Areas of weakness:
Strikers – As stated on the previous page, City have just two recognised first team strikers in the squad, and one of those, Edin Dzeko, was rumoured to be heading out of the club this summer. However, under the new manager the Bosnian may get his chance to finally establish himself in the first team now. But Pellegrini still has a lot of work to do if he wants to make sure the side is potent enough in front of goal if they are to make another serious challenge on all four fronts again next term. Luckily, City have goals coming from all over the pitch, but that won’t be of much comfort if they don’t have rotation between four top class forwards.
Appetite – When City won the league last year, they looked as though they really wanted it, as though it was their destiny, however, last season, they could not (or would not) show the same level of desire and hunger. They are blessed with enough talent to win the leave, but defending it just seemed to be out of the question. The performances of key players like Sergio Agüero, David Silva, Yaya Touré and Vincent Kompany all fell well short of expectation, and it was only the nous and guile of these players that would have been able to pull them through.
Transfer Policy – Since coming into such fantastic wealth City have consistently overpaid for their stars and there have been some expensive mistakes. Taking a look at some of their dealings since last summer there is a high rate of being shortchanged, even on the players who have done well.
Samir Nasri – £25 million, Scott Sinclair £6.8 million, Javi Garcia £15.8 million, Jack Rodwell £12 million, Matija Nestasic £15 million, and most recently, Fernandinho for £30 million.
Now whilst there is still hope for someone like Rodwell to come good, and Nasri to rediscover his form, the majority of the rest have been vastly overpaid for with very little return, and rival clubs can ask for these kind of fees because they know that City will pay them. That is something that needs to be curbed. There is nothing wrong with paying a high fee for the right player, but now City have a saturated squad full of players who can’t get into the team or are there on merit. Hopefully Pellegrini will be more astute than his predecessor and won’t allow himself to be dragged into such situations.