Season Review: Manchester City

The need of the hour for City is to revamp the squad, and get rid of the dead wood in it. Kolo Toure has already moved to Liverpool, and the likes of Roque Santa Cruz and Wayne Bridge are surely on their way out too. The signings of last season were disastrous, in no uncertain terms, and expect Maicon and Scott Sinclair in other pastures soon. Javi Garcia has improved since he first came, but he still remains a step down from de Jong, and is not an entirely dependable holding midfielder. Jack Rodwell has shown great promise whenever he has played, much like most of his young career. But he has spent most of the season on the recovery table, much like most of his young career. He surely is a player for the future, and if he can sort out his hamstring issues, he can surely replace Gareth Barry at the heart of the City midfield. The signing of the season, though, has to undoubtedly and unequivocally be Serbian centre-back, Matija Nastasic. Signed from Fiorentina in exchange for Stefan Savic, Nastasic has been a rock beside Vincent Kompany, and has arguably outshone the veteran Belgian through the season. Having first displaced Lescott, Nastasic made sure everyone sat up and took notice, as the boy touted to be the ‘next Nemanja Vidic’ built an identity of his own, and stood out as the shining light in a team that shone so very dim.

The player of the season is usually one who scores the most, or dazzles the eye the most. In the Citizens’ case however, strangely enough, it’s the right-back, Pablo Zabaleta, who would come out with the honours. Zabaleta, alongside Nastasic, has been the bulwark of the defence, and his forays forward have compensated for whatever width City may have missed at time. It is unfortunate for him on a personal level to have been sent off and missed out on the FA Cup trophy on the same night. But one can safely say that Zabaleta is the best right-back in the league, and one of the best in world football.

Manchester City will want to forget this season soon, and fill up the void with a few more trophies from next season. Pellegrini’s announcement as the new manager is to be made in the coming week, and expect him to bring about a sea of changes, not least of which will be a more free-flowing game. It is expected that Isco will sign for City along with Pellegrini, and he will be a huge boost in a team which seems too creatively reliant on David Silva. They also need a holding midfielder, a winger (Jesus Navas is tipped to be on the books), a striker and a centre-back to provide back up to Nastasic, Kompany and Lescott. The City hierarchy has supposedly set Pellegrini a target of five trophies in five years. Given his experience, the squad that they have right now, and the investment they expect to make, that seems an achievable target. The question remains, though, can City crawl out of their shell and become players on the European stage, much the way Dortmund has? Stick around in 2013-14 for answers.