Top four a step too far for City

Money talks – words uttered in many a gangster movie and even early 90s dance records, but now also in the world of football.

Money and football have always enjoyed a close relationship and contrary to the misty eyed recollections we so often hear, the days when players were only slightly better paid than the majority of the fans on the terraces are long gone. Even £100k a week wages no longer shock fans, whilst average players changes clubs for tens of millions of pounds.

The influx of money into the game has heralded many a false dawn. Jack Walker’s Blackburn spent their way to the title in 1995, only to be relegated shortly after his death and now find themselves annually kicking their way to survival under Sam Allardyce. Sergio Cragnotti managed to match Walker’s achievement by overseeing Lazio’s Scudetto triumph, but despite spending astronomical sums on the likes of Mendieta and Crespo, the dream turned sour and years of relative obscurity followed.

The latest club to join the nouveau riche of the game is Manchester City, and many feel they have a genuine chance of breaking into the Premier League’s top four, or even challenging for the title this year. They have spent the summer trailing some of the game’s top stars, as well as Joeleon Lescott, and now have one of the world’s most expensively assembled squads.

But does merely spending a lot of money guarantee success? City have brought in Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure, Gareth Barry and most controversially, Carlos Tevez. Undoubted Premier League talents but Barry aside, all considered surplus to requirements at their previous clubs.

Adebayor in particular had frustrated Arsenal fans throughout the duration of last season, whilst Toure had already effectively been replaced as a first choice centre half by new signing Thomas Vermaelen. And Tevez, despite earning cult status at Manchester United found himself further and further down the pecking order at Old Trafford the longer last season went on.

But in Gareth Barry, they may at least have found the defensive midfield shield they so badly need to provide balance to their top heavy squad. Barry has performed excellently for both England and Aston Villa over the last two or three seasons. Unspectacular but always reliable, he is as adept at ending opposition moves as he is at starting them for his own team. His positional sense and measured passing are attributes sadly lacking in most of today’s athletic footballers, and also from City’s whole team last term.

Apart from Barry, City’s most important players are arguably ones that were already there before the summer’s spending spree. Shay Given remains one of the league’s top goalkeepers and really should already be playing regular Champions League football, whilst Shaun Wright-Phillips is as popular with the sky blue fans as any of his more expensive colleagues.

And those fans will hope Stephen Ireland carries on where he left off last season. Uncharacteristically for a man who drives a pink trimmed Range Rover and was fined for dropping his shorts to his ankles during a match, Ireland went about his business quietly and professionally last season. He chipped in with some important goals, and his energy and pace troubled many a side – particularly those visiting Eastlands. He has matured and further improvement this year could mean City’s best chances of breaking the top four rests on the shoulders of a man who cost them absolutely nothing.

So will they do it? Can City break the monopoly of the Premier League’s top four? They’ve spent the money, have a big enough squad and are sure to have full houses at Eastlands every fortnight. But something tells me they will fall short.

Aston Villa and Everton have come close to doing it in recent years – mounting their challenges based on a team ethic and direct style crafted over a number of years. Piece by piece they have built a team to compete, but City are looking to move from the bottom half to the top four in just three years. At times last year, it was difficult to work out what their style of play was, or even their formation. Mark Hughes will take time to perfect his style, time he may not have if the current top four make the kind of starts expected of them.

Hughes and City will get there, but for the moment the wait continues.