Manchester City season review 2009/10

You jump from tenth to fifth, finish a couple of points off a Champions League place, get to a semi final of the League Cup. Not a bad season, is it?

Well, not really no, but as ever with Manchester City, things aren’t quite as straightforward as that. If you asked any City fan before the season kicked off would they expect a top four finish and the response would have been mixed between those thinking with love and those with logic. Ask whether they expected to finish higher than Tottenham, who finished just two places and one point higher than them in 2008/09, and there would have been a more partisan response. What was easy to forget was prior to Liverpool’s implosion, that top four seemed an impregnable force. When one of the elite were removed, there became a spot available, and it is City’s inability to claim that which needs closer scrutiny.

Of course Sheikh Mansour and his minions will put a positive spin on the situation, and as far as the long term aims of the club go, big strides were made during the course of the season. A league double over Chelsea, four points taken off Arsenal, undefeated against Liverpool, and the gap between the champions slashed by 19 points from the previous season. It is hard to argue that things aren’t going in the right direction, but that does not excuse what could have been, or what needs to be addressed if they want to muscle in on United and Chelsea.

The official, unofficial remit coming from within the halls of Eastland’s at the start of the campaign was that Champions League football was not a pre-requisite, rather, a top six finish was needed and improvement sought. Regardless, well over £100m was splashed out to refurnish the team from that which finished halfway up the previous term, and the acquisitions were of a serious calibre. After a good start in which City recorded their best ever Premier League start, results didn’t so much dip as level out and prior to the dismissal of Mark Hughes just before Christmas, the Citizens were tucked nicely in the slipstream of fourth. The full reasons for the dismissal of Hughes may never be known. The party line at the time was that the board did not believe the Welshman could attain the pre-set target of 70 points over 38 games, and thus decided to replace him with Roberto Mancini. The decision to appoint the former Inter Milan Coach was a curious one, not least because of his fleeting experience in English football, and when you contrast the records of Hughes with Mancini, you end up splitting heirs. The Italian could only muster 67 points – three less than what Hughes was set - and a jolly in the Europa league. Before and after the failure to land the big competition the Arabs had given the impression as keepers of patience and virtues, yet the sacking of Hughes contradicted that.

Over his half season tenure, Mancini pulled up few trees and did little to suggest he is the long term appointment City need to elevate themselves well above where they are now. Stamford Bridge and Aston Villa at Eastland’s apart, Mancini stalled in the games that mattered. Down the home straight against an insipid Liverpool they offered nothing, gave United too much respect in another limp show, and seemed devoid of belief to beat a tired Arsenal. This was all before Spurs rocked up and showed a team of talents how to play as a talented team. How much of this is down to Mancini is up for debate, but also throw in the defeats to Everton and Hull, the blowing of the League Cup semi and crashing out to Stoke in the FA Cup, and Mancini will need to hit the deck running.

In fairness to the Italian, he was brought in to handle a squad of somebody else’s players and had no time to accustom the group to his methods and practices. At least he will have the benefit of his own pre-season and time to implement his philosophies. The dog chasing tail scenario now is what the Blues do over the summer. The conundrum is how to strengthen the team without constantly disrupting the equilibrium and harmony that is vital for successful teams. If you analyse the club’s transfers over the last 18 months, the policy of spending big has been of limited benefit. There was no doubt whatever it cost to gain Carlos Tevez was money well spent, but what of the rest? £25m for Emmanuel Adebayor, who didn’t do much after his manic dart down the touchline against Arsenal. His old Gunner’s teammate Kolo Toure never made the back four his responsibility as much as you’d like after parting with £15m, Joleon Lescott is worth nothing like £22m and Roque Santa Cruz will be lucky to get another shot after doing little to justify his £17m price tag. The less said of Robinho and Jo the better. The more cerebral transfers like Shay Given, Gareth Barry, Craig Bellamy, Nigel De Jong, Pablo Zabaleta and Adam Johnson, yielded the best return in terms of quality and value, regardless of City’s bottomless bank balance.

The challenge now upcoming is to progress once again and gradually make those steps up to where the mouthpieces suggest they want to be. Problem is that’s easier said than done and takes much more than money to achieve. The last six titles have gone to either Chelsea or United and last time out the material gap is 21 points between the champions and City. Whilst they can inch away at that, and go through gradual stages of improvement, what City severely lack is the identity and spirit that United and Chelsea have formed through the last decade of success and competing for honours. That can only be gained through harbouring a mentality and an indelible desire to win, weathering storms, coming through adversity and staving off the challenge of the rest of the land. None of that can be bought and City need to reverse and age old tradition of comedic and tragic failure if they are to end that hunt for silverware. The ticker counter draped down from the Stretford End may read 34 years, but that is now obsolete, it should be rewound and read 18 months, and this is where the real pressure builds.

Manchester United season review 2009/10

When you are a club of the size and standing of Manchester United, the most direct way of defining a campaign is to class it as a success or failure. There are high expectations and small margins, and given the levels Sir Alex Ferguson’s side have reached in recent years, the inability to capture either of their pre-set targets of the Premier, or Champions League, means 2009/10 cannot be viewed as a success.
United released the league, could not recoup the Champions League and could only retain the Carling Cup. In terms of silverware, this season matches 2005/06 when again the Reds finished second to Chelsea, unlike that pre-World Cup year though, with the colts of Rooney and Ronaldo turning into thoroughbreds, that side had the feel of one on the way up. This side does not.
What will grate most about the relinquishing of the title is the ease with which it was passed over. The loss of two thirds of the treble title winning attacking trio were let go and never replaced and united never recovered. The Reds were not at the level they had been over the past couple of years and that effectively registered itself in terms of points and performances. United can look back on points dropped against Burnley, Aston Villa, Fulham and Blackburn, but then again, so could every other side jostling for positions. This was not one of those title winning charges that often incorporate near invincibility. A combination of increased competition from more teams, and a sense of self-harm from the top teams meant more points were being dropped.
The issue of whether the Ronaldo money was actually available remains unclear, what is more obvious is that the Reds attacking stocks were never rearmed enough to replace the class of Ronaldo and Tevez. If the money was available then Ferguson’s judgement must seriously come into question. Essentially he was expecting what was already there to raise their game individually and collectively to replace the loss of the quality and class of that pair. Of course, Wayne Rooney accepted the offer but the rest only did in dispatches and that wasn’t enough. Dimitar Berbatov’s shoulders drew increasingly slumped as his form dipped, Antonio Valencia offered service to Rooney but not enough goal threat, Nani only showed up in the second half of the season and Scholes and Giggs cannot be expected to roll back the years every week of a nine month season. The signing of Michael Owen was no risk, and so it proved, but generally United lacked the firepower and ruthlessness which been so crucial in winning the past three titles. Times where you could identify a vintage United performance were few and far between and the whole package lacked a title winning feel.
Too often the onus was left with Rooney and invariably he delivered. His importance could not have been highlighted further than the week he was injured against Bayern. A defeat and a draw to Chelsea and Blackburn, sandwiched by elimination from the Champions League was the turning point of the season. Things may have been different had Rooney been fit but should United be so reliant on one man?
In the end United weren’t too far off from the lead but at no stage did they really convince they were the best team, or were even as good as they were in the past three seasons. For that reason, United, as an on-field force, have reclined, and Ferguson has allowed his side to be weaker. This sets a dangerous precedent, especially if Abramovich feels it’s necessary to turn the screw and Chelsea significantly strengthen. The acquisitions of Chris Smalling and Javier Hernandez have been made early on and Ferguson has suggested there will be little transfer activity past that. That could easily be a bluff but the Scot will need more than smoke and mirrors to pass off another season like this.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom, and despite a poor season at least United can still be thankful they aren’t City. The Red half can take the summer to dwell on three last minute winners against the Blues, ending their long pursuit of any trophy, not having Joleon Lescott and watching them agonisingly miss out on a Champions League finish so close to the line. Alas, gloating over the misery of their nearest and dearest is a pastime reserved for the citizens and a further indication as to the flaws this season contained. Things need to get better.