Dark Blue

It started in defeat, it ended in defeat, and there was nothing to shout about in between. That’s the short, gloomy story of City’s 2012-13 Champions League campaign.

It’s difficult to draw any positives, other than the fact that the squad has gained more of the much-vaunted “European experience” that some quarters say is so essential in these kinds of situations.

Last year, one result ended up killing us – it was the 1-1 draw at home to Napoli. If we have won that, we’d have been into the knockout stages at the first time of asking. This year, three draws at home effectively gave us no chance, but by the time we came to the last of those home fixtures – against Real Madrid – the momentum was already lost.

And it had all started so well.

Travelling to Madrid for our very first match of Group D was no easy task, but by the 86th minute we were 2-1 up and heading for a historic victory. Five minutes later it had all gone wrong, a trademark Cristiano Ronaldo strike putting us to the sword, and we went home empty handed.  Looking back, that result was our Napoli result this time around, and we never recovered.

We could have put things back on track two weeks later, at home to Borussia Dortmund, but we came away with a point.  Then came the hammer blow. With the next two games coming first away and then home against Ajax, I think a lot of fans expected us to get things back on track with six points. Instead – once again - we only managed one, and things came apart.

But it’s one thing looking at the results and another to look at the performances – this is the real concern. Things were always going to be tough against Real, but we capitulated in the Bernabeu. We were played off the park at the Etihad against Dortmund. We lost a winning position away at Ajax, and then had to come from 2-0 down at home against the Dutch team to salvage a point. You can’t be going 2-0 down at home against the weakest team of the group and expect much in return.

There was a lot of debate surrounding the final game against Dortmund. Some fans wanted us to go for the win, snatch third spot in Group D and then qualify for the Europa League. Others wanted us to lose, finish bottom of the group and thus not qualify for a competition they saw as second grade, a distraction to our league and FA cup push.

Of course, the latter got their wish, and along with it came the record of being the lowest-ever Champions League group points total returned by an English club. That’s not a record I’m proud of.

A run to the latter stages of the Europa League would have also increased our UEFA coefficient, which in the long term will spare us the fortune of being lumped with a group as hard as the ones we’ve had to endure. Now we won’t have the chance to do that, and will instead likely have to face Group of Death part three next year.

We have of course also been unlucky with the draw in both years. I’m not an expert on UEFA coefficients, but this year, the likes of Malaga ranking (66th) and Montpellier’s (97th) are well below City’s (19th), and yet because of the luck of the draw, they got distinctly easier groups that City did. Drawing Dortmund in Pot 4 was the killer.  We could have had Cluj, instead we got the German champions. The margin of error in the Champions League is slim at best, but for us – this year - it was minute.

But we can whine on about draws all we want. For the money that has been lavished on this squad, for the facilities they have, for the player care department that pampers to their every need, there is no excuse – this Champions League has gone badly wrong for us.

Given our recent history, some will say we should be grateful to be in the Champions League at all. But that's a loser's view. We weren't there to make up the numbers.

One thing’s for sure – this early exit won’t have been in the 10-year plan of Mansour and Khaldoon. They invest in progress, not regression. And so for this club not to be involved in European football is surely unacceptable for the men from Abu Dhabi, the men who usually win, whatever they turn their hand to.

So now all eyes turn to the men in Manchester, who are tasked with winning. Inevitably, questions will be asked of them and of their leader, Roberto Mancini. The Champions League monkey on his back just got a whole lot bigger. Remaining in the Europa would have lessened the media/fan focus that is now going be brought with full force on City’s every move on the domestic front.

Silverware is managerial oxygen at the Etihad these days, and Mancini’s options are getting blocked off. He needs to keep winning – its as simple as that.

I’ve written before about Mancini’s days of judgment nearing. Those first set of judgments – a top four finish, winning a cup, and then winning the league – he passed with flying colours. But football waits for no man and now further judgments are on their way.

The team is at a defining point of their season. They’ve come nowhere near reaching the heights of last year and at times have looked a bit labored and out of ideas when the magic of David Silva is not around.

The wreckage of the Champions League lies around them, but somehow, the English Champions must put that ordeal behind them, find strength in adversity, and steal themselves for the task that now lies ahead.

Just look down the road – isn’t that what champions do?

The first defence

It’s that time again - the start of the season - but this time with a twist that many City fans have yet to experience – the first defence of the Premier League title.

The high-octane effects of last season took their time wear off, but victory is always insatiable, a thirst quenched only by the taste of further victories. Sergio Aguero’s goal against QPR will never be forgotten, but now it is history and the club must focus all its will on repeating the feat – albeit more surefootedly – this time around.

This season that has to be the priority. The question is can they do it?

It’s been a good pre-season as far as pre-seasons go, winning the majority of matches, although nowadays one senses these things are more about opening the club up to new markets than anything else. The plus points are that we don’t have too many injuries, and we’ve also had the opportunity to blood more youngsters.

Today of course we also won the FA Community Shield, the trophy that eluded us last year when we shot ourselves in the foot against United, surrendering a two goal lead in a game we should have easily won.

Even if it means little, it’s a nice start to our season as champions.

However, the transfer market – or rather City’s inability to move decisively within it – has to a large extent overshadowed these positives. The frustration of this situation was most clearly evident in Mancini’s press conference prior to today’s match, with the City manager simply referring the vast majority of transfer questions to City’s head of football administration Brian Marwood – the man responsible for acquiring new players.

City of course are also hamstrung by the new financial fair play (FFP) rules, and their need to cut the wage bill or, at least, keep it on an even keel. The two most notable culprits - Emmanuel Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz – have not yet been moved on, meaning that we can hardly add to a frontline that boasts four top class strikers.

There’s also a sense of club that will no longer be held to ransom. We were surely there in the market for the likes of Thiago Silva and Robin van Persie, but the hierarchy are now much less willing to pay over the odds for this kind of talent, and are much more keen to drive a harder bargain. The Daniel Agger transfer story smacks of this. We all know the spending of recent years just isn’t sustainable and, if continued, would see us kicked out of Europe because of FFP. At any rate, the true holy grail is bringing through our own talent.

Chelsea and United have both strengthened, and of course we should be looking to – no team can ever stand still. We certainly need new faces for the Champions League if nothing else. But if the squad remains unchanged until January it shouldn’t be a cue for all hell to break loose.

We’ve now got something at City that we haven’t had for decades: consistency. There will always be power battles within the club – managers will always want new players and administrators will want to do it in a way that is right for the club. One thing that gets lost in all this is that we’ve a strong, balanced squad, with good depth and exceptional talent. The spine of team is now established: Hart, Kompany, Yaya, and any one from our four top strikers.

The other big plus is that we’ve some exciting new talent on the fringes. Anyone watching the pre-season friendlies will have seen the likes of Karim Rekik, Abdul Razak and Dennis Suarez. Hopefully we’ll see a bit more of them soon.

What will be success for City in 2011/12?

This might seem like a tedious question but it is one that is going to be recurring at Manchester City for seasons to come now. I asked the same question towards the end of last season as Mancini’s days of judgement loomed. But with the manager coming through that period unscathed, and with the club in a record four competitions this season, I think now is an interesting time to ask the question again - whilst we're still relatively at the start of things. So what do people (Blues and non-Blues alike) think can be defined as a successful 2011/12 season for City? Here’s some of my own thoughts.

Let’s take the Premier League first. Given the start that Arsenal has made, and with Chelsea, Spurs and Liverpool not coming out of the blocks too quickly, we have to be looking at the top two positions. United have admittedly had an explosive start, but it will not last forever, as evidenced by the recent loss of Wayne Rooney to injury. Defensively, they are also more open - whilst De Gea is not as bad as everyone thinks it is impossible for the young Spaniard to fill the boots of Edwin Van Der Sar so early in his tenure. Chelsea now are slack and are in the middle of a 'changing of the guard' of sorts, but the signs are there that Fernando Torres is on the way back, and with Juan Mata and Raul Meireles coming into the squad, I've little oubt that Villas-Boas will oversee the necessary transition. This means that Chelsea may well come on strong towards the end of the season, but we still have enough in us for one of the top two spots.

In terms of trophies, I would forgo not winning both the FA Cup and the League Cup (yes!) if it turns out that we can put together a solid run to the latter stages of the Champions League. I think it is a little unrealistic to think that we can win the CL this season, but progress in this competition with serve us better over the longer term, rather than winning the League Cup for example. Don’t get me wrong, its always good to win more trophies and I certainly wouldn't shy away from doing that, but the collective experience gained from a lengthy CL run would be worth more.

But if we win the lot – then great!

I guess the main thing this season is perhaps not to become frustrated if we end up with nothing. It would surely be hard to take for the fans if this were to happen, given the FA Cup glory last year, and the amount of money that has since been spent players – again. But it must be remembered that this season is a new experience for us, fighting on four fronts. We now have the squad to win the league, but the final pieces of that squad must still be given time to settle. Sergio Aguero is one of the reasons why we are title contenders this season, but although he has made a blistering start, he must still be given the time to settle properly. We just need to ensure that we are qualifying comfortably the for CL each season and are having a real crack at the Prem each season. We're established in the top four now, so we've a great base from which to build. I think its a matter of time before we land one of the big two trophies.

But that's my three penneth. What does success mean for you this season?

A second place league finish? Nothing less than the Premier League title? Champions League glory? Domestic cup glory? Settle for nothing in the event that the Blues still prove that they are progressing (i.e. they reach a couple of finals and finish second in the Prem)? Or nothing less than the quadruple?

Answers on the (electronic) postcard below!

Anger and defeat in Munich

A disappointing and dark night, beaten by the better team and squabbling amongst ourselves, surrounded by a red mist that that we could not ultimately find a way out of. I think we all need to calm down a bit, analyse this defeat, and move on quickly. If we do not, the knockout stages of this competition will soon be out of reach, if they aren’t already.

Playing in a fantastic stadium against a formidable team – what a night it could have been. Instead, the club is now collectively discovering that the Champions League can be a cruel, hard place. Trailing 2-0 in the second half, Mancini tried to sure things up by substituting Edin Dzeko and bringing on Nigel de Jong, but it only made things worse. If we are not careful, we are going to get burned in this group. We played well against Napoli, we played well in parts against Bayern, but this is a competition of fine lines. Miss a chance here, make a small mistake there, fall on the wrong side of the line, and you quickly become surplus to requirements. Added to this, the result has now become a sideshow. We all know why.

The behavior of Carlos Tevez was unacceptable. A player on hundreds of thousands of pounds, probably the highest earner at the club and he refuses to come onto the pitch. I’ve never seen anything like this before. His excuses fly in the face of all that Tevez has become, all that he has built his image up to be: a great player, someone who works tirelessly for the team, a former captain of the club who leads by example, never gives up fighting, never gives up trying to find a way to win. And the excuse: “I didn’t feel right to play, so I didn’t."

Then today came the inevitable statement. First, an apology:

"I would like to apologise to all Manchester City fans, with whom I have always had a strong relationship, for any misunderstanding that occurred in Munich."

Then, a subtle reminder of what he has given the club:

"They [the fans] understand that when I am on the pitch I have always given my best for the club.”

And finally, the back track:

"In Munich on Tuesday I had warmed up and was ready to play. This is not the right time to get into specific details as to why this did not happen. But I wish to state that I never refused to play. There was some confusion on the bench and I believe my position may have been misunderstood. Going forward I am ready to play when required and to fulfil my obligations."

So we’ve gone from a statement last night where he was saying he did not feel ready to play to a statement today saying that he was ready to play. Which one are we to believe?

A message to Carlos Tevez

Carlos, you are one of the best players this club has ever seen. Last season we wouldn’t have won the FA Cup, wouldn’t have finished third in the Premier League without you. But that still doesn’t give you the right to insult the City fans (yes, the ones who paid good money to watch you week in week out last season and the ones who made it to Munich last night to see your no show) with a statement like this. 

We may have been blind enough to support this club on its schizophrenic journey from the Premier League to the old Division Three to the Champions League, but we are certainly no mugs. If you really want the fans to understand, then let’s have the detail on just what was said last night on the bench. You can’t hide behind the ‘this is not the right time to get into specific details’ phrase. It’s just excuses. You’ve already embarrassed the club and disrespected the fans for not wanting to play in Europe. Don’t insult them further with contradicting statements that make no sense. So lets have the truth.

Why did the toys come out of the pram?

It could be Tevez’s actions represent his disgruntlement at the captaincy being taken off him, perhaps his frustration at how he has become somewhat of a bit part player as Aguero and Dzeko have increasingly staked their claim. Tevez might feel that Mancini has no right dropping him, given the fact that he was joint top scorer in the Premier League last season. On being informed that Mancini sees no future for him at the club, Tevez's comments betray and element of this: “I was top goalscorer here last season, I always act professionally so it is up to him [Mancini]."

It could be of course that Tevez’s actions represent an attempt to make his presence at the club unbearable.  The idea that in refusing to play, the club’s hierarchy and the fans will want nothing to do with him, so he speeds up the process for a move – but this time agitating in a much more destructive way. In effect Tevez' actions could be part of a plan to up the ante against the club and see how far it will go before resorting to selling him.

Even if this is the case, it begs the question: what club would want to take on this type of player? In addition to the baggage that already came with Tevez – massive wages, massive transfer fee, the controversy that has followed him at pretty much every club he has been at – here is player who has been given everything at Manchester City and has now even refused to take the field of play. Would Corinthians, Madrid or Inter want to take such an expensive risk?

Mancini has rightly said that for him Tevez is finished, and whilst we do want to sell Tevez at the right time and for the right price, we must also be aware that of how corrosive this situation might become and the effect it might have on the rest of the squad. The decision will ultimately lie with Khaldoon but sometimes, you just have to cut your losses. If Tevez is to be involved again, the club will have to deploy a media strategy of the highest order to win the fans back. Even then, that probably won’t be enough. You can just imagine the reaction at Eastlands as Tevez warms up, approaching the South Stand – the place from which the atmosphere of the whole ground is often generated.

Mancini and defeat itself

A bad tempered night at the Allianz didn’t end with Tevez either. Dzeko showed his displeasure at being substituted in the 55^th minute but gesturing a sarcastic thumbs up. Well sorry Edin but that’s not acceptable either. Mancini has rightly said that he will bench the Bosnian during the next game no matter what happens. And then to cap things off, linked to the Tevez incident Mancini was reported to have an altercation with Pablo Zabaleta, the Italian thinking that Zabaleta had said something in defence of his countryman. To Mancini’s credit he quickly admitted that he had made a mistake and had put it right with our dependable utility man.

The Tevez incident, combined of course with the nature of loss against what must now be one of the favorites for the competition clearly fuelled a series of angry responses from Mancini towards Dzeko and Zabaleta. The Italian must also be aware of having to eat his own hat a little, given the confidence he seemed to hold after the Napoligame that we would defeat Bayern in their own back yard: "We will do better in Munich. We will be calm, more than tonight and we can win there. They are a fantastic side but we have a team that can win anywhere."

I back Mancini with his reactions against Tevez and Dzeko. In my opinion, the manager has got to be king – he needs to keep on stamping his authority on the squad and telling players what they can and can’t do – but the Zabaleta incident shows how things can get out of control in the heat of the moment. The Italian needs to check himself here.

All of this clouds the fact that we were second best on the night and that Bayern deserved their victory – full credit to them. They will look upon this result as proof of their now 10 game unbeaten run not being a flash in the pan. I thought we would certainly put an end to Bayern’s 9 games without conceding a goal, but sadly that wasn’t to be either. Before the game Ribery spoke of how Bayern were getting close to Barcelona  – now of course they’ll start to truly believe that. To be fair to them they achieved this victory without the threat of Arjen Robben. Impressive stuff.

Bayern also had an old Blue within their ranks. Daniel Van Buyten was signed on loan by Kevin Keegan many moons ago. Since then he's racked up 120-odd appearances for Bayern, but when the commanding centre back cast his gaze on the City team sheet I bet he didn’t recognise a single name. We have metamorphosised since then, but not yet to the point where we can put away a top European team in their back yard. Tevez was not the main reason why we lost this game. The distraction caused by his refusal probably dented our efforts to get back into it, but it was the 11 players on the pitch that were the problem. At the end of the day we have the players to do the damage, but we came up short. We were 2-0 down at half time, both opposition goals scored from rebounds after a promising first 30 minutes. Dzeko missed an early chance. Tevez had nothing to do with these things.

It means now that anything less than a win against Villareal and we will crash out of the competition at the first hurdle. And if that happens at this stage it will hurt – for the fans, the players, Mancini and Khaldoon. It will also leave a bad taste in the mouth.

Mancityaway.co.uk

Readers should check out a new City website that has recently appeared on the City online scene.

The site is called mancityaway.co.uk and aims to bring travelling Blues fans tips for all away fixtures this season and beyond, with particular focus on City's Champions League campaign.

Currently on the website are comprehensive guides to all of City's group stage opponents in Europe this term: Bayern Munich, Villareal and Napoli. Fans can find tips on flights, airports, general info on the local city / town - plus expert insider knowledge from locals.

Go to mancityaway.co.uk and check out the site now!

Nasri joins the revolution

This week brought the news that Samir Nasri signed on the dotted line to become Roberto Mancini’s fifth signing of the summer. A protracted saga indeed, but what a player to land.

We now have so many options in attack that the mind boggles. Tevez, Dzeko, Balotelli, Aguero, Silva, Yaya, Adam Johnson and now Samir Nasri. In spite of this wealth, you can never have the complete attacking line up. I still think we are short a little bit in the width department. However, this shortage will only be highlighted if we run out of ideas going forward and start drawing too many games. I get the sense that Mancini is probably never going to be a fan of out and out wingers and will probably check their presence to Adam Johnson. Mancini probably thinks his current crop of forward thinking players have the ability to both – play through the middle and round the back of defences. I can’t argue with him. For me he has been an excellent manager for us on balance so far.

What we do have now going forward is intelligence and movement in abundance. I’ve not seen Aguero in the flesh but from what I hear he sounds like a player that operates several moves ahead of most. With Dzeko starting to fire on all cylinders, bringing more movement, and now with us adding Nasri to the likes of Silva in the creativity department, there is no doubt that we have on paper some of the finest attacking talent not just in the Premier League but in Europe.

We’ll need it if we are to navigate what must be the nearest thing to a ‘group of death’ in the Champions League. Bayern Munich, Villareal and Napoli all await as we launch ourselves into the promised land for the first time since 1968. I’m excited and gutted at the same time. We’ve been placed in such an action packed group with some quality teams and players: Ribery, Robben, Schweinsteiger, Senna, Rossi, Cavani, Pandev, Hamsik et al. Of course I’ll be missing the whole lot!

If nothing else, the Nasri and Aguero signings perhaps indicate that we are no longer in the throes of revolution. Rather Eastlands is now home to a full blown, established regime. FA Cup winners, third place Premier League finish, Champions League football and now attracting players on the cusp of entering their prime years (Aguero at 23 and Nasri at 24) – all these things show that players are coming here to win things now rather than solely for the money, as was the criticism during the Robinho, Adebayor and Lescott signings.

Contenders for the Premier League and somewhat of a wild card in the Champions League, Blues fans must ask – have we ever had it so good? Has there ever been a better time to be a City fan?