After the summer outlay that has been undertaken by Roberto Mancini at Manchester City, all eyes were on how the Italian would manage to mould a team out of the players on his books. A trip to White Hart Lane to face their closest rivals over the course of last season was never going to be easy, but trying to understand and appreciate Mancini’s thought processes over his selection policy has proved just as difficult.
The trio of Nigel De Jong, Yaya Toure and Gareth Barry was an early signal that Mancini would have settled for a draw from the beginning. All good players, but surely all too similar also? By keeping things solid in the middle of the pitch, it was supposed to allow Man City’s front three free reign to attack Spurs’ backline, but any moves that City managed to put together were slowed by the patience in midfield. It could be argued that City have come away from White Hart Lane with a clean sheet and a point, more than many clubs will this season, but the clean sheet wasn’t as a result of Spurs being bullied and broken up in midfield, it was mainly down to Joe Hart.
Before the game Shay Given alluded to the fact that whoever was picked between himself and Hart could be considered the first choice keeper. Within twenty minutes of kick-off it was clear the right choice had been made. This is not to say that Given is not a top keeper, far from it, but if City are trying to build something with longevity, then they have to play some one as young and talented as Hart. Either keeper is too good to be a back-up, and so will want a move away from Eastlands should they find themselves on the bench, but that inability to hoard good players is something that should be expected. City fans can just be pleased they can have a pick of two of the league’s best keepers in the first place, and Mancini looks to have made the right choice.
What may not have been such a good choice was the decision to play Shaun Wright-Phillips ahead of Adam Johnson. Since his return from Chelsea, Wright-Phillips has failed to recreate the form that brought him to everyone’s attention during his first spell at the club. His time at Chelsea seems to have blunted his confidence and there was little on show at Tottenham to suggest that anything has changed. In contrast, Adam Johnson has been one of City’s most consistent performers since his arrival from Middlesbrough in January. Bucking the trend of big name foreign imports, the £7m that Mancini spent on Johnson looks like some of the best of his business: he looks good on either flank and has far greater end product than that of Wright-Phillips.
Emmanuel Adebayor also failed to make the first eleven on Saturday and Mario Balotelli’s arrival suggests that it may be a problem that the Togolese striker may have to become accustomed to. Rumours of a move to Italy have encircled the World Cup’s worst pundit, and he doesn’t strike me as the type of man to accept the ‘good of the team’ argument particularly well. To compete across four competitions, City will need a big squad and Mancini will be reluctant to sell Adebayor; at some point in the near future the difference in opinion is bound to come to a head.
It is difficult to predict what Mancini has planned for his team. With the addition of Balotelli, there may be a move to 4-4-2, with one of the central midfielders giving way to the Italian: a team with Silva and Johnson on the wings, with Balotelli and Tevez up front, looks a far more balanced outfit, but whether the side that takes to the field for their first home game against Liverpool is a huge change to last Saturday’s side will only be known to Mancini. For City, the jury remains out and there appears as though there is still work to be done, but this process will inevitably take time, and with the players they have at their disposal there is a good team waiting to happen.
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