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da betsson： On Friday, Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini stated that ‘at the moment we are not ready to play for the title.’ Mancini has always been careful to manage expectations at a club where the guillotine is never far away but his suggestion that Sergio Aguero and Samir Nasri were needed to raise City to a level where they could compete, rankled. Manchester City have a squad so bloated that it’s difficult to keep track of the disgruntled, alienated stars on the books. Could they really need more players? Do they really need more competition? I thought Mancini had become spoilt from the previous transfer windows but after Balotelli’s backheel I have been forced to think again.
Despite the flurries of transfer activity, despite the hundreds of millions, the Manchester City squad is still surprisingly unremarkable, (except their list of strikers). They have good, hard working players who do a job, (piano shifters) but creativity and a real depth of quality options are still missing. Their transfer policy has been criticised not just for the fees and wages, but also for buying good available players rather than chasing exceptional ones, their squad reflects this. Their policy was also criticised as simply assembling a group of mercenaries, rather than carefully constructing a team who compliment each other. Their results last season show however, that the buying has worked, the team has settled.
Unfortunately their strikers have not. Emmanuel Adebayor and Craig Bellamy seem unlikely to feature again for City, this is a loss. It would not seem to matter so much if it didn’t also look as though Tevez and Balotelli were equally determined to join them on Mancini’s blacklist. Considering the manager’s relationship with his current set of strikers, he is right to worry. What on paper looks like the strongest part of the team is increasingly looking like their weakness. Sergio Aquero may be crucial if things continue to deteriorate. It would be a serious challenge to win the league with Roque Santa Cruz up front, albeit alongside Edin Dzeko.
Similarly the signing of Samir Nasri from Arsenal would greatly improve their playmaking options, easing the pressure on David Silva, currently City’s only truly creative midfielder and allowing the steamroller Yaya Toure to drop into a deeper role.
Mancini has identified two players that City really could use. Their defensive record last season was superb, but there are definitely too many striking issues at the moment for a successful title push. As shocking as it may be it looks like the Sheikh may have to get his wallet out again.
Could City win the title without Tevez? Will Balotelli last another season at City? Let me know on twitter http://twitter.com/#!/philipwroe
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