Man City, Premier League, 2009-2010
Competitions
League Table
FA Cup
3rd round 6-0 vs Walsall (League 1)
4th round 2-1 vs Arsenal (Premier)
5th round 2-1 vs Aston Villa (Premier)
6th round 2-0 vs Chelsea (Premier)
Semifinals 4-1 vs Middlesbrough (Championship)
Finals 3-0 vs Liverpool (Premier)
League Cup
2nd round 1-0 vs Leeds (League 1)
3rd round 1-0 vs Arsenal (Premier)
4th round 3-1 vs Everton (Premier)
Quarterfinals 2-1 vs Fulham (Premier)
Semifinals 4-3 aggregate vs Wigan (Premier)
Finals 1-0 vs Liverpool (Premier)
Transfers
Starting Eleven
Most Goals - Carlos Tevez, 34
Most Assists - Emmanuel Adebayor, 17
Highest Average Rating - Emmanuel Adebayor, 7.86
Summary
Wow! I forgot how fun it can be to manage City. There are no negatives to point out this season since we completed a treble. If I had to pick one critical piece to our successful season it has to be the addition of Yoann Gourcuff. I began the season playing a basic 442 and our only loss (1-2 to Liverpool) came before Gourcuff's arrival in January.
Once Gourcuff arrived at Eastlands, however, I immediately made the switch to the wide diamond 442 you see in the picture above. With Gourcuff on board as the AMC I was free to move both of my strikers to attacking roles - Adebayor and Santa Cruz played as target men, while Tevez and Obasi played as poachers. Gourcuff and Ireland played as attacking mids and the results are purely devastating.
Even the best of teams had a hard time coping with the constant attacking pressure we put on them. The Big 4 did their best and many of those games went down to the last 10 minutes or so. In every game we played, however, you could watch as opposing defenses would eventually cave in. And if the starters didn't do the job, defenses had to deal with three fresh sets of legs continuing the attack in the final minutes.
We'll be taking our act to the grand stage next season - the Champions League - and we'll see how we manage against the best of the best.
Competitions
League Table
FA Cup
3rd round 6-0 vs Walsall (League 1)
4th round 2-1 vs Arsenal (Premier)
5th round 2-1 vs Aston Villa (Premier)
6th round 2-0 vs Chelsea (Premier)
Semifinals 4-1 vs Middlesbrough (Championship)
Finals 3-0 vs Liverpool (Premier)
League Cup
2nd round 1-0 vs Leeds (League 1)
3rd round 1-0 vs Arsenal (Premier)
4th round 3-1 vs Everton (Premier)
Quarterfinals 2-1 vs Fulham (Premier)
Semifinals 4-3 aggregate vs Wigan (Premier)
Finals 1-0 vs Liverpool (Premier)
Transfers
Starting Eleven
Most Goals - Carlos Tevez, 34
Most Assists - Emmanuel Adebayor, 17
Highest Average Rating - Emmanuel Adebayor, 7.86
Summary
Wow! I forgot how fun it can be to manage City. There are no negatives to point out this season since we completed a treble. If I had to pick one critical piece to our successful season it has to be the addition of Yoann Gourcuff. I began the season playing a basic 442 and our only loss (1-2 to Liverpool) came before Gourcuff's arrival in January.
Once Gourcuff arrived at Eastlands, however, I immediately made the switch to the wide diamond 442 you see in the picture above. With Gourcuff on board as the AMC I was free to move both of my strikers to attacking roles - Adebayor and Santa Cruz played as target men, while Tevez and Obasi played as poachers. Gourcuff and Ireland played as attacking mids and the results are purely devastating.
Even the best of teams had a hard time coping with the constant attacking pressure we put on them. The Big 4 did their best and many of those games went down to the last 10 minutes or so. In every game we played, however, you could watch as opposing defenses would eventually cave in. And if the starters didn't do the job, defenses had to deal with three fresh sets of legs continuing the attack in the final minutes.
We'll be taking our act to the grand stage next season - the Champions League - and we'll see how we manage against the best of the best.
