We Built This City

With misplaced boots and misguided celebrations overshadowing their clinical counter-attacking last Saturday, the emerging stature of Man City may just have slipped under the radar. Almost 12 months since they became the world’s richest club, the green shoots of investment are beginning to show.

Whilst they have hardly charmed the football purists with their aggressive transfer policy, their Arsenal-style disposal of Arsenal should have been a big step towards some positive PR. Sadly, the headlines were made for altogether different reasons.

But looking past the fleeting controversy surrounding a certain Togolese striker, Saturday’s benchmark performance raises an important question… What does long-term success look like for Manchester City?

For the answer, I would ask Roman Abramovich.

In spite of two league titles, the Russian’s vast investment has failed to reap the dividends he had hoped for. A haul of domestic trophies may have been enough appease Chelsea’s success-starved fans, but it barely scrapes the owner’s long term expectations.

For an investment approaching a billion pounds, Roman Abramovich has every right to wonder just what went wrong. The plan was to make Chelsea an internationally admired super-brand, but six years on he finds himself at a club reviled by governing bodies, disliked by the press and despised by neutrals.

Much of the disdain stems from the idea that Chelsea have bought their success; a cross Man City are bearing even before challenging for honours. But in time the investment of Sheikh Mansour will reap trophies and then the real challenge of removing this stigma will begin.
In order to succeed, Man City will need to add an ingredient which has always been missing at Stamford Bridge. Football which captivates and captures the imagination of neutrals.

Although Man City’s emotionally charged victory over Arsenal demonstrated what they are capable of as an attacking force, it’s worth remembering that their other victories this season have been solid unremarkable performances. In Mark Hughes, they have a manager who will develop a side primarily built for results. This backbone and resilience is the foundation for any degree of success in English football. Just ask Alex Ferguson or José Mourinho.

Arsenal may have won a lot of admirers over the last few years, but they haven’t won a trophy since 2005. What they wouldn’t give now for a combative spoiler in the mould of Nigel de Jong? Add the determination of Barry, Tévez and Lescott and we see a team developing very much in the mould of the manager. Mark Hughes might not be the most obvious choice for a club with such astronomical expectations, but by keeping him on the owners may have pulled off a masterstroke.

It would have been all too easy to bring in a high-profile manager and a parade of Robinho style marquee players this summer. But in Hughes, Man City’s owners have held on to a shrewd operator who will get results. They might not play blistering football this season, but they have a great chance of breaking the top four and qualifying for the Champions League.

And what of the entertaining football? The long suffering faithful won’t care less about ‘Brand Man City’ if they win the league. But one suspects the owners will eventually expect Barcelona-style football lighting up European nights at Eastlands.

If their vast financial clout is combined with a degree of patience, Man City could just succeed where Chelsea have failed. In Robinho, Wright-Phillips and Stephen Ireland they already have players who can illuminate a big occasion, and where better to start than in the back yard of bitter rivals Man United on Sunday.