Manchester City: The End of the Beginning

Manchester City limped out of the Champions League to a fortunate Real Madrid in the semi-finals, but it may only be a sign of things to come.

13^th century poet Geoffrey Chaucer once penned in Troilus and Criseyde that “All good things must come to an end”. One of those well-known quotes that most people only know from the Nelly Furtado song of the same name and is oft misinterpreted as a somewhat depressing commentary on the fleetingness of life. Life is filled with good things, Chaucer promises, but, alas, it’s all going to finish some day. Note, he doesn’t promise the same about the bad or even “meh” things. Disturbing.

None the less, watching Manchester City limp over the finish line just a step behind their almost equally beleaguered opponents in last night’s Champions League semi-final had all the smacks of an end of an era, good things and some bad things coming to an end.

City didn’t play poorly per se, they weren’t incredible but they weren’t bad either. More like tired, overwhelmed and perhaps over-cautious of a Real Madrid team that never looked to get out of first gear. The emptiness you and I are feeling this morning isn’t embarrassment, it’s disappointment that Madrid could so easily have been beaten and yet it never came to be.

Make no mistake, Real didn’t impress much at all. Cristiano Ronaldo clearly wasn’t 100%, mental gymnastics from Zidane aside, and he lacked a solid final touch to trouble Joe Hart. Gareth Bale flashed brilliance on occasion before dropping back into anonymity. Jesé was on the park and you’d only have known because he was eventually substituted off for somebody who was equally as uninspiring. The game felt flat and the crowd reflected it. The infamous Bernabeu electric atmosphere was easily overshadowed by a few thousand away fans singing Blue Moon.

Los Blancos were there for the taking, but Manchester City simply couldn’t make the mark. For them to have come so far is a massive, breath-taking accomplishment. For them to have dropped out so easily is a monumental disappointment.

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All the same, I am, much as I was after the first leg, proud of City. Nobody could have foreseen the situation they are in currently and many, many clubs queuing up to rip them off would give their right arm for the potential that took them there. It didn’t take long for former United player and current numpty with opinions Roy Keane to get in on the action and suggest City are a long way away from ever dreaming of a Champions League title, but then, he would, wouldn’t he?

What Keane and his bandwagon of tired and dour “commentators”, continually attempting to out-do each other over who can detract the most from Manchester City’s accomplishments, forget is that this City is at the end of the road. Two more games and the season’s finished, along with it goes Manuel Pellegrini and doubtless a large part of the team that, at its core, was built to win by Roberto Mancini.

Pep Guardiola isn’t going to mess around, it’s not his style to come into a club and not leave his mark firmly imprinted therein. From the bottom, the academy and EDS, to the very top, Pep wants to influence every aspect of the side and retool them from competitors into winners. We’ve discussed before, many times even, Pep’s success at turning Barcelona into the machine they are today and his further dominance at Bayern Munich speaks volumes.

At the Etihad, Guardiola finds a team that has started to feel its age and lose some of its lustre. There too, he will find an ownership flush with money and a willingness to hand it over in exchange for the chance that City can be transformed into the worldwide franchise Pep envisions. Taking a core of top class players and jettisoning the deadweight, Guardiola will aim to make a splash in his first season in charge, you can bet on it. For that to happen, ironically, a lot depends on how the current squad perform in the last two league games. For Pep to tempt the quality he desires, Champions League football is an essential.

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Regardless of whether they get there or not, we are witnessing the end of an incredible, team-defining era at City that has brought so much success that it’s changed our way of thinking to all but require it. A last four finish, narrowly missing out against Real Madrid to a single, own goal, is the cherry on top and a fitting send off for Pellegrini who, in fairness, has done a good job on the whole. All good things come to an end, but our memories of them and appreciation for them remain. And, perhaps the true meaning is that good things come to an end to be replaced by things even better.