Ever since Thaksin Shinawatra bought Manchester City in 2007, spending money has appeared to be no problem for whoever their manager has been. Although Shinawatra wasn’t there for very long before the Abu Dhabi United Group bought the club, City’s spending power has been unrivalled in European football, with the possible exception of Real Madrid.
And since Roberto Mancini replaced Mark Hughes in 2009, City have doled out hundreds of millions of pounds on increasingly better players. At the beginning of this season, many people believed City’s squad to be the strongest in the Premier League. Their results and performances have appeared to back up that theory, as they’ve been top of the league for most of the season, scoring plenty of goals and memorably beating Manchester United 6-1 at Old Trafford.
Despite their league form, the Champions League gave City more problems than they expected. Drawn in a difficult group, they drew their opening game against Napoli, then endured a torrid night in Germany, as Bayern Munich won comfortably, and Carlos Tevez effectively ended his career in Manchester by refusing to come on as a substitute. City failed to qualify from their group, instead dropping into the Europa League, but after winning their final game in the return fixture against Bayern, they lost their first league game of the season, losing 2-1 against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. They dropped further points with a 0-0 at West Brom, then lost to Sunderland when Ji Dong-Won scored in the last minute of injury time. Those results had allowed Manchester United to draw level in the league, before Newcastle beat United 3-0 last week, leaving City 3 points ahead.
So before their FA Cup third round tie against United kicked off on Sunday, it appeared that Roberto Mancini and City had few things to worry about. But their substitutes for that game told a different story. Alongside the rested Joe Hart were three defenders (Gael Clichy, Stefan Savic and Pablo Zabaleta), Owen Hargreaves, and two inexperienced midfielders, Denis Suarez and Abdul Razak. The African Cup of Nations leaves City without the Toure brothers, and injuries ruled strikers Edin Dzeko and Mario Balotelli out of the cup tie.
On top of that, City lost 3-2 in classic FA Cup match, losing three first half goals to United, as well as seeing captain Vincent Kompany shown a straight red card. City did rally in the second half, scoring twice and putting United under pressure until the final whistle, but they could be without Kompany for the rest of the month, as he will miss 4 games unless the red card is rescinded following an appeal.
But Mancini may have to grin and bear it. With City’s owners aware of how UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules limit spending, it seems as though the January window will be a quiet one. Although they will hope to get rid of Tevez and Wayne Bridge, even the depature of those two may not allow Mancini the opportunity to bring players in.
Looking at City’s squad, there are few areas in which they are lacking depth. They could perhaps do with a top class centreback, but their midfield is full of quality, leaving their striking department as the only weak area. City are hardly lacking in quality up front, with Sergio Aguero, Dzeko and Balotelli all into double figures for the season, but given that Tevez is not an option, Mancini has no experienced strikers to call on if any of those three are unavailable. All three have been available for most of the season, but Dzeko and Balotelli have missed games recently, leaving Aguero as Mancini’s only option during a congested run of games.
No-one is going to shed any tears for Manchester City if Roberto Mancini has a few selection problems. They have outspent everyone else in the Premier League in their quest for success, assembling a talented and deep squad, capable of beating anyone. But January and February could define their season, and with injuries, suspensions and Kolo and Yaya Toure away, City are lacking depth at a crucial time.
For more blogs, follow @TheGlassCase and @DavidWDougan.
Introducing the neat little app that’ll pay you to view content tailored to your interests:
ThisisFutbol.com are seeking new writers to join the team! If you’re passionate about football, drop us a line at “thisisfutbol.com@snack-media.com” to learn more.