When Manchester City appointed Txiki Begiristain last weekas its new director of football, some observers concluded that this was theEnglish seeking to follow the path, and the style, of Barcelona. It may be.City had recruited Ferran Soriano, Barcelona’s former financial vice president,as its new chief executive three months ago. And speculation grew that Barca’serstwhile coach, Pep Guardiola, currently taking an extended family break inNew York, could in time complete the virtuous circle of Barcelona’s former executivesin Manchester.
Hold that thought. At the moment, City has a team manager,the Italian Roberto Mancini, and his contract was recently extended to thesummer of 2017. In fact, something more worldly is taking shape in theneighborhood where Manchester United had long been deemed king.
The owner, Sheik Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and hisappointed chairman at the club, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, have American universitydegrees in political science and economics, respectively. The Sheik has spent481 million pounds, or about $776 million, on 30 players in those four years.The current squad, led by a Belgian, Vincent Kompany, has players from 10different countries, and a new academy “ once again emulating Barcelona “ isunder construction.
Everything about “Abu Dhabi” City suggests the goal is longterm. The past is respected, thus far, in the fact that the owners acknowledgethat City supporters have been a long-suffering, incredibly loyal breed. And ifthe stadium name has been rebranded, the shirts remain sky blue. Yet year by year, month by month, the changescoming down from the boardroom take the club further away from its roots. Theowner, chairman, chief executive, director of football, team manager andcaptain do not have English as their first language.
Last weekend, after City’s defeat against Ajax in Amsterdam,the crowd at the Etihad booed the team at halftime before it eked out a 1-0home victory over Swansea City. That, too, was symptomatic of the new City,supporters who for decades tolerated failure now expecting to be winners everytime out. For all we know, similar pressures permeate the back room.
The push last seasonto win England’s league for the first time in 44 years is considered only aplatform toward the Champions League, where Mancini has yet to prove hiscredentials. The Italian had shown with Inter Milan that he knew how to build ateam to win the domestic competition, Serie A. He left there because he did nottranslate that into Champions League success, and his successor, Jose Mourinho,used largely his team to deliver that European trophy. So now, with two new arrivals from Barcelonain decisive roles in terms of recruitment and player development, thespeculation will rise that, regardless of how much it would cost to pay off Mancini’snew five-year contract, Soriano and Begiristain know a man who knows how to winthe Champions League.
Guardiola will not lie idle in New York for long. Thewhispers are that he fancies a crack at English football management, and thatLondon “ most likely Chelsea “ would be his preferred destination. ManchesterCity, though, is the coming project. The Sheik rarely talks about football asmuch as he talks, and rides, thoroughbred Arabian horses. But his ambitionsappear to be beyond winning in England. And there are signs that this sheik isbedding down for the long term.
He might ultimately be a better owner than Russians who usefootball to create a new image for themselves, or Americans who look fordividends in return for investment. And there are precious few English ownersof English teams who can compete in their own backyard anymore.
