City usually played with just one main striker - Benjani being the regular choice after his signing in January. The formation behind was more varied - 4-2-3-1 being the other common option - in which case Vassell would usually be one of the three.
How unpredictable is football? And how fickle/lacking in long-term memory are most of it's fans? Who could've dreamt two years ago that the majority of English football fans would end the 2007-08 season something close to "outraged" at the terrible treatment being dished out to poor old Sven Goran by a fickle club owner from Thailand?
On the pitch City started well - perhaps too well because expectations for some were raised too high - & then faded. Sven bought an awful lot of players at the start of the year but impressively integrated them with the home grown talent already available at the club.
The future is uncertain. If Sven stays - and is allowed to work unhindered - City's name should perhaps be added to the list of clubs regularly challenging for Europe but needing something more to step up for the 4th place battle. If he goes (which seems pretty likely) then the identity of the replacement would be key (could Jose be tempted by a team like City should none of the "top jobs" become available?) - but whoever comes in more rebuilding - & a longer period of transition - is likely.
For the future:
Well the City first team is already looking pretty good in this regard. Stephen Ireland is 22, Joe Hart (originally at Shrewsbury Town) & Nedum Onuoha are both only 21 and Micah Richards & Michael Johnson 20. A number of last season's summer purchases - Javier Garrido (23), Gelson Fernandes (22), Vedran Corluka (21) & Felipe Caicedo (19) have youth on their side too.
Kelvin Etuhu (20) and Daniel Sturridge (18) - two forwards who both stepped up to the first team during the season.
Sturridge is seen as one of those with the greatest potential from City's very good academy. They won the FA Youth Cup & their Academy League section (losing in the play-off Final to Aston Villa).
Vladimir Weiss - Slovakian right-sided attacker who received rave reviews after City's youth cup run.
David Ball - scored 18 goals for the U18s and was rewarded with a step up to the reserves.
Robert Mak - Another Slovakian who was second top scorer for the U18s with 12 goals. Also proved an able replacement for Sturridge (who was injured) in the second leg of the Youth Cup Final.
I suspect there are a few more names with great potential at City too - I'm just not sure which one's they are. It's interesting to note though - given the general success of their academy at bringing through young players - that they don't seem in any hurry to bring players through to the reserve team. Maybe they simply don't rate the reserves as a decent route for their best players?
Sturridge for example - apart from his first team games - took no part in the reserves & only played for the U18s in their Youth Cup games. And whereas - at most clubs - you would expect quite a few second year scholars having some involvement with the reserves - City's had almost none.
This might be because City are the only Premier League team to also field a team in the Pontin's Holiday League (primarily the reserve league for Football League teams in the North & Midlands). I didn't look at the stats from this league but it seems that City use it either as an alternative to the Premier Reserve League or as a stepping stone between it & the U18s.
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Re: Review of the 2007-08 Premier League season
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