New kits. New badge. New manager. This is the Manchester City of 2016. The days of the struggling Manuel Pellegrini are long gone and City fans can only be optimistic about the future.
On July 3rd, the club revealed their new home kits; The uniforms stick to the classic baby blue shirt and shorts, but with a smoother look. Along with the new kits, came the revamped Manchester City badge (which, if I add, is brilliant).
With a “#ItBegins” Twitter campaign signaling their new vision, thousands of supporters converged at the club’s Etihad campus this past week to grab just a glance of their new manager and look.
Pep Guardiola, who found nothing but success with Barcelona and Bayern Munich said, “I proved myself in Barcelona and, after I proved myself in Germany, I wanted to prove myself in England.”
Manchester City has already signed Borussia Dortmund’s Ilkay Gundogan – if this isn’t a signal of things to come, then frankly, I dont know what is. Stick Gundogan behind the likes of Sterling, Silva, Aguero and De Bruyne? Gundogan is no doubt a Xavi/Fabregas-esque type player with a holding midfielder player capability and this is an overall great first signing.
Personally, I always find it very intriguing when managers that have had previous success in other countries come to England and try to test the waters. I feel like Pep is in for a little bit of shock… He already had his plate made with Messi at Barca and Robben and Co. at Bayern.
But lets elaborate on the team he has now. Sagna, Zabaleta, Kolorav, and Kompany all range from the 30-33 age. Their defensive mids – Fernando and Fernandinho – are 28 and 31, respectively. I think the improvement of these two areas will determine the outcome of City’s success this season. In addition, there have already been rumors of Guardiola preparing to give a plethora of players the door. On the other hand, their attacking players are quite young and all have exceptional qualities. How Guardiola attempts to gel this team together after (probably) getting rid of some extra fat is something to keep an eye on.
Either way you put it, “The best coach in the world” is in the house. His resume spells nothing but greatness and City fans are already mesmerized. The season hasn’t even started but City and United are certainly already in the runnings for Premier League triumph. As a Chelsea fan, I am literally not looking forward to this.
