Man City Square are looking back at the last 10 years of development at Manchester City and picking the best players to have played for us in the period since Sheikh Mansour took our club over in 2008. This time we are turning our attention to look at the defence.
Back in 2008/9 season Manchester City bolstered the defence by signing Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta. These two signings have proven to be excellent acquisitions and you are unlikely to find a single City fan with anything bad to say about either player.
That is not always the case with defenders though. The defence would prove to be a particular problem area of the squad and it has taken many attempts to begin to get this area right. There have been a large number of defenders join our club and it is crazy to think we have given early developmental game time to players like Jerome Boateng.
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But rather than concerted good scouting, with hindsight a lot of our defensive purchasers during the period have been driven by a scatter gun collecting. Some players came because they were relatively cheap even if they were not needed, others were hugely expensive.
The major defensive acquisitions we have made in the 10 years are as follows. In 2009/10 City added Kolo Toure and Joleon Lescott to our team. In 2010/11 Jerome Boateng and Aleks Kolarov were added. In 2011/12 Clichy was added as another left back. In 2013/14 we added the veteran Martin Demichellis and in 2014/15 we added both Bacaray Sagna and Eliaquim Mangala. In 2015/16 Nicolas Otamendi was added. In 2016/17 John Stones. In 2017/18 came a Guardiola inspired refurbishment – with Kyle Walker, Benjamin Mendy, Daniolo and Aymeric Laporte.
So which of the many players have therefore been selected to feature in our team of the decade? It may be easier to start with the two players I started with at the beginning of this article – Kompany and Zabaleta. Captain Kompany has been an impressive leader for us both on and off the pitch and earns an automatic selection. Equally impressive for me was Zabaleta. The sight of a bloody bandaged Zaba on the touchline is one of those City memories I will take to me grave.
In terms of best left back, i enjoyed Kolarov going forwards but when he was called upon to retreat he was sometimes a liability. I like Benjamin Mendy a lot and had he played more games I feel he would be an automatic selection, but he has yet to make a significant contribution to our club, which leaves me with something of a dilemma. In recognition of his performances for us in the year since joining and knowing that although it is not his first choice role, I will select Laporte as my best left back of the last 10 years.
Choosing a partner for Vincent Kompany in my side of the decade is not straightforward because there are a number of candidates, but on balance I am going for Otamendi. Otamendi represents a number of things I love as a fan. Firstly he has tried really hard and improved so much. Secondly, he has an aggressive streak in the tackle. Finally he has that great celebration after scoring as The General.
Man City Square Manchester City Side of the Decade : The Defence
Right Back: Pablo Zabaleta
Centre Backs: Vincent Kompany, Nicolas Otamendi
Left Back: Aymeric Laporte