Premiership preview, table prediction: 3. Manchester City

Manchester City

Manchester City  Barclays Premier League position preview 2011/12

Manager:  Roberto Mancini 

Ground: The City of Manchester Stadium

Nickname: City of The Blues

Capacity: 47726

Squad:

Goalkeepers 12 Stuart Taylor 25 Joe Hart 37 Gunnar Nielsen 63 Eirik Holmen Johansen Costel Pantilimon ·         Defenders 2 Micah Richards 4 Vincent Kompany 5 Pablo Zabaleta 6 Joleon Lescott 13 Aleksandar Kolarov 15 Stefan Savic 22 Gael Clichy 28 Kolo Toure 36 Wayne Bridge 38 Dedryck Boyata 44 Karim Rekik 56 Frederic Veseli 57 Reece Wabara Greg Cunningham Nedum Onuoha

Midfielders 7 James Milner 8 Shaun Wright-Phillips 11 Adam Johnson 18 Gareth Barry 20 Vladimir Weiss 21 David Silva 31 Gai Assulin 34 Nigel de Jong 36 Denis Suarez 42 Yaya Toure 53 Chris Chantler 62 Abdul Razak 64 Joan Angel Roman

Forwards 6 Emmanuel Adebayor 10 Edin Dzeko 14 Roque Santa Cruz 16 Sergio Aguero 32 Carlos Tevez 39 Craig Bellamy 43 Alex Nimely 45 Mario Balotelli 60 John Guidetti 66 Luca Scapuzzi

Manchester City finished in 3^rd place last season, and finally qualified for the champion’s league. Roberto Mancini is a quality manager and is looking to take the club in the right direction. That being said, he knows the owners have big expectations of this season both in the league and Europe. He knows poor results could cost him the job early in the season. The owners keep on pumping out money to strengthen the squad, and Manchester City have founds and a squad that few if none in the premiership can match at the moment. The question I’m asking; can Mancini manage to get the best out of the squad and make a team out of all the stars?

Pre-Season Fixtures/Results

July 16 vs Club America 2-0 – McGivern, Wright-Phillips

July 18 vs Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 – Guidetti, Wright-Phillips

July 24 vs LA Galaxy 1-1 – Balotelli

July 30 vs League of Ireland XI 3-0 Wright-Phillips, Johnson, Scapuzzi

July 31 vs Inter Milan 3-0 Balotelli, Dzeko, Johnson

August 7 vs Manchester United (Community Shield) 2-3 Lescott, Dzeko

Players in

07/11 Kun Agüero FW Atlético Madrid

07/11 Gael Clichy DF Arsenal FC  

07/11 Stefan Savić DF Partizan

Players out

07/11 Michael Johnson MF Leicester City

07/11 Jérôme Boateng DF Bayern München

06/11 Shay Given GK Aston Villa

06/11 John Guidetti FW FC Twente

06/11 Jô FW Internacional RS

06/11 Scott Kay MF Macclesfield Town

06/11 Shaleum Logan DF Brentford FC

06/11 Ryan McGivern DF Manchester City (R)

Most likely starting lineup for Manchester City next weekend:

25 Joe Hart

2 Micah Richards   4 Vincent Kompany   6 Joleon Lescott   13 Aleksandar Kolarov

7 James Milner                 34 Nigel de Jong              42 Yaya Toure   21 David Silva

10 Edin Dzeko   45 Mario Balotelli

Manchester City’s talisman from last season Carlos Tevez wants to leave the club and could give Mancini big problems this year if they can’t sell him. I don’t know if Tevez is motivated enough to play yet a good season for a club he has no intentions of staying with? And how does the rest of the squad react to his childish behavior. And the childish and immature player of the history in super talent Mario Balotelli is another big problem for Mancini this year. That being said he should have enough quality in the club to make up for the Tevez and Balotelli problems. And the owners won’t be waiting for success if Mancini can’t deliver progress this season as well. He could actually be one of the first managers to be sacked this season. I think City will finish in 3^rd spot as last year, so I believe Mancini needs success in the champion’s league if he is to remain at City further.