Manchester City have spent a fortune assembling a squad that offers great hope and dangerous expectation. City fan Matt Brooks gives Sporting Fare his views on the coming season.

The expectations game is tricky in football at the best of times. When looking ahead at the beginning of the new season, first you look back at the previous year, then you apply any changes over the summer and you use this to try to generate an idea of what a given club should be looking to achieve. These often arbitrary targets get even more murky when you try and include cup performances as well; is finishing 8^th and winning the League Cup a bigger achievement than finishing 3^rd and getting knocked out unceremoniously in the third round to Shrewsbury at home? So playing the expectations game is tricky at the best of times. However, throw in Manchester City and it becomes nearly impossible.

It is almost impossible to look back and judge last season objectively. It was a season of incredible highs (doing the double on Chelsea, the 4-2 at Arsenal), some incredible lows (losing to Manchester United three times by conceding injury time goals, getting pipped to 4^th by Spurs in the penultimate game of the season), and some pretty average times (the eight game streak of draws).

Yet despite achieving our highest league finish, and getting within moments of reaching the League Cup final, it’s possible to feel like last season was a failure. The sheer level of investment in the club, the talent available, and, crucially, the demise of Liverpool, all factored into a feeling that this, at last, was our season. Never had the club been in such a strong position to lay claim to a Champions League place, and yet, we did not achieve it.

Nevertheless, with a fifth place finish under our belts, all eyes turned to us as the transfer window opened once again. Roberto Mancini did not disappoint, spending over £100 million on six new players. New fullbacks (easily the weakest area of our team) were brought in in the form of Jerome Boateng and Aleksander Kolarov, although both are, frustratingly, going to miss the first month of the season through injury. Yaya Toure, brother to former City captain Kolo was brought in from Barcelona, and David Silva was recruited from Valencia. ‘Super’ Mario Balotelli was reunited with the manager that had first given him his debut at Inter Milan. James Milner completed the summer spending, coming from Aston Villa in a deal that saw City academy graduate Stephen Ireland go the other way.

These new signings have an air of the exotic and the exciting, something perhaps lacking in the previous summer window. A lot of our hopes this season rest on how quickly these new players gel with their new team mates, and how quickly they adjust to the English Premier League. Nothing was quite as frustrating as watching Yaya Toure or David Silva having the ball nicked off them in the game against Spurs at the beginning of this campaign. If they reach their potential quickly though, this team could be something to see. Toure’s passing has been sublime in the games so far, David Silva has shown flashes of the brilliance he is clearly capable of, and Mario Balotelli made an explosive debut cameo midweek, scoring, getting booked and almost getting into a fight, all within thirty minutes. The counter point to this is, of course, what if they don’t? It was clear against Tottenham that they were a squad of players who had been playing together, who knew each other, and who were used to each other. As the margins get tighter and tighter in the Premier League, do we have time to wait for the £200m+ of talent to achieve their potential as a team?

With the twenty-five man squad ruling coming in, some players have inevitably seen the door at City. Fan favourite Stephen Ireland has gone to Aston Villa, and Craig Bellamy, Nedum Onuoha and Vladimir Weiss have all gone on loan to Cardiff, Sunderland and Rangers respectively. Its always sad to see players leave, but it feels almost inevitable as the football club continues to grow, especially when the move is right for them as players. None the less, I will always have a special place in my heart for the academy graduates.

One of the biggest decisions Roberto Mancini had to make at the start of the season was which out of Joe Hart and Shay Given would start in goal at White Hart Lane. He selected the young (presumptive) England number 1, and his choice was immediately vindicated as Hart made three or four world class saves to earn a draw. This decision was very tough, but the manager definitely made the right call. Both are world class goalkeepers, albeit with different strengths and weaknesses. However, Shay Given has maybe four or five seasons left in him, whereas Hart has closer to twenty. By handing him the jersey in that first game, Mancini made a statement about Joe Hart’s future, and I couldn’t be more pleased for him, or for the club.

So, after evaluating all that, am I any closer to knowing how I expect City to do this season? No. Some members of the football press seem to think title challenge, but I think that’s at least a season or three away. Fourth place, and Champions League qualification are generally regarded as minimum, and, given the level of investment, and the names on the team sheet, not an unreasonable one. Much of it depends on factors out of our control. Liverpool seem rejuvenated under Roy Hodgson, they will surely expect to improve on last seasons dreary seventh place finish. Will this be the year the young gunners at Arsenal come into their own? With three cups to fight for, we could end up playing in the region of sixty games this season, how will that affect the squad? However, these factor pale in significance compared to the simple question of how quickly can the players gel?

My expectation is a top four finish, and a strong run in the cups, but almost anything is possible, especially when we are talking about Manchester City. All I know is, its going to be one hell of a ride, and trust me when I say, you won’t want to miss a moment of it.