He has a seemingly endless supply of money at his disposal and a squad full of world-class talent. But being Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini is far from easy.
On the surface, it seems like the Italian has the dream job, but as his predecessor Mark Hughes found out, having all of those ingredients doesn’t guarantee success.
Plenty of people still aren’t convinced the former Bolognia, Sampdoria and Lazio midfielder is the right man for the job. He might not even be around to see Sheikh Mansour’s end goal of world football domination come to fruition, but he sure has them on the right course.
City opened their 2011/12 campaign with a 4-nil win over newly promoted Swansea. New signing Sergio Aguero scored a double and set up another in a dazzling debut display. The goals were to be expected given their opposition, but all of the important work was going on around the ball.
An open cheque book is sometimes a recipe for disaster. Just ask a long line of former Real Madrid managers. All too often you see ego-driven players bicker, while salaries incomprehensible to the average fan make superstars lose focus.
In fact, it happened at City in the first year of the revolution, but yesterday there was no sign of those season-destroying traits.
Players didn’t fight over free-kicks, some were often too un-selfish, choosing to pass when a shot would’ve been better, and even the strikers were willing to chase back and defend.
These are the things to look for. When a player looks around and wants to help out instead of seeing it as someone else’s job, that’s what makes a good side. City have struggled to produce that sort of passion in the past.
Yes, it’s only round one and everyone is eager to impress, but it seems Mancini has everyone pulling in the right direction.
Every signing has been in an area that needed re-enforcement.
Aguero, signed as a replacement for Carlos Tevez who is yet to leave the club, instantly proved he wouldn’t be another Diego Forlan who struggled with rivals Manchester United after switching to England.
Gael Clichy slotted in seamlessly at left-back and his arrival was sorely needed. The impending capture of Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri should also have the likes of United and Chelsea worried.
The premier league is a war of attrition and not a sprint though, so it remains to be seen if City and Mancini can continue to pull the right strings, but the early signs are very positive.
The job the 46 year old is doing shouldn’t be undervalued.
Sir Alex Ferguson has shown throughout his long tenure at United that man management is just as important as formations at a big club.
Mancini knows the same rule applies to him.
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