Roberto Mancini needs to deliver for Manchester City
After a summer of extravagant spending Manchester City could only muster a 5th place finish in the Premier League last season. They lost the coveted Champions League spot after a home loss against the Spurs in the final stages of last season.
This summer, Eastland’s hierarchy has put faith in Roberto Mancini and given him, not a transfer kitty but money bags to go and buy whoever he likes in the market.
So far Mancini has spent 75 million pounds on David Silva, Yaya Toure, and Jerome Boateng. The tally will go up to 125 million if he is successful in luring Milner and Balotelli to the Eastlands.
With such huge expenditures come huge expectations of success. The principles were made clear only last year when Hughes was sacked just a few months into the job as he was not delivering on promises.
Mancini is walking on thin ice at City. Although the resources available to him are innumerable, should he stumble just a bit the management will not think twice in wielding the axe. Such is the situation at City.
There is no doubt about the fact that City’s squad this season is stronger than last season. With Toure, Silva and Boateng along with possibly Milner and Balotelli giving a new look and feel to the team. There is, however, a need for some structure and stability and so far City has failed to achieve it.
City desperately needed an A-list signing like Fernando Torres or Didier Drogba in order for them to challenge for the title and in the absence of a world class striker one just can’t see them as potential title challengers. Although there is still time for such a marquee signing but with only Tevez and Adebayor, City just can’t win the title.
There are doubts about Mancini. He needs a swashbuckling start to his season after the ground rules were laid bare last season with the sacking of Hughes. His first game is against the Spurs and by no means is it an easy one. If he somehow loses that game it will be a huge blow to City’s confidence as Spurs are City’s main rival for a Champions League position.
The Italian manager will need more deft man management than sheer skill if he is to keep his vast resources happy and that will prove to be Mancini’s acid test.
If Mancini somehow manages to do that, his side will make a real impact in the season, perhaps even disturbing the established order of power in the Premier League. But that is not easy to do as Manchester United is a wounded tiger and raring to take their title back from Chelsea. Same is the case for Liverpool and Arsenal as both have a point to prove.
For City to finish in the top four or even further they would need Carlos Tevez in the same devastating form as he was during the later stages of the last season. While his striker partner Adebayor, has skill and quality, the partnership may not be enough to win the team anything big.
David Silva will chip in with some goals this season and there is no doubt about that. But other than the front two and Silva, one cannot see any goals in the current City squad. If they fail to bring in a quality striker in the remaining of transfer window all their spending will just go to waste.
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