mal meanings thought up