Three weeks in and what have we learned?

Arsenal fans are outraged and rightly so. The club allowed the contract of their star player, Dobbin Van Horsie (aka Judas Iscariot), to run down in an unthinkable repeat of the Sandra Nasri situation of the previous summer.  Fear not Gooners for Professor Yaffle had already purchased the replacements and one of them is a sharpshooter. Step forward Oliver Giro. 3 games and 2 clear open goals missed he might just hold the same goal threat as a latter-day Emile Heskey or, dare I say it…Kevin Davies?

And what of our chums down the East Lancs Road?

2011-12 was a horror season for them with the Furniture Whisperer leading a badly thought out reprisal of the Third Reich and spending money as unrealistically as had ever been witnessed in football. This week a story came out claiming that Steve Bruce, upon hearing that Liverpool were interested in Henderson, suggested to his chairman that they might get as much as £4m for him. The furniture whisperer is long gone and has been replaced by the former Chelsea Fluffer Bending Rodgers, a real sharp cookie. His first idea was to try to buy Swansea but he hadn’t quite got enough money so instead he bought Joe Allen, but to remain true to recent transfer policy he paid 3 times what the player was worth. However Bending seemingly doesn’t care for Carroll to the point that he sent the poor scamp to play for West Ham even though he didn’t have another proper striker to play alongside the Cannibal of Amsterdam, Luis Dentist.

Brian Marwood very nearly managed to stop Scarfman spending any of the oilmoney in the transfer window but while he was relaxing in ‘Chez Terry’s’ getting a ‘Manssage’ on 31^st August he didn’t see the danger coming when Scarfman excused himself to go for a ‘sit down toilet’. Marwood had drifted away amidst the gentle testicle rub being administered by Dejan and had completely forgotten Scarfmans pure fear of public toilets. As Dejan continue to cup and probe, Scarfman ran up Deansgate laughing like a Pelican and ringing agents aplenty. Before teatime he had spent almost £60m while Marwood was being rectally milked and rubbed down with Moon daisies. There is speculation amongst those ‘in the know’ that the majority of these signings will be ground down and fed to Tevez during the colder winter months to ensure he doesn’t migrate to warmer climes… where meat is more readily available again this year.

And what of the rest?

Everton, Fulham and Southampton have already finished their respective seasons. They have had their cup finals and now have another 35 games between themselves and heading off on their summer holidays.

QPR are surprisingly crap, even though they are under the rudderless guidance of Hughes and he has bought in another 315 new players. What a shock. USB has turned a top team into one of compete disarray. USB has turned a top team into one of complete disarray. Clearly the repetition was intentional, as his has been. Spurs look destined for a long long long season. The diet scousers are bleeding from the nose (not from coke overdoses, but giddy league position) but of course that will soon be amended as they lose Fellaini to a career as a bounty hunter in outer space. M’O’N is in the process of making his Sunderland team burly and uncomprising and Villa are flirting with the possibility of a season long relegation dogfight.

As you were…

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It’s one of my favorite things to say about our noisy neighbors, but “Let’s all laugh at City” could soon be shelved, right next to the “35 Years” banner we literally held over their heads for the last 3.5 decades. With an FA Cup in their desolate trophy cabinet, City have started this league season with more than just a few pipe dreams. As I type this, they are 5 pts clear of us and a week off a 6-1 thumping of a United team that was a miniscule shadow of our early season form. We have some fickle fans, but even the most grounded United fans can share in some trepidation when it comes to this year’s City team. The real question is: Are they better than United? Let’s find out.

The most glaring thing to notice about this City team is that they finally mean business, and I’m not just talking about spending the money this time. For years City have thrown money at a problem they couldn’t seem to fix – winning. When an ownership with deep pockets takes over, money will be spent. We all knew that would happen. But, we watched from our side of town while City made an attempt to replicate even the most minute United success with purchase after purchase. It’s quite difficult to sit on the other side while your rivals win every trophy possible, so City took the approach that loads of money would buy loads of the best players. The simple law of economics does prevail and, yes, whoever has the most money can afford the best players. The problem City faced was that they were buying players for exorbitant amounts of money, but they were overpaying and buying the wrong players. Robinho, Milner, SWP (2nd time around), Adebayor, Santa Cruz, Zabaleta, Barry, etc. Some are gone, some are still there, but City kept buying. We laughed at the failures year after year, but at some point, these players would learn to play together. That time has come.

Over the last three or so seasons, City fielded a team with the highest wages and highest transfer fees, but no one wanted to play together. The joke was that no one spoke the same language, so how could they possibly play football as a cohesive unit. The funny part about this was that it was true. They constantly underachieved. Even an FA Cup and a CL birth last season were considered a letdown for a team with close to 600m in players. In the end, City and its fans were ecstatic with those two accomplishments, though I’m sure a Carling Cup win would’ve satisfied a City fan after 35 years of nothing. However, it still begged the question, “When will City produce?” No manager, Mancini or not, can stick around from just winning an FA Cup or Carling Cup each year. City wanted European glory just like every other team, so coming into this season the stakes were just a bit higher for them. They tasted some success and wanted more. But, is more success in City’s future? Let’s look at both teams now.

City have gelled in a way that hasn’t been seen since, well, since some 35 years ago. Mancini is finally finding a way to make the players work. His comment about having a lack of players was comical, but when you’re spoiled with money, you get greedy and unsatisfied. David Silva has been their star, controlling a mid-field that needed some serious grounding and continuity. Balotelli is still petulant, but he’s started producing. Tevez turned into the sour apple everyone in Manchester knew he would, so Mancini went out and purchased his replacement, Aguero. Kompany has always been their best defender, but they’ve fortified themselves in the back so far, conceding very few goals. Silva has glued their MF together while their strikers have put in goals. The bickering and lack of team unity have turned into a viable squad.  They have slaughtered teams, including United – us being the only real competition thus far. You know who they remind me of? Chelsea this time last year. Remember what happened to Chelsea at season’s end? They were 9 points back of United. So let’s look at United.

We spent the off-season getting De Gea, Young, and Jones. We couldn’t lock down a CMF, but when the season started we settled in on using Cleverley as Scholes’ immediate replacement. The formula seemed to work – until it didn’t. Eventually, the MF issue of the last few seasons crept back into view and our early season form went away. The culmination of this slip in form happened to City. At home. 6-1. Does that mean City is better than us? On the weekend, yes. On the season, no. The one thing that we have on our side that will set us apart as season’s end is Fergie. He finds a way to win. Mancini hasn’t shown us that yet. He has a plethora of players at his disposal, but when his team starts sustaining injuries or booking suspensions or Balotelli’s temper, can Mancini find a team that works like Fergie can? For me, the answer is “No.”

You can could argue that on paper, and even on the field, City have a better team. Lord knows they have the money to support that. But, what they don’t have is a heart like Manchester United. Fergie has the respect of players. And, he holds their respect without having to demand it – he’s earned it. It’s just the United way. Mancini has spats with his players on the sidelines – see Balotelli and Tevez. That would not happen at United. And while Mancini has dealt with Balotelli and Tevez, the bottom-line is that he shouldn’t have to. Sure, Fergie has had spats with players (Beckham and Ronaldo), but he’s also been at the club for 25 years and it’s almost never on the sidelines of a match. Mancini hasn’t even hit the two year mark. He might very well be a great manager, but that has yet to be seen. The sincere truth is that there’s just an air of professionalism at Old Trafford that has yet to find its way over to Stockport. And see, the season isn’t 9 games long. A Prem season is 38 games long. We understand what it takes to get through those 38 league games, and about 20 some odd others, and have something to show for it. Just drive by OT and you’ll see the proof of 19 domestic titles. Drive by Stockport and you won’t see any of that. You’ll see one trophy and a half-empty stadium on match day. In the end, City isn’t a better team than United. It’s something they have to earn. Something they have to want. Something that they’ll have to come and get from us. Something I hope they have to wait another season to try and do.

Follow me on Twitter at @JasTheDevil

I think it would be fair to say that Manchester City fans have been through a lot in recent years. Relegation to the third tier of English football followed by promotion finally back to the Premiership. Numerous managers, including former England manager’s, who all failed to provide the club with the stability they desired. An owner from Thailand of, shall we say, questionable moral standings, finally replaced by the disgustingly rich Saudi oil baron Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. With a seemingly bottomless bank account, the club set about transforming itself into a footballing superpower, both on and off the pitch. The jewel in the crown for City was the acquisition of Manchester United striker, Carlos Tevez.

Since then, Tevez has been positively on fire, topping their scoring charts and receiving plaudits galore. City have managed to move themselves into contention not only for a Champions League place, but with a chance of winning the league. Whilst this is a remarkable improvement on what the majority of City fans are used to, should City fans expect more from the team? There has been a huge investment in the playing squad totalling well over £400m. Shouldn’t City fans feel that their team should be running away with this league, especially with the traditional ‘Big 4’ clubs faltering? Quite frankly, they should. And in my opinion, the main reason they haven’t taken the big step is because of Carlos Tevez.

Whatever your opinion of Carlos Tevez, whether you think he’s a footballing genius or a money grabbing whore, you can not argue with the man’s history so far in football. Boca Juniors, his first major club, after two years in the first team Carlos gets sick of the intrusion of the press in Argentina. He publicly argues with his coach and eventually gets move to Brazilian side Corinthians. Everything is rosy for all of ten minutes until Senor Tevez begins to argue with practically everyone associated to the club. Fist fights in training, bust ups with another coach and even an argument with the club president. Carlos is then granted his move to Europe, signing for West Ham United with Javier Mascherano. He lasted one season at Corinthians.

Carlos Tevez is fondly remembered at Upton Park by the fans as he almost single-handedly saved them from relegation that year. What those fans forget is that he caused massive disruption in the squad by falling out with players and the manager. He threatened to go on strike after being substituted and went AWOL to Argentina at one point. After the glories of keeping West Ham in the Premiership and gaining the adulation of the fans in East London, Tevez rewards them for their support by jumping ship to Manchester United after one solitary season.

His time at Old Trafford is one of mixed feelings for United fans. He was part of one of the most successful sides in United history. Forming part of a modern-day trinity with Rooney and Ronaldo, the attacking football wowed fans and pundits alike. However his time at United wasn’t without its knocks. After his first season, he complained of being fatigued and that he played too much football. After the arrival of Dimitar Berbatov, Tevez was relegated to more of a substitute’s role in his second season. This did not sit well with Carlos and he complained of not playing enough, despite only scoring five goals all season. Once the season was over, Tevez claimed no contract was offered to him by United whilst the club spoke of an offer being made. The writing was on the wall, he was off to City. In the two seasons he was with us we won the league twice and the Champions League in Moscow. These achievements will always be tainted with a sense of betrayal due to his move across the city to the blue half of Manchester.

This leads us to where we are now. King Tevez, the pride of Eastlands. Goal scoring sensation in his first season. Poster boy pin-up of infamous PR stunts across the city of Manchester and a vital cog in the City machine. Tevez is always golden for one season. His second season started off similar to the first. Goals started to pour in but so did the newspaper headlines. Obvious dissent on the pitch when substituted and this from the captain of the side. Threats of retirement from the game due to his feelings about football being ‘all about money’. Falling out with the manager and the club executives despite being the clubs highest paid player. Finally he hands in a transfer request, only to withdraw it less than a week later. Doesn’t all this sound so familiar? (see above)

There is one thing you can take from all the above information, Tevez is clearly a disruptive influence on his club and teammates. Having so much negative press causes additional stress on management which eventually filters down to the team. This can be seen in the recent form shown by City and the almost tactual ineptness of Mancini against Everton (leaving Zabaleta off for so long and costing them the second and crucial goal). The pressure cooker that has been built by the massive burden of the oil billions has been further increased by Tevez’s ill advised actions and even worse comments. Yes, he brings you goals and often moments of magic on the pitch, but the question City fans must surely be asking themselves now is ‘Is it all worth it?’, ‘Is Tevez holding us back from breaking into the upper echelon?’.

I know exactly what will happen from this article. I will receive vast numbers of comments from City fans who probably think that I wrote this piece because I’m a ‘jealous red’ or a ‘dirty rag’. Instead, maybe their time would be better spent reflecting on the facts, which all point to Tevez being a bittersweet pill to take. United fans had to do some reflecting themselves in October with Wayne Rooney putting us in a similar situation. The difference between the two being the Fergie is a master of deflecting negative press away from the team as he has shown a number of times in the past 24 years. Mancini, who is still relatively inexperienced as a manager, does not come across in the same manner. The fact still remains though that Tevez, whilst probably not 100% responsible, has played a massive part in disrupting what should have been a massive season for City.