Manchester City won the title last season after a very very long time as far the city supporters are concerned.
However, I dont think the title triumph came as a surprise to any city supporter...or their fans...or their players ... or their manager ..or even the pundits for that matter. Manchester city had the quality, the depth in squad -and an able manager who was given more than an entire season (surprisingly).
Manchester United ran them very very close - up until the last kick of the season, and city needed 2 injury time goals to clinch the title for them. I was watching the game with my heart in my mouth and it was probably the most disappointing feeling the my experience of sports (you must have guessed by now which color i belong to)
People say Man City were very lucky in a lot of aspects, not least the manner in which they won their last game. However, i am a firm believer in the saying that luck wins you games - not seasons. Reflecting back - Man City scored more goals than united, conceded less goals than untied, beat united home and away, played the more adventurous football, had better quality players and more strength in depth.
They had everything that they needed to win the league and they did it. With a heavy heart, I say congratulations Man City.
What does 2012-13 hold for them ? They still have the strongest squad - and this time - with the experience of winning a premier league title (which will do them a world of good). The only thing i thought would derail thier progress last year was ego clashes. But i think they overcame that to a larger extent.
I did not like the way Mancini & Co handled Tevez & Balotelli sagas/dramas. If I were the coach - they would have never played for me again. But then again - let bygones be bygones. I believe City will be there and there abouts come the squeaky bum time. My predictions for city this season are -
Season Finish - 1st : I expect City to win the title this season too. I cant see why they cant do it - unless they can find an excuse to fire Mancini mid-way through the season
From the FPL perspective -
3 Key Players to Watch this season -
Hart -
He is just a fantastic goalkeeper. His reflexes are amazing and i really think he will be the England No.1 for a long long time. He is rarely injured and is guaranteed to start every single game. At a price tag of 7.0 he is certainly not cheap - but given he will play 38 games a season behind a very mean city defense - i dont see him conceding too many goals. His number of saves per game ratio is highly impressive too - and put in a couple of penalty saves he will manage this season - and u wont be far from his tally of 166 last season.
Silva -
He had a fantastic last season - notching up 184 points. And i dont think he will be any different this year. If anything - i expect him to be better. His understanding with his team mates will improve, and their understanding of his positional play will improve too. I expect city players to try and find Silva even more regularly this season. He is genuine quality. Only two drawbacks i can think of - (1) His exertions at Euro 2012 might find him starting the season rather slowly and (2) He is rather expensive at 10.0 this season.
Having said that - once he gets 2/3 games under his belt , and once we are done with the September international break - Silva will be one of the first names on my team sheet.
Aguero -
I am always a bit skeptical of "relatively unknown/unproven" expensive imports. And i have my reasons. And I had my reasons to be skeptical about Aguero. And all of those reasons were proven false. He took the premier league by storm - scoring for fun and accumulating a lot of bonus points. His injury time winner will be etched in the memory of all city supporters (sadly it will be etched in my memory too). Whatever he does from this point on - he will be a legend at the City. At 11.5 - he is certainly expensive. But come the double game weeks and easy run of fixtures for Man City - i think he will be on most team sheets this season.
However, I dont think the title triumph came as a surprise to any city supporter...or their fans...or their players ... or their manager ..or even the pundits for that matter. Manchester city had the quality, the depth in squad -and an able manager who was given more than an entire season (surprisingly).
Manchester United ran them very very close - up until the last kick of the season, and city needed 2 injury time goals to clinch the title for them. I was watching the game with my heart in my mouth and it was probably the most disappointing feeling the my experience of sports (you must have guessed by now which color i belong to)
People say Man City were very lucky in a lot of aspects, not least the manner in which they won their last game. However, i am a firm believer in the saying that luck wins you games - not seasons. Reflecting back - Man City scored more goals than united, conceded less goals than untied, beat united home and away, played the more adventurous football, had better quality players and more strength in depth.
They had everything that they needed to win the league and they did it. With a heavy heart, I say congratulations Man City.
What does 2012-13 hold for them ? They still have the strongest squad - and this time - with the experience of winning a premier league title (which will do them a world of good). The only thing i thought would derail thier progress last year was ego clashes. But i think they overcame that to a larger extent.
I did not like the way Mancini & Co handled Tevez & Balotelli sagas/dramas. If I were the coach - they would have never played for me again. But then again - let bygones be bygones. I believe City will be there and there abouts come the squeaky bum time. My predictions for city this season are -
Season Finish - 1st : I expect City to win the title this season too. I cant see why they cant do it - unless they can find an excuse to fire Mancini mid-way through the season
From the FPL perspective -
3 Key Players to Watch this season -
Hart -He is just a fantastic goalkeeper. His reflexes are amazing and i really think he will be the England No.1 for a long long time. He is rarely injured and is guaranteed to start every single game. At a price tag of 7.0 he is certainly not cheap - but given he will play 38 games a season behind a very mean city defense - i dont see him conceding too many goals. His number of saves per game ratio is highly impressive too - and put in a couple of penalty saves he will manage this season - and u wont be far from his tally of 166 last season.
Silva -
He had a fantastic last season - notching up 184 points. And i dont think he will be any different this year. If anything - i expect him to be better. His understanding with his team mates will improve, and their understanding of his positional play will improve too. I expect city players to try and find Silva even more regularly this season. He is genuine quality. Only two drawbacks i can think of - (1) His exertions at Euro 2012 might find him starting the season rather slowly and (2) He is rather expensive at 10.0 this season.
Having said that - once he gets 2/3 games under his belt , and once we are done with the September international break - Silva will be one of the first names on my team sheet.
Aguero - I am always a bit skeptical of "relatively unknown/unproven" expensive imports. And i have my reasons. And I had my reasons to be skeptical about Aguero. And all of those reasons were proven false. He took the premier league by storm - scoring for fun and accumulating a lot of bonus points. His injury time winner will be etched in the memory of all city supporters (sadly it will be etched in my memory too). Whatever he does from this point on - he will be a legend at the City. At 11.5 - he is certainly expensive. But come the double game weeks and easy run of fixtures for Man City - i think he will be on most team sheets this season.
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