Maybe people are wrong about Manchester City?
The team managed by Pep Guardiola have been a target of mockery for not winning the Champions League after all these years of investment. But, the manager gave his point of view after the defeat against Real Madrid and it went a little bit under the radar…
On September 1, 2008, Manchester City were taken over by Sheikh Mansour member of the Abu Dhabi Royal Family and Minister of Presidential Affairs for the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In that season, the Premier League was won by Manchester United, it was their third one in a row, and Manchester City finished in tenth place.
Three years after the takeover, they qualified to the Champions League for the first time in their history, after finishing in third position in the 2010–11 season. The next season, the ‘Aguerooooo!’ was the climax for them, since they managed to win their first Premier League title in a fierce battle against their city rivals, Manchester United.
So, after all these years, and after winning the Premier League and many domestic trophies, it's clear that the next goal for Manchester City would be the Champions League trophy, the cherry on top of the cake. But, as we have seen these past years, this dream has been impossible to fulfill.
Investment For Greatness
Because of this (unable to win the Champions League), Pep Guardiola and his team have been criticized by the media and soccer fans after many years of European ‘failure’ and the amount of money invested. But, with the economic power of their investors, Manchester City are trying to go from Zero to Hero, but in soccer, this is tough and requires more than money.
They are not a team historically known for their success, nor in Europe or England, so trying to fight against history is a difficult task and this is what Pep Guardiola addressed in the press conference prior to their match against Newcastle:
“Sheikh Mansour invested in players, facilities… to help the club to compete and be there, in every competition until the end. People don't appreciate the thing this club is doing, for me is remarkable. If all of our lives depend on winning the Champions League or not, winning the Premier League or not, everything that all the managers and players did before us wouldn't make sense.”
Pep addressed the process that has taken Manchester City to what they're now. And, in some way, if you think about it, it's true. Claiming or hoping to win the Champions League with a team like that isn't a crazy thing, but saying that they are a failure or something similar is wrong, especially after the domestic success of the previous years.
And, it's not just success, they’ve monopolized the Premier League, winning four in the last five years, Liverpool have made the last ones interesting, but their dominance in the competition is clear and brings back old memories from the period of Sir Alex Ferguson and his Manchester United team when they reigned in England.
Trust The Process
“Against Real Madrid, we weren't good enough but the next season we will try again to win it, like the other competitions. Think about the big teams in Europe that every time ‘are there’ and we ‘are there’ so this is how you become a club, reaching the semifinals of the FA Cup, of the Champions League this season, the final the last season… this is good for us, but people don’t realize it.”
Manchester City’s time is now, they are trying to write their own winning history, and Pep and the owners know this. This is why they don't see this type of result as setbacks but rather as steps forward, to gain experience as a team and, as Pep says, to ‘be there’. So, with every title they won, every important stage they get to, is a positive situation if we look back and see where they were before the arrival of the current owners.
They have turned this team into one of the best teams in England, and a team that are always criticized for not winning the Champions League, and that only happens when people expect a lot from them. So, Pep is basically trying to separate his team from the demands that traditional clubs have and saying that this is part of the process.
Therefore, people are wrong about this Manchester City team? Well, it depends, they have a squad and a manager that makes it possible to believe that they can win the Champions League. But calling it a failure when they don't achieve it, even when they win other titles domestically?, let Pep answer that:
“Not winning the champions league is a failure? I accept it but I completely disagree, because the people in the sport know how difficult it is.”
At some point, is good that teams like Paris Saint Germain or Manchester City haven't been able to win the Champions League after their takeovers, because this only proves that money is not enough (at least in the European competitions). So, because of this, we should stop creating expectations based only on this matter, and understand that winning teams are composed of many things and that their ‘greatness’ and winning legacy is important as well, something that Manchester City are trying to build now…
Thank you for reading, and let me know your opinion on this one, would be a great topic for discussion.
I let you other recent stories I published, feel free to check them out:
