Manchester City: Reflecting on 2007/08 and Looking to the Future

By: Alan
Soccer City FC

In only 14 days time, the 2008/2009 season will already have began for Manchester City as they kick-off on their European travels away to Faroese minnows EB/Streymur in the UEFA Cup First Qualifying Round. Expectations are already high as talks of superstar Ronaldinho joining continue to grow and his Brazilian compatriot Jo has been signed for a record transfer fee in the region of £19 million from Russia’s CSKA Moscow. Mark Hughes has imminently added to the squad with the capture of the striker and his presence in the team will hopefully solve a position that has previously troubled Manchester City. Previous big-money signings of Rolando Bianchi and Georgios Samaras have failed in the Premiership for different reasons, although the former may still have a future at the club; it is clear that he initially failed to settle. Benjani has had a respectable impact having scored in the derby and then on two further occasions since joining in January but he too will be looking for improvement. Last season’s top goalscorer was Elano, having scored a creditable ten goals in all competitions and achieved as many assists but he is not a natural forward and Vassell and Petrov are also midfielders.

The lack of a proven goalscorer has been evident ever since Anelka departed to Fenerbahce, hence an additional attacking quality would certainly give the team a cutting edge and there is no reason why Jo cannot provide this. A prolific 44 goals in 77 outings for CSKA Moscow explains why he is one of the world’s hottest talents, and although a step-up to the Premiership is a massive one, his stature and instinctive goalscoring ability mean he should adapt to the league. He stole the show against Inter Milan last season in the Champions League group stage and it was then where he stamped his name on world football.

Last season had many highs but in hindsight the lows are equally as known. Life seemed perfect for both owner and manager after the double over rivals United had been surprisingly completed, but it signified a downfall in fortunes that would result in yet another manager at the helm. Two derby wins was obviously one of the main highlights of the season, along with a long-lasting stance in the top 4 until the end of November and many pleasing results were picked up along the way. Somehow, and inevitably, it was not going to last but it is astounding how far the team had dropped in effort, commitment and performances and the results suffered accordingly. The team that had beaten the Premiership and European winners lost to relegated Birmingham and Reading, and suffered further embarrassing defeats to Middlesbrough in the 8-1 drubbing and to Fulham despite leading 2-0.

It was arguably the efforts of the team in the last few games of the season which was of most concern, the on-going difficulties between Eriksson and Shinawatra clearly taking their toll on the team as a whole and the change in manager was probably for the best. Those not even following Manchester City would have agreed that the Swede deserved another year in charge but it was not meant to be and there were deeper problems at the end of the season. A finish of ninth was decent and a step forward but a higher position could easily have been achieved. In typical fashion, Manchester City did the difficult but could not manage the easy fixtures and many points were needlessly lost. One interesting fact sums up the season - Manchester City had the best record outside of the top four against the top four, but the worst against the bottom four. Impressive opening form has to be sustained throughout the campaign if they are to break into the top four stranglehold, and the away form has to reflect the home form slightly more. All in all with Mark Hughes now in charge and the UEFA Cup slot being achieved via the Fair Play League, last season has to be seen as one whereby lessons have been learnt and everyone concerned can move forward.

The squad needs improvements but the core of it is very talented and none of the players signed other than Benjani had previous Premiership experience. With one season under their belt, the new additions will surely perform more consistently and anything is possible after that. Joe Hart was the most positive outcome of last season and he stepped up from second choice to become City’s first-choice goalkeeper and has already made his England debut. Richard Dunne and Micah Richards formed one of the strongest and assured defences in the country, whilst Corluka shone at right-back with his calm and elegant art of defending and attacking. The Croatian displayed he is one of Europe’s best full-backs. Majestic Brazilian international Elano and Bulgarian winger Martin Petrov stole the attacking accolades, the former reaching double figures for both goals and assists and only few exceeded him last season. Petrov influenced games in a similar fashion whilst the contributions of converted forward Darius Vassell managed a solid job on the right of midfield. The former England striker, despite lacking top-class skill and consistency, showed once again his hard work ethic and came up with some important goals.

Michael Johnson and Stephen Ireland impressed at both ends of the pitch but will need to produce the goods more regularly in 2009. Defensive midfielders Hamann and Gelson Fernandes shone, with the veteran German showing how vital his experience can be and Fernandes demonstrated his ability as potentially one of the finest holding midfielders in the game - development of attacking skills will only improve him. Youngsters Ched Evans and Danny Sturridge along with Kelvin Etuhu and the FA Youth Cup academy winning team shows the future of the club is in healthy hands. Securing the futures of Hart and Dunne to new contracts is vital, and doing so will prove to supporters that the club's ambitions to achieve are more than real.

Statistics From Last Season:

Minutes Played:
Dunne - 3044, Petrov - 2976, Corluka - 2973, Ireland - 2568, Elano - 2455, Hart - 2399, Richards - 2249, Hamann - 2206, Fernandes - 1954, Johnson - 1934, Garrido - 1892, Ball - 1864, Vassell - 1779, Onouha - 1220, Benjani - 1069, Jihai - 803, Mpenza - 741

Premiership Goals (In All Competitions):
Elano - 8 (10), Vassell - 6 (6), Petrov - 5 (5), Bianchi - 4 (5), Ireland - 4 (4), Benjani - 3 (3), Geovanni - 3 (3), Mpenza - 2 (3), Fernandes - 2 (2), Johnson - 2 (2), Sturridge - 1 (2), Etuhu - 1 (1), Onouha 1 (1), Samaras 0 (1)

Minutes per Premiership goal:
Geovanni - 132, Sturridge - 152, Vassell - 296, Elano - 306, Benjani - 356, Mpenza - 370, Petrov - 595, Ireland - 642, Johnson - 967, Fernandez - 977, Onouha - 1220

Premiership Assists:
Elano - 9, Petrov - 8, Ireland - 4, Johnson - 3, Vassell - 3, Corluka - 2, Fernandez - 1, Geovanni - 1, Garrido - 1, Onouha - 1

Tackles (Top 5):
Dunne - 108, Hamann - 105, Ireland - 94, Fernandez - 82, Corluka - 66

Clearances - Top 5 Defenders:
Dunne - 516, Richards - 298, Corluka - 221, Ball - 192, Onouha - 131

Passes (Accuracy) - Top 5:
Dunne - 1396 (79%), Hamann - 1341 (83%), Corluka - 1302 (76%), Ireland - 1138 (74%), Elano - 1116 (76%)

Crosses - Top 5:
Petrov - 283, Elano - 90, Garrido - 63, Vassell - 45, Ball - 40

Shots On Target - Top 5:
Petrov - 33, Elano - 22, Benjani - 14, Ireland - 13, Vassell - 11

Shots Off Target - Top 5:
Petrov - 53, Elano - 45, Ireland - 25, Johnson - 23, Vassell - 20

Benfica Add Pre-Season Matches with Inter and Feyenoord

Portuguese club S.L. Benfica recently announced two pre-season matches. On August 9th, Dutch side Feyenoord will travel to the Estádio da Luz. On August 15th, Inter Milan will travel to the Estádio da Luz to take on Benfica in the newly created Eusébio Cup.

In other Benfica news, the club signed two youth players - winger Andre Carvalhas and midfielder Miguel Rosa to professional contracts. Carvalhas and Rosa are signed through 2011.

The club also signed 23-year-old winger Javier Balboa formerly of Real Madrid.

Balboa moving to S.L. Benfica in 2008-2009.

Image details: Real Madrid v D.C. United served by picapp.com

Manchester City Targets Yossi Benayoun

I was surprised to read today about the transfer-rumour report concerning City's interest in Liverpool's Yossi Benayoun. The report also details the renewed interest in Inter Milan midfielder Dejan Stankovic which Soccer City FC posted about last Friday. Interesting to see how it would cost Manchester City around £14m for both players with Stankovic costing around £8m and Benayoun would be available for £6m.

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City backed out of this July's Swiss Uhrencup. The club will hold camp in Germany instead. It also appears that A.C. Milan will make their way to Eastlands for the annual Thomas Cook Trophy match on Saturday, August 9. Kaka vs. Elano will be worth the price of admission.

Nery Castillo wants to move to Spain mentioning clubs such as Villarreal, Valencia and Real Betis.

And finally, it looks like City will hand out another long-term contract to an Academy alum. This time it is goalkeeper Joe Hart.

Israeli international Yossi Benayoun could be moving to Manchester City.

Image details: Liverpool v Marseille - UEFA Champions League served by picapp.com

Are Release Clauses Killing The Game?

By: Jack Gaughan
Soccer City FC

It’s pre-season in European Football, with all the big leagues such as the English Premiership, La Liga and Serie A taking their annual break prior to the new season. Obviously this is the period where managers throughout the globe really earn their salt, in building, tweaking, or keeping together squads. But do the players themselves occupy too much power in the transfer process, as we look specifically at the release clause.

So, what is a release clause? Perhaps best described as a division of a contract, a release clause allows a player to move from his club to another once a certain amount of money in transfer fees is triggered. For example, English Championship side Blackpool last season acquired Ireland international Wes Hoolahan, but such was the players’ ambition, that the contract could only be agreed with a £250k release clause. This has enabled bigger, more attractive clubs, such as Norwich City and Charlton Athletic to trigger this release clause and talk to the player, thus making a move away from Bloomfield Road imminent it would seem for the clubs’ best player.

The release clause now seems to be a necessary evil in the game, in order to attract the better players to your club. Unfashionable teams like the aforementioned Blackpool don’t seem to have any room to manoeuvre with these players, who seem to hold all the aces. Drawing on the above example, Hoolahan is definitely worth in excess of £750k, which proves how much money The Seasiders have missed out on when they do eventually sell the midfielder.

It’s not just about attracting players to a club though, release clauses are even needed to keep players at their existing teams! Take Steven Fletcher of Scottish club Hibernian as a prime example; he is rumoured to have a £500k release clause in his contract which would enable him to move to a club (namely Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid) for about ten times under his market value! Without this clause in his contract, Fletcher might have moved on a free transfer when his original contract expired, so Hibs have been held to ransom in order to keep their player for an extra couple of years. Despite being in the UEFA Cup, Hibernian simply don’t have the financial capacity to even contemplate offering Fletcher a deal to rival Madrid’s.

The essence of the release clause is – in a nutshell – making the rich richer and the poor poorer in world football. Looking at the examples here, the monetary gap between the market value of the player and his release clause isn’t actually an awful lot in the grand scheme of things – certainly a pittance to the teams who want to sign the players. However, that £500k gap to Blackpool, and £4.5m gap to Hibernian are absolutely massive amounts of money to them, which they could reinvest into the squad. Instead, they’re left with minimal amounts, which in their respective leagues are as previously stated, a pittance. Selling these players definitely has a knock-on effect when wanting to sign new players, with people questioning the ambition of the club, and a domino effect could even occur, with more players wanting to leave.

The competitive nature of the game is ebbing away with rules such as the release clause; gone are the days of smaller clubs like Ipswich Town conquering Europe on an undersized budget and the like, for the simple reason that their best players would be poached long before Europe was even a possibility. Although top scorer Paul Mariner went to Arsenal in the late 80’s, this was after his 31st birthday, and The Tractor Boys saw his best years at Portman Road, and not Highbury. As a comparison, after their smaller exploits into Europe earlier this decade, Town had their best players picked off, with Keiron Dyer, Matt Holland, Matteo Serini and Darren Ambrose to name but a few all leaving the club to pastures new. Although I don’t know the ins and outs of those transfer dealings, I’d be very surprised if the players didn’t have some sort of release clause. For the record, Ipswich have been in administration since, and are in the second flight of English football – a heavy comedown from six years ago when they beat Inter Milan in the UEFA Cup.

So, is the release clause good for the game? It’s definitely good for the individual player, who can quickly jump up the career ladder with a small release clause, but bad for the clubs, who don’t have a leg to stand on if a bigger team wants their prized assets. I’m not suggesting we should go back to the state of the game in the 1950’s, where the club held all the power, with a salary cap etc, but we need to strike a happy medium, otherwise Football as we know it will deteriorate even further.

Hoolahan's time with The Seasiders may be ending thanks to his release clause.

Image details: Tottenham Hotspur v Blackpool - Carling Cup served by picapp.com

Manchester City: Morning Ticker

Another busy morning filled with transfer and pre-season news to report.

New reports have Mark Hughes targeting Inter Milan midfielder Dejan Stankovic and Espanyol defender Pablo Zabaleta. Also back on the radar is Zenit St Petersburg's playmaker Andrei Arshavin. Of note, Zenit has stated that teams have until June 20th to procure Andrei's services.

Stankovic appears surplus to the requirements now that the Special One is leading Inter. The 29-year-old captain of the Serbian national team was on the books at Lazio under former City boss Sven-Göran Eriksson.

Zabaleta is versatile player. The 23-year-old Argentine can play as a defensive midfielder, right back, or right midfielder.

In other club news, Manchester City F.C. appear ready to join Swiss clubs FC Basel and FC Lucerne as well as German Bundesliga side, Borussia Dortmund in the Swiss Uhrencup this July. The Uhrencup is an annual four-team event held in Switzerland that has been dominated by Swiss clubs since 1962.

Will Stankovic be coming to the Premiership next season?

Image details: Serie A - Inter Milan v Catania Calcio served by picapp.com

Manchester City: Morning Ticker

Now that Mark Hughes and Garry Cook have formally taken over at Manchester City, the club can devote its efforts to player evaluations and transfers. Some news and notes...

Defender Sun Jihai could be heading for either Stoke or Bolton.

Richard Dunne & Mark Hughes recently held talks and it now looks more likely that City's captain will be remaining with the club for at least one more season. [Update] Portsmouth has made a late run at Dunne, so his status remains in limbo.

Midfielder Anthony Annan is being courted by City after his tremendous run at the African Cup of Nations with host Ghana. If 21-year-old signs, he would compete with another young player, Swiss international Gelson Fernandes at the defensive midfield position.

It appears that CSKA Moscow's Jo impending move to City has cooled. Inter Milan is rumoured ready to pounce should City pass on the Brazilian.

Everton is ready to make a serious run at midfielder and England U-21 Michael Johnson. Hopefully, City will be able to stop this advance.

And now from the "World of Odd"

Reports have City approaching retired Japanese superstar Hidetoshi Nakata. The 31-year-old midfielder has been retired since the 2006 World Cup.

Manchester City midfielder Michael Johnson is being linked with a move to fellow Premiership side Everton.

Image details: Manchester City v Valencia served by picapp.com

Sweden's Star Delivers

Zlatan Ibrahimović - Sweden's & Inter Milan's international star delivered the first goal in today's 2-0 victory over Greece, the champions of UEFA Euro 2004.

Ibrahimović's second-half blast left the defensive-minded Greeks as spectators, helpless against the world-class strike. Euro 2008 is the last hurrah for Sweden's "golden generation". With Ibrahimović finally scoring after a 14 international match drought, the likes of Mellberg, Ljungberg, Svensson, Alexandersson, Allbäck, and Larsson have their superstar to rally around as they attempt to join Group D favorite Spain in the final 8.

Image details: Greece v Sweden - Group D Euro 2008 served by picapp.com

Inter or Roma: Who Will It Be?

53 minutes into both matches and A.S. Roma has a 1-0 edge over Calcio Catania. Inter still tied with Parma. Roma's goal from Montenegrin forward Mirko Vučinić in the 8'. Mirko captains The Brave Falcons.

[Update] 57 minutes in and results still the same. Wow, could Inter really end up losing the title?

[Update] Zlatan Ibrahimović scores for Inter (62') -- Inter now are back in first place in Serie A.

[Update] 71 minutes in and Zlatan looks to cement his name in the club's history books.

[Update] 79 minutes and Zlatan now has a brace on the day.

[Update] 88 minutes and the match is winding down -- celebrations begin for supporters of the Nerazzurri. The club has held the top spot in Serie A since early September.

Celebrations in the rain commence -- a few Inter supporters seem to have made it into Parma's stadium.

Euro 2008: Player Video Tour 1

With roughly 24 days until Euro 2008, Soccer City FC showcases several players who will be looked upon to carry their national teams in Austria and Switzerland. Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), and Cristian Chivu (Romania). The three videos via various members at YouTube.

Forward Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden)


Midfielder Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)


Defender Cristian Chivu (Romania)

The Weekend XI - World Edition: 4/5 - 4/6

The Weekend XI - World Edition will highlight the top eleven players from around the globe as judged by Soccer City FC. 3-5-2 format will be used.

• (GK) Bordeaux's Ulrich Ramé: Shutout v Stade Rennais
• (D) Boyacá Chicó F.C.'s Mario Garcia: 1 goal v Deportes Tolima
• (D) FK Atlantas' Ivo Begic: 1 goal v FK Šilutė
• (D) Sporting Cristal's Amilton Prado: 1 goal v Atlético Minero
• (MF) Cardiff City's Joe Ledley: 1 goal (GW) v Barnsley FC
• (MF) Atletico Madrid's Simão Sabrosa: 2 goals v Almeria
• (MF) Real Betis' Mark Gonzalez: 2 goals v Real Zaragoza
• (MF) Inter's Patrick Vieira: 1 goal v Atalanta
• (MF) River Plate's Diego Buonanotte: 1 goal v CA Lanus
• (F) Middlesbrough's Afonso Alves: 2 goals v Manchester United
• (F) Ajax's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar: 3 goals v De Graafschap

League List:

• England - 2
• Spain - 2
• Argentina - 1
• Columbia - 1
• France - 1
• Italy - 1
• Lithuania - 1
• Netherlands - 1
• Peru - 1

The Weekend XI: February 16-17

Below is the newest edition of the Weekend XI. The big news is that Jimmy Hoffer has been found and added to this week's team. Also, we highlighted two players from Barnsley's shock victory over Liverpool. Enjoy.

• The Weekend XI: February 16-17

Brace Day

Anyone else notice how many players scored 2 goals in today's matches?

• (MF) Chelsea's Frank Lampard v Huddersfield
• (MF) Manchester United's Darren Fletcher v Arsenal
• (MF) Linfield FC's Oran Kearney v Ballymena United
• (MF) Falkirk's Patrick Cregg v St. Mirren
• (MF) Falkirk's Scott Argfield v St. Mirren
• (MF) Colon de Santa Fe's C. Gonzalez v Arsenal de Sarandi
• (MF) İstanbul BB's İbrahim Akın v Bursaspor
• (MF) Dagenham & Redbridge's Dave Rainford v Grimsby
• (F) Motherwell's Ross McCormack v Gretna FC
• (F) El Nacional Quito's Leo García v Deportivo Azogues
• (F) Atlético Nacional's S. Galvan v Atletico Bucaramanga
• (F) VfB Stuttgart's Mario Gomez v MSV Duisburg
• (F) Borussia Dortmund's Mladen Petrić v Energie Cottbus
• (F) BB Ankaraspor's Antonio de Nigris v Besiktas
• (F) Lille OSC's Patrick Kluivert v Stade Rennes
• (F) Inter Milan's David Suazo v AS Livorno
• (F) Rapid Vienna's Erwin Hoffer v SK Austria Kärnten
• (F) Donegal Celtic's Paul McVeigh v Glenavon
• (F) Aberystwyth Town's Luke Sherbon v CPD Porthmadog
• (F) Ajax Cape Town FC's Nathan Paulse v Black Leopards
• (F) West Brom's Roman Bednář v Coventry
• (F) Northampton's Adebayo Akinfenwa v Gillingham
• (F) Swansea's Jason Scotland v Port Vale
• (F) AS Saint-Étienne's Bafetimbi Gomis v AS Nancy Lorraine
• (F) Libertad Asunción's Rodolfo Gamarra v 2 de Mayo

Who will earn a spot in the next edition of The Weekend XI?

If we missed anyone of note, please do let us know. ~Thanks