Newsletter #1734

A look tonight at potential transfers, end of season reviews, Champions’ League, the US tour and next season’s games and an editing request.

[Note to self: remember to press send when using webmail!]

MCIVTA EDITING REQUEST

I’ll be taking a break from 16 June for three editions so if anybody would like a go at editing MCIVTA for 16, 20 and 23 June (full instructions provided) please do let me know.

Many thanks.

OPINION: NEW PLAYERS

With our great end to the season, City will be heavily involved in transfers, both out and incoming. I am not alone when stating the obvious players who “will have to be released or sold”, namely: Jo, Santa-Cruz, Bellamy, Bridge, Onuoha, Wright-Phillips, Adebayor, Vieira, Caicedo, M Johnson, all of whom have had very little or no impact to the team this last season. Personally, I would like to keep hold of SWP, but Mancini has shown his hand, by very rarely giving him any pitch time.

I watched the Champions’ League final and guess what – cheered on Barcelona all the way. What makes Barcelona so good is that they have 3 midfielders who can pass the ball better than anyone else and can do it at a high tempo for 90 minutes, which means the opposition is left chasing shadows, so in the end all the 3 forwards have to do is time their runs and put the ball in the back of the net. City need to take note! When Mancini is looking to strengthen the team, he really needs to strengthen our weakest areas, and in my opinion, they are left back, an attacking midfielder, and a clinical finisher, in the Hernandez mould (because I honestly believe Tévez will go, and to Real Madrid).

Tévez is a player who needs to be man-managed differently to others in the team. He appears surly, and not happy where he is, regardless of the massive financial rewards he gets from the Club; totally unprofessional in my opinion. He rarely accepts being substituted, regardless of why the Manager has made that decision. He has not integrated fully with his team, purely because he has not leaned enough of the language, hence he cannot communicate properly. He isn’t a team player as such, but will work his socks off and he score goals. He is like Ronaldo at Real Madrid: when told how good a player he is, how much he is needed, how much he is loved and how the team’s success is down to him, then he would run through brick walls for the team, but if he isn’t told this, he will be a negative influence off the pitch. I think this is a trait of a number of South American players, who come from poor backgrounds. It is a chip on the shoulder syndrome. I would draws parallels with Baptista, who now plays for Malaga who was a negative influence for a few big clubs, but now he is a big fish in a small pond, who now has the love he needs to be able to enjoy his football and is now scoring goals for fun and has kept Malaga in La Liga. Having said all this, Tévez was our main scorer last season (and still sulked a lot), and take away his goals, and where would City have finished in the League? This is our biggest conundrum: keep an unhappy Tévez, or replace him with an unknown quantity, who might take time to settle (Dzeko). Almost a year ago, I stated that City should purchase Suarez from Ajax, whom I believe to be a carbon copy of Tévez, and we could have bagged him for a reasonable fee. Another possibility is Sergio Aguero, small, tricky forward who is highly rated.

So to my thoughts on whom we should purchase. I had lunch with a Portuguese colleague at work last week who follows Benfica, and he feels the best left back around, is Fabio Coentrao at Benfica, but he would cost at least £25 million. However, he is still only 23, and would be a very useful acquisition (I gather Real Madrid are also looking at buying him). I would like to have either Fabregas or Sneijder as they would be the attacking midfielder we really need. I also like Juan Mata of Valencia, would fit in well with Silva.

Well the speculation and link to every available player will be inevitable over the summer, so I just hope we buy some real jewels, and strengthen enough to be a massive force in both the League and the Champions’ League.

Come On City.

OPINION: SEASON’S END I

We all know that we won the FA Cup, beating the current Premier League Champions and Champions’ League Runners-up along the way, that we had the same number of points as the club placed second in the Premier League, that we had the most clean sheets and conceded the fewest goals in that League and that we were the fourth highest scorers. Also, Joe Hart won the Golden Gloves Award and Carlos Tévez shared the Golden Boot Award but how did the other guys do?

The Telegraph Fantasy Football competition awards points to all players in the Premier League for their contributions in League, Carling Cup and FA Cup matches. There are plus points for participation, for clean sheets (defenders only) strikes, assists and MOTM, with deductions for cards, own goals and penalty misses. There may be other plusses and minuses I have missed out.

Joe Hart won the Goalkeeper section by a wide margin from Petr Cech; we had three lads in the top ten Defenders section, namely Vince Kompany (third behind Leighton Baines), Pablo Zabaleta and Joleon Lescott; two more, Yaya Touré and David Silva in the Midfielders top ten, which was won by Nani, and Carlos Tévez won the Strikers section. In addition, Carlos was the Player of the Year, with 24 goals and 8 key assists in his 199 points total and he was also the Golden Boot winner. Joe Hart was named Steady Eddie for his 46 starts and he had the most clean sheets (23) with Vincent Kompany second (21).

When all the player points for each team were added up, City came out on top with 2004 points, ahead of Chelsea (1956), Man U (1910) and Arsenal (1781).

It is a shame that no holding midfielders appear in the lists; they do not have many opportunities to score or provide assists but we know the true value of them, Nigel de Jong and Gareth in particular. All in all not a bad season, especially as the Manager and many players have not been at City very long. They all deserve the grateful thanks of the fans.

OPINION: SEASON’S END II

In response to Sam Duxbury’s posting (MCIVTA 1732), I agree that City were a bunch of slackers this season. Yes we won the Cup… but we should have also won the League Championship… and the Carling Cup… and the UEFA Cup… yeah right!

I do agree that Mancini’s tactics were at times too defensive and his “let’s score twice and then park the defensive bus” tactics backfired, especially when we only scored once and then got beat 2-1 (Everton, Wolverhampton, Villa, United) but towards the end of the season we had solidified our defence and I believe there is only a small amount of tinkering needed to fully ignite our attack.

As for Tévez, the answer is simple. Gary Cook should state that Tévez is available for 50 million quid and he will happily sell him to any takers, but not a penny less! Understanding those new Europa financial rules apply to all clubs, I don’t honestly say anyone coming across with the cash. But if they do, see ya later. Otherwise, it’s a closed topic.

Roll on August!

OPINION: CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEEDINGS

There has been much speculation about City meeting Barcelona in the group stages of the ECL. The UEFA coefficients that are used to seed teams have been updated and are at http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/club/index.html

Qualifying teams for next year are at http://www.uefa.com/news/newsid=1627566.html

If all the seeded teams win their qualifiers (the worst case scenario for City), then City will still be in pot 3 for the group stage draw and we’ll be off to Spain, Portugal, Italy or Germany for the match against the top ranked team. Unless the coefficients change from the list published, City cannot end up in pot 4 for the draw.

Pot 4 for the draw could include Borussia Dortmund and Napoli among others.

Roll on the end of August when the group stage draw takes place.

OPINION: US GAMES

I just bought 8 tickets (the maximum allowed) for City versus LA Galaxy – finally they came back. The last time they played here was versus the LA Heat 1-1 and they played as though they were on holiday.

My son will get to see City with me for the 2nd time with 6 other assorted converted Blues: 2 Serbians, a Haitian, a Cuban, another Englishman and one extra ticket for a token American!

REQUEST: SEPTEMBER GAMES TICKETS

I have become a very lucky person indeed. I found out that I’m going to Manchester in September for a conference. So, I need a ticket for any of the September games.

Does anyone of you know how I should go about to acquire a ticket as soon as the autumn match program is announced? I just want to be 100% sure I get a ticket, since this is my first chance in my life to see a live game in Manchester.

Thanks for help.

MCIVTA FAQ [v1011.01]

[1] MCIVTA Addresses

Articles (Heidi Pickup)          : editor@mcivta.city-fan.org
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[2] What are MCIVTA’s publishing deadlines?

Deadlines for issues are nominally 6pm, Monday and Thursday evenings by email. Unfortunately we cannot accept email attachments.

[3] MCIVTA Back Issues and Manchester City Supporters’ home page

http://www.mcivta.com/ is the unofficial Manchester City Supporters’ home page. Created in 1994, it is the longest running of the Manchester City related web sites. Back issues of MCIVTA are also hosted on the site. You can also follow on www.twitter.com/mcivta to get the latest updates.

[4] What is the club’s official web site?

The official club web site can be found at http://www.mcfc.co.uk/ and the official club Twitter page at www.twitter.com/mcfc. The club also has a facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/mcfcofficial

[5] What supporters’ clubs are there?

The Official Supporters’ Club and the Centenary Supporters’ Association have merged to become the Manchester City Supporters’ Club (http://www.mcfcsupportersclub.com/). The club also recognise the Manchester City Disabled Supporters’ Association (http://www.mcdsa.co.uk/).

[6] Where can I find out about Points of Blue?

The committee operates as an interface between supporters and the club. Points of Blue appears on the club website under the “Fans” heading (http://www.mcfc.co.uk/Fans).

[7] What match day broadcasts are available on the web?

Live match commentary can be found on the club website. The Radio Manchester pre- and post-match phone-in is available on the web at http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/manchester/hi/tv_and_radio/.

[8] Where can I find out if City are live on satellite TV?

http://www.satfootball.com/pl.html provides a listing of Premier League games being shown on UK domestic and foreign satellite channels. Useful sites for North American viewers are http://msn.foxsports.com/, http://www.soccertv.com/.

[9] Do we have a Usenet newsgroup?

Yes we do: uk.sport.football.clubs.man-city is our home on usenet. If you are not familiar with usenet, a basic explanation is available here: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,289893,sid9_gci213262,00.html

[10] Do any squad members have their own web pages?

There are a number available and direct links can be found at http://www.mcivta.com/players/

[11] Where can I find match statistics?

Statistics for the current season are available from the club site, but for a more in-depth analysis try http://www.mcfcstats.com/.

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The views expressed in MCIVTA are entirely those of the subscribersand there is no intention to represent these opinions as being thoseof Manchester City Football Club, nor of any of the companies anduniversities by whom the subscribers are employed. It is not inany way whatsoever connected to the club or any other relatedorganisation and is simply a group of supporters using this mediumas a means of disseminating news and exchanging opinions.

Heidi Pickup, editor@mcivta.city-fan.org

Editor: