English Premier League: Victors of the fourth weekend – Part 3
Money, Money, Money, that’s all Manchester City spent in the summer transfer window. In return they got David Silva, Yaya Toure, Mario Balloteli, Jerome Boateng and James Milner. City were by far the largest spenders in the transfer window as far as English Premier League is concerned.
Their manager Roberto Mancini’s ability to get the team working within a short period of time is still under doubt and was under discussion even before the season started. Four games into an English Premier League campaign that they are supposed to be winning after spending a fortune on footballing superstars, City have drawn against Tottenham, Won against Liverpool, Drawn against Blackpool and Lost against Sunderland.
These results are frankly of a team which is heading for a top ten finish rather than a top two one. It is now crucial for City to get their act in order. A season where Chelsea are looking to run away once again with the Premier League title, a silverware-less campaign will do no favours to Mancini’s already dwindling reputation.
Manchester City’s owners have already shown that they are not to be messed about with. When it comes to giving out transfer funds, they are the most generous of people but when it comes to results, they do not practice any sort of patience. If Roberto has any doubts regarding that fact then he would do very well to take a look at his predecessors i.e. Svensson Eriksson and Mark Hughes.
Last season, Hughes are relieved from his management job at the Eastland’s stadium so that Mancini can come in, this time around it might be Roberto, who is told to pack his back and head back to Italy because the way he is operating his star studded squad is not best suited to the ambitions of the blue half of Manchester.
Mancini has thus far banked on a 4-6-0 formation, a striker less formation, not because his team are devoid of strikers certainly not as they have still got the services of Tevez, Adebayor, Balloteli, Roque Santa Cruz and Joe. This has been the downfall of the Italian’s strategy so far, City’s attacking talent demands that Mancini abandons his conservative tactics and go for the kill by fully utilizing the options that are available to them.
At the end of the last season, City won just one out of their last five league matches, something that cost them a top four spot as Tottenham marched onto claim the Champions League qualification place. It should also be remembered that at the start of the 2009-2010 season, City started with four straight wins. This time around it seems as if their start has been quite slow. Right now Mancini’s men only have five points from a total number of four games in the English Premier League. Something better change soon for City otherwise once again, the wrath of the Sheikhs can come down upon the ex-Inter Milan manager sooner rather than later. All in an attempt to quench thirty four years of trophy thirst.
City’s draw against Blackburn at the weekend came as a moment of shame for two of their particular players. Joe Hart and Toure embarrassed themselves in front of forty odd thousand fans as their misunderstanding gave Blackburn the chance to take the lead at the City of Manchester Stadium.
It was especially ironic to see Joe Hart at the heart of this error in question as the English national team first choice goalkeeper has been praised since the start of the season in high words due to his characteristically strong performances. Will this mistake become his undoing? Only time will tell but Joe Hart will do well to keep himself focused on the job at hand rather than keep his head in the clouds.
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