Man City Report - Two Trophies out of Four Ain't Bad

There is no question that Manchester City has gone through a meteoric rise since I started following them in the mid-2000's.  I originally started following City because they were the underdogs in their own town employed midfielder Claudio Reyna from 2003-07.  Despite Reyna's injury history and gaffe against Ghana in the 2006 World Cup, he is still my all-time favorite member of the United States Men's National Team.  I am not trying to take credit for City's rise but when I started following City they were owned by Thaksin Shinawatra, the disgraced former prime minister of Thailand that has lived in self-imposed political exile in England since 2008.  Just a few years after I started following City, Shinawatra sold City to Abu Dhabi United Group Investment and Development Limited owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi Royal Family.  As a result money has been flowing through the blue side of Manchester since 2008, which has recently gotten them in hot water with the Financial Fair Play rules.

After City won the Capital One Cup 3-1 over Sunderland, there was an outside chance that they could win four trophies this season.  At that point I thought there was an 85% chance they won the FA Cup, 51% chance they won the EPL, & 25% chance they won the Champions League.  As it turns out, City crashed out of the F.A. Cup at the hands of Wigan, the same team that beat them in the F.A. Cup Final in 2013 even though Wigan was relegated from the EPL last season. City crashed out of the Champions League at the hands of Barcelona.  That mean the only way City could hoist another trophy this season was to win the EPL.

When City lost 3-2 to Liverpool on the road on April 13th and barely tied Sunderland 2-2 at home on April 16th, it looked like they would have to settle for only one trophy this season given the cushion that they gave Liverpool.  Thankfully less than a fortnight later on April 27th, which will forever be known as "Brace Day" on the blue side of Manchester, City defeated Crystal Palace 2-0 on the road while Liverpool lost 2-0 at home to what amounted to Chelsea's second team.  The stumble by Liverpool on "Brace Day", pun intended as a shot at Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard's gaffe to gift Chelsea a goal, allowed City to regain control of their EPL destiny.  City won their final three matches 3-2 @ Everton, 4-0 over Aston Villa, and 2-0 over West Ham to win their second EPL title in three years.  Here are my final rankings projecting their transfer value going into the summer transfer window along with my thoughts on a few of the unsung heroes of City's 2013-14 EPL Champion squad:

Player Rankings

1. Yaya Toure (M, LR 1) 2. Vincent Kompany (D, LR 3) 3. Sergio Aguero (F, LR 2)  4. David Silva (M, LR 4) 5. Edin Dzeko (F, LR 8) 6. Samir Nasri (M, LR 6) 7. Fernandinho (M, LR 9)   8. Joe Hart (GK, LR 11) 9. Alvaro Negredo (F, LR 5) 10. Pablo Zabaleta (D, LR 10) 11. Jesus Navas (M, LR 7)  12. Stevan Jovetic (F, LR 12) 13. Aleksandar Kolarov (D, LR 13) 14. Javi Garcia (M, LR 17) 15. James Milner (M, LR 14) 16. Gael Clichy (D, LR 15) 17. Matija Nastasic (D, LR 16) 18. Micah Richards (D, LR 19) 19. Jack Rodwell (M, LR 20) 20. Martin Demichelis (D, LR 21) 21. Dedryck Boyata (D, LR 22) 22. Alex Nimely (F, LR 23) 23. Marcos Lopes (M, LR 26) 24. Joleon Lescott (D, LR 18) 25. Costel Pantilimon (GK, LR 24) 26. Erik Johansen (GK, LR 25) 27. Richard Wright (GK, LR 27)

5) Edin Dzeko (F, LR 8): I talked about selling Dzeko to help balance the books in my look at the January Transfer Window.  In fairness to me, at that time Aguero and Negredo were the preferred strikers while Jovetic looked like he was going to finally be healthy.  As a result, I thought City could get by without Dzeko.  Boy was I wrong.  Dzeko ended up scoring big goal after big goal in the second half of the season, which was huge given the injuries to Aguero and cold streak that plagued Negredo. I am still not sure Dzeko deserves to wear the #10 jersey for City but without his services I don't think City would have finished any higher than 3rd or 4th in the table this season so maybe that gives him the right to wear the #10 jersey for City.

10) Pablo Zabaleta (D, LR 10): This season cemented Zabaleta's legacy as one of the best defenders in club history.  At left back this season City switched between Kolarov and Clichy to keep both players fresh since City made deep runs in the F.A. Cup, Champions League, and Capital One Cup.  The thought going into the season is that City would do the same at right back with Richards and Zabaleta but Richards continued to struggle with injuries so Zabaleta pulled what amounted to double-duty relative to his teammates at left back.  Zabaleta was one of the first players purchased in 2008, just a few years after I started following City. There is no question that Zabaleta is a member of my personal City Mount Rushmore.

14) Javi Garcia (M, LR 17): An injury to Fernandino with less than a month to go in the season thrust Garcia into the Starting XI in the central midfield for City's last few matches of the season.  Earlier in the season Garcia struggled when he played extended minutes but thankfully he learned from his struggles to serve as a perfect defensive cover to Toure, which allowed Toure to push forward to create numerous scoring chances each match.  Just six months ago I thought Garcia would be a part of a sham transfer to NYCFC to help balance the books to comply with UEFA's Financial Fair Play Regulations but if  Garcia can carry his end of the season form into next season, he could push for regular playing time in central midfield ahead of Fernandinho.

20) Martin Demichelis (D, LR 21): I guess 7th times a charm given that Demichelis won two Argentine Premera Division Championships (2001-02 & 2002-03) and four Bundesliga Championships (2004-05, 2005-06, 2007-08, & 2009-10).  I've been critical of Demichelis throughout this season but there is no question that he made amends throughout the season to become an integral partner in central defense with Kompany given that Nastasic was injured for most of the season.  I know Atlético Madrid got Demichelis from Málaga on a free transfer just a few months earlier but as crazy as it sounds, Demichelis was the most cost-effective member of the team this season since City was able to purchase his services from for £4.2 million.  I am not sure that City would fetch £4.2 million for Demichelis right now, which is why he is so low in the rankings.  Much like Dzeko, if Demichelis' form did not improve in the 2nd half of the season, City would not be the 2013-14 EPL Champions.

City has to deal with the repercussions of their alleged violations of UEFA's Financial Fair Play Regulations, which could severely impact their plans to reload their already stacked squad in the summer transfer window.  With the 2013-14 season in the rear view mirror, make sure to check back in this space over the next few weeks for my thoughts on how City can navigate this all important summer transfer window.

Birth of New York City FC

The new billionaire owners of Manchester City expect trophies every year so not even reaching the knockout stage of the Champions League, finishing runner-up in EPL, and losing the 2013 FA Cup Final to Wigan made the 2012-13 season feel like a disappointment.  Keep in mind if the aforementioned season happened just a few years ago, the 2012-13 campaign would have been looked back at fondly as one of the most successful in club history, but the new petrol dollars increased expectations.

Almost $100 million of those petrol dollars are going to Major League Soccer since Manchester City and the New York Yankees just became co-owners of New York City FC, the 20th franchise in the MLS that is set to join the league in 2015.

As you can imagine, once I heard that Man City and (gulp) the Yankees were going in as co-owners of New York City FC, I had to do some soul searching. It is one thing to transform from a low-budget domestically competitive club to a big spending global powerhouse thanks to the influx of petrol dollars. It is another thing to actually get in bed with the Yankees, which used to have a marketing relationship with (double gulp) Manchester United.

I wanted to wait a little while before I posted something about New York City FC to see if there would be a silver lining. Thankfully that silver lining came in Claudio Reyna when New York City FC named Reyna as director of football.  Reyna is my favorite Unites States soccer player of all-time and one of the main reasons that I originally started following City. No doubt another one of the big reasons that I originally started following City was that they were the little guy in Manchester, which is obviously no longer the case, so bringing Reyna back into the City family feels like a re-birth of sorts to me.

Thanks to City becoming MLS co-owners and adding Reyna as their first employee, I finally have an MLS team to follow.  As a Chicago resident, I've tried a number of times to follow the Chicago Fire but there are way too many impediments.

For one thing the stadium is too far away from downtown Chicago.  By car you get to sit in gridlock traffic from I-55.  By public transportation you have to take the "L" all the way to Midway airport and then take a PACE bus another 20 minutes just to get to the stadium.  The only relatively painless way to get to the stadium is by party bus from a few local footie bars because you can drink on the bus to and from the stadium.  The stadium is beautiful once you get there, but the commute is painful.

Besides the commute, I've never felt a strong connection to the Fire.  There is scant local media coverage, which makes following the Fire difficult.  If the Fire were more competitive may be there would be more local coverage, but then I would just be a front runner right?  Thus I am getting in on the ground floor of Man City FC.

Once the initial shock of the announcement of New York City FC subsided, the talk turned to where the team will play long-term.  My complaints about the commute to Fire matches is something New York City FC should take to heart. If they follow the Red Bull to New Jersey or build a stadium in a bad location like the Fire, it is hard to leverage the millions of New Yorkers that make that market so attractive to the MLS.

Some people think the Man City/Yankees money is a bad thing for the MLS.  Ironically it is that big money that is keeping the New York Cosmos, the original big money soccer team of yesteryear in the United States, from getting into the MLS because I can't see the MLS putting three teams in NYC.

No matter where New York City FC plays long-term, it will be interesting to see how the petrol/evil empire dollars impacts the MLS. I don't want to rush to judgment, but if they can get a stadium in the city (no pun intended), I think this is a giant step in the right direction for the MLS.