Sunday's B*ll*x
Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 9:56 amManchester City ready to compete for title, says Vincent Kompany
Manchester City's new captain has become an assured presence in defence and believes his side are ready
Manchester City's Vincent Kompany is regarded by some as the best defender in the Premier League. Photograph: Gareth Copley/PA Wire
Should Manchester City's great, expensively produced adventure end with a European Cup or the Premier League trophy, the odds are that Vincent Kompany will be the man to lift it. Despite all the attention focused on what Samir Nasri referred to this week as the new galácticos, it is fitting that the man who will probably be charged with leading City is a defender, however elegant.
During the club's golden years, when Maine Road played host to Malcolm Allison's cigars and the quicksilver brilliance of Colin Bell, the team were led by Tony Book, a one-time apprentice bricklayer who began his career with Frome Town.
It is unlikely that once he returns to fitness the captaincy will return from Kompany to Carlos Tevez. Frankly, there have been too many betrayals for that. Kompany has not complained about the city or its lack of restaurants and, having grown up in one of the plusher suburbs of Brussels, he has never hankered for the Mediterranean. The Belgian predates, if only by nine days, the Abu Dhabi revolution. He has married a local girl and, if there may be too much red in Carla Kompany's family for his liking, it is slowly turning blue. "I like Mancunians, I feel good here. It feels like home."
Kompany, who will lead the team at Spurs today, was not aware of Nasri's galácticos reference. "It sounds a bit pretentious, but it is the best thing we have been called in a long time," he says. "But there is not much point in talking about what we are going to do; we have done some things, but we have massive ambitions.
"I have learned that those who stay the calmest get the most reward. I started under Mark Hughes and, even though I'd had a good season, Joleon Lescott and Kolo Touré then came in. It was a case of: 'What are you going to do? Cry about it or become better?' And, if they are better than you, then you must learn from them."
Kompany not only learnt from those around him; by last season he was being talked about by judges such as Martin Keown as the best defender the Premier League had to offer.
He has developed the kind of measured, powerful understatement that comes with authority. Asked if Manchester City have the squad to cope with the twin demands of a tilt for a first championship since Book lifted the trophy in 1968 and a Champions League group that includes Bayern Munich, Villarreal and Napoli, he says: "I was training the other day and in my team the strikers were Agüero, Balotelli and Nasri. On the other side there was Dzeko, Tevez, Silva and Yaya Touré. I hope it answers your question.
"Can we win the league? What I would say is this. As soon as Robinho was signed, people were talking about us winning the title and I knew it was not going to happen. But we finished 10th and the challenge the season afterwards was to do better. Where we are now is we have finished equal second on the same number of points as Chelsea. If you want to do better than this, you have to be competing for the title. But there are four or five good teams and there is no guarantee at all."
It is the other club in Manchester who have perfected the concept of a siege mentality but it exists at City, mainly because Roberto Mancini's squad are weary of the constant references to how much they earn and what the whole oil-funded projects costs. "We have been battered for the past three years and that has helped me love this club more because we have been in a corner most of the time," he says. "It is always the money. What else can it be? I look at it from the inside and what this club does for the community is unbelievable. What it does for its fans is incredible.
"I read somewhere that I wasn't happy with what some of the other players were being paid. That could not be further from the truth. If someone comes to Manchester City on the Queen's wages, I don't care. I have been brought up with the feeling that if someone does well for himself then I am happy. I have never suffered from jealousy."
And, echoing a sentiment Book would recognise, he adds: "When I was growing up, I was not crying in my room every day because other boys had more than me."
City the new Galacticos? No, they're just all good guys
Money can no more buy success than love, but in modern football it doesn't half help. So while Tottenham are as prudent in spending Enic's riches as Manchester City are profligate with Sheikh Mansour's, the balance between the two clubs has almost inevitably swung north.
It is little more than 15 months since, with Peter Crouch's goal, Spurs won what was effectively a Champions' League play-off at Eastlands, condemning City to the Europa League. Yet even by the time last August that Roberto Mancini's club headed to White Hart Lane for the opening League game of the season, they had outspent the London side by six to one. Joe Hart, one of their cheapest acquisitions, was the oustanding individual in a goalless draw that day but by the end of the season, class (or was it simply money?) had told and as they return today after another year of vast investment, it is City who are basking in the excitement of the Champions' League draw. Bayern Munich, Villarreal and Napoli await them; Spurs, who a year ago had just been paired with Internazionale, now have to be content with the prospect of meeting Shamrock Rovers.
Throughout the summer Tottenham have been more concerned with keeping one of their own players, Luka Modric, out of the hands of another filthy-rich club who seem to believe that the notion of financial fair play can wait another window. If Harry Redknapp has wavered once or twice in the face of Chelsea's aggressive bidding for his best player, his chairman, Daniel Levy, has nevertheless stood admirably firm. Only a slight hamstring twinge, it seems, could keep Modric out of today's game and despite having left their transfer dealings very late again, Tottenham expect, before the window closes on Wednesday, to have at least one new midfielder to play alongside him.
Their captain Michael Dawson said after playing 45 minutes of the downbeat Europa League game with Hearts on Thursday: "We're bringing in one or two ourselves. You can't afford to stand still in this market." When he tries to prepare by studying this afternoon's possible opponents, however, the permutations must be bewildering. "When you look at City's strikeforce you just wonder who's going to play," he admitted. "Look at the signings they've made – but also the players who were already there like [Carlos] Tevez. They really have got some squad to start with."
The point is graphically emphasised by the man who will join Dawson in the centre circle before kick-off today, City's new captain Vincent Kompany. "I was training the other day and on my team the strikers were Aguero, Balotelli and Nasri. On the other team it was Dzeko, Tevez and Silva and Yaya Touré."
For Spurs and other challengers, the principal hope must either be that as sometimes occurred last season, City will simply not gel into an effective whole, or that various egos will trip over each other. Unlikely, insists Kompany, who is amused by the label Samir Nasri has stuck on City as the new Galacticos: "They are all good guys, that is the advantage to it. I think they are all good professionals. Everybody wants the best for the team and that makes it easier to get a message across when you think it will benefit the team."
He is an impressive character who seems to have taken in his immaculate stride the howler that presented Manchester United, of all teams, with their late winning goal in last month's Community Shield. About to marry a local girl from a mixed-race family – some red, some blue – he appears, unlike Tevez, to love the city as well as City. "I come from Belgium, the weather is the same, so I won't be complaining. Everybody has a different opinion and I respect that. I know it's not as easy for everyone but I am happy, I like it here and have absolutely no problem in seeing myself living a long time in Manchester. I like Mancunians, I am good here. I feel comfortable here, it feels like home."
It has never done so for Tevez's family but Mancini says they are prepared to make the city their home again, in which case he would seem certain to stay with the club. The latest challenge for the manager, already facing calls to maintain the increasingly positive approach seen in City's first two League games, will therefore be avoiding unrest among whichever of his attacking players are left out from week to week.
The tall Edin Dzeko is looking more like the natural leader of the line, but there is a limit to the number of support players – Sergio Aguero, Tevez, Nasri, David Silva, Yaya Touré, Mario Balotelli, plus the Englishmen Adam Johnson, James Milner and Gareth Barry – who can be fitted in around him. The wage bill is frightening and opposing defenders such as Dawson must feel some trepidation too. Independent
Tottenham are planning a busy week themselves by signing Wales striker Craig Bellamy, 32, from Manchester City, who they play on Sunday at White Hart Lane. Having already taken City striker Emmanuel Adebayor on loan, Spurs manager Harry Redknapp is also expected to bring in midfield reinforcements in the shape of West Ham's Scott Parker and Lassana Diarra of Real Madrid.
[spoiler][youtube]yyqKycNS5zM[/youtube][/spoiler]
OTHER BOLLOX
Arsenal will this week land Bolton defender Gary Cahill, despite the ill-feeling between the clubs over the potential transfer. The Gunners will go in with a fresh £12m bid, which could rise to around £15m over the course of a five-year contract. Sunday Mirror
Tottenham are preparing bids for Internacional striker Leandro Damiao, Barcelona centre-back Marc Bartra and Le Havre midfielder Guieda Fofana. Sunday Times
Stoke are close to pulling off a spectacular £20m double deal for Tottenham pair Wilson Palacios and Peter Crouch as they bid to challenge for honours at home and abroad. Mail on Sunday
Fulham are ready to make a £5m offer for 19-year-old Crystal Palace striker Wilfried Zaha. Sunday Mirror
Arsenal have targeted Everton's Mikel Arteta to fill the vacant role of midfielder creator and are ready to offer Nicklas Bendtner as part of a swap deal. Sunday People
Fulham and Newcastle United are set to battle it out for the signature of Freiburg striker Papiss Demba Cisse in the closing days of the transfer window. Metro
Scott Parker's move to Tottenham is hanging in the balance unless he agrees to take a pay cut. Premier League rivals Stoke and QPR have made bids for West Ham's Parker but the Loftus Road club are the only ones who will match the England midfielder's £70,000-a-week Upton Park salary. Sunday Mirror
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has launched one last £40m bid to prise midfielder Luka Modric from Tottenham, while Spurs are closing in on the signing of Manchester City forward Craig Bellamy. Mail on Sunday
Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign Ajax defender Gregory van der Wiel in a deal worth £28m. talkSPORT
Sir Alex Ferguson is refusing to sell Dimitar Berbatov before the transfer window slams shut on Wednesday - even though he cannot tell the striker when he will start his next game. Sunday People
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez has ruled out any further sales from the club this summer, meaning Colombian striker Hugo Rodallega and defender Maynor Figueroa will be staying at the DW Stadium. talkSPORT
Chelsea centre-back Alex has emerged as a shock £6m transfer target for Arsenal, despite reports he was close to signing for Juventus. Metro
Arsenal can sign Marseille's Lucho - but only in a £7m permanent deal. Gunners boss Arsene Wenger wanted to pay £2m to land the Argentine playmaker on a season-long loan. Sunday Mirror
Nile Ranger's career at Newcastle looks to be over, although the five-year deal he signed last season is proving to be a big stumbling block. Sunday Mirror
Ellis Short, the Texas billionaire bankrolling Sunderland, is demanding improvement as the pressure grows on boss Steve Bruce and chairman Niall Quinn. Short is seeking better than last season's 10th-placed Premier League finish from under-fire Bruce, who spent £25m on 10 new players in the summer. Sunday Mirror
New Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has been told he will not be fired even if he fails to win a trophy this season. Sunday Mirror
Daniel Sturridge will go straight into Chelsea's all-star attack - after impressing new boss Andre Villas-Boas. The former Manchester City hitman missed the opening three matches with a ban from his days at Bolton on loan. Sunday People
SNUB BOLLOX
United snubbed Nasri after broken promises
Manchester City new boy Samir Nasri was SNUBBED* by rivals United – after he reneged on an initial promise to sign for them.
Nasri went cap in hand back to Old Trafford when he feared his £24m move to the Etihad was about to collapse due to a dispute over agent fees.
But furious United chiefs slammed the door in the Frenchman’s face despite him making a personal plea to revive the deal with the champions. Mirror
(* The capitals was the Mirror's work, not mine.)
Manchester City's new captain has become an assured presence in defence and believes his side are ready
Manchester City's Vincent Kompany is regarded by some as the best defender in the Premier League. Photograph: Gareth Copley/PA Wire
Should Manchester City's great, expensively produced adventure end with a European Cup or the Premier League trophy, the odds are that Vincent Kompany will be the man to lift it. Despite all the attention focused on what Samir Nasri referred to this week as the new galácticos, it is fitting that the man who will probably be charged with leading City is a defender, however elegant.
During the club's golden years, when Maine Road played host to Malcolm Allison's cigars and the quicksilver brilliance of Colin Bell, the team were led by Tony Book, a one-time apprentice bricklayer who began his career with Frome Town.
It is unlikely that once he returns to fitness the captaincy will return from Kompany to Carlos Tevez. Frankly, there have been too many betrayals for that. Kompany has not complained about the city or its lack of restaurants and, having grown up in one of the plusher suburbs of Brussels, he has never hankered for the Mediterranean. The Belgian predates, if only by nine days, the Abu Dhabi revolution. He has married a local girl and, if there may be too much red in Carla Kompany's family for his liking, it is slowly turning blue. "I like Mancunians, I feel good here. It feels like home."
Kompany, who will lead the team at Spurs today, was not aware of Nasri's galácticos reference. "It sounds a bit pretentious, but it is the best thing we have been called in a long time," he says. "But there is not much point in talking about what we are going to do; we have done some things, but we have massive ambitions.
"I have learned that those who stay the calmest get the most reward. I started under Mark Hughes and, even though I'd had a good season, Joleon Lescott and Kolo Touré then came in. It was a case of: 'What are you going to do? Cry about it or become better?' And, if they are better than you, then you must learn from them."
Kompany not only learnt from those around him; by last season he was being talked about by judges such as Martin Keown as the best defender the Premier League had to offer.
He has developed the kind of measured, powerful understatement that comes with authority. Asked if Manchester City have the squad to cope with the twin demands of a tilt for a first championship since Book lifted the trophy in 1968 and a Champions League group that includes Bayern Munich, Villarreal and Napoli, he says: "I was training the other day and in my team the strikers were Agüero, Balotelli and Nasri. On the other side there was Dzeko, Tevez, Silva and Yaya Touré. I hope it answers your question.
"Can we win the league? What I would say is this. As soon as Robinho was signed, people were talking about us winning the title and I knew it was not going to happen. But we finished 10th and the challenge the season afterwards was to do better. Where we are now is we have finished equal second on the same number of points as Chelsea. If you want to do better than this, you have to be competing for the title. But there are four or five good teams and there is no guarantee at all."
It is the other club in Manchester who have perfected the concept of a siege mentality but it exists at City, mainly because Roberto Mancini's squad are weary of the constant references to how much they earn and what the whole oil-funded projects costs. "We have been battered for the past three years and that has helped me love this club more because we have been in a corner most of the time," he says. "It is always the money. What else can it be? I look at it from the inside and what this club does for the community is unbelievable. What it does for its fans is incredible.
"I read somewhere that I wasn't happy with what some of the other players were being paid. That could not be further from the truth. If someone comes to Manchester City on the Queen's wages, I don't care. I have been brought up with the feeling that if someone does well for himself then I am happy. I have never suffered from jealousy."
And, echoing a sentiment Book would recognise, he adds: "When I was growing up, I was not crying in my room every day because other boys had more than me."
City the new Galacticos? No, they're just all good guys
Money can no more buy success than love, but in modern football it doesn't half help. So while Tottenham are as prudent in spending Enic's riches as Manchester City are profligate with Sheikh Mansour's, the balance between the two clubs has almost inevitably swung north.
It is little more than 15 months since, with Peter Crouch's goal, Spurs won what was effectively a Champions' League play-off at Eastlands, condemning City to the Europa League. Yet even by the time last August that Roberto Mancini's club headed to White Hart Lane for the opening League game of the season, they had outspent the London side by six to one. Joe Hart, one of their cheapest acquisitions, was the oustanding individual in a goalless draw that day but by the end of the season, class (or was it simply money?) had told and as they return today after another year of vast investment, it is City who are basking in the excitement of the Champions' League draw. Bayern Munich, Villarreal and Napoli await them; Spurs, who a year ago had just been paired with Internazionale, now have to be content with the prospect of meeting Shamrock Rovers.
Throughout the summer Tottenham have been more concerned with keeping one of their own players, Luka Modric, out of the hands of another filthy-rich club who seem to believe that the notion of financial fair play can wait another window. If Harry Redknapp has wavered once or twice in the face of Chelsea's aggressive bidding for his best player, his chairman, Daniel Levy, has nevertheless stood admirably firm. Only a slight hamstring twinge, it seems, could keep Modric out of today's game and despite having left their transfer dealings very late again, Tottenham expect, before the window closes on Wednesday, to have at least one new midfielder to play alongside him.
Their captain Michael Dawson said after playing 45 minutes of the downbeat Europa League game with Hearts on Thursday: "We're bringing in one or two ourselves. You can't afford to stand still in this market." When he tries to prepare by studying this afternoon's possible opponents, however, the permutations must be bewildering. "When you look at City's strikeforce you just wonder who's going to play," he admitted. "Look at the signings they've made – but also the players who were already there like [Carlos] Tevez. They really have got some squad to start with."
The point is graphically emphasised by the man who will join Dawson in the centre circle before kick-off today, City's new captain Vincent Kompany. "I was training the other day and on my team the strikers were Aguero, Balotelli and Nasri. On the other team it was Dzeko, Tevez and Silva and Yaya Touré."
For Spurs and other challengers, the principal hope must either be that as sometimes occurred last season, City will simply not gel into an effective whole, or that various egos will trip over each other. Unlikely, insists Kompany, who is amused by the label Samir Nasri has stuck on City as the new Galacticos: "They are all good guys, that is the advantage to it. I think they are all good professionals. Everybody wants the best for the team and that makes it easier to get a message across when you think it will benefit the team."
He is an impressive character who seems to have taken in his immaculate stride the howler that presented Manchester United, of all teams, with their late winning goal in last month's Community Shield. About to marry a local girl from a mixed-race family – some red, some blue – he appears, unlike Tevez, to love the city as well as City. "I come from Belgium, the weather is the same, so I won't be complaining. Everybody has a different opinion and I respect that. I know it's not as easy for everyone but I am happy, I like it here and have absolutely no problem in seeing myself living a long time in Manchester. I like Mancunians, I am good here. I feel comfortable here, it feels like home."
It has never done so for Tevez's family but Mancini says they are prepared to make the city their home again, in which case he would seem certain to stay with the club. The latest challenge for the manager, already facing calls to maintain the increasingly positive approach seen in City's first two League games, will therefore be avoiding unrest among whichever of his attacking players are left out from week to week.
The tall Edin Dzeko is looking more like the natural leader of the line, but there is a limit to the number of support players – Sergio Aguero, Tevez, Nasri, David Silva, Yaya Touré, Mario Balotelli, plus the Englishmen Adam Johnson, James Milner and Gareth Barry – who can be fitted in around him. The wage bill is frightening and opposing defenders such as Dawson must feel some trepidation too. Independent
Tottenham are planning a busy week themselves by signing Wales striker Craig Bellamy, 32, from Manchester City, who they play on Sunday at White Hart Lane. Having already taken City striker Emmanuel Adebayor on loan, Spurs manager Harry Redknapp is also expected to bring in midfield reinforcements in the shape of West Ham's Scott Parker and Lassana Diarra of Real Madrid.
[spoiler][youtube]yyqKycNS5zM[/youtube][/spoiler]
OTHER BOLLOX
Arsenal will this week land Bolton defender Gary Cahill, despite the ill-feeling between the clubs over the potential transfer. The Gunners will go in with a fresh £12m bid, which could rise to around £15m over the course of a five-year contract. Sunday Mirror
Tottenham are preparing bids for Internacional striker Leandro Damiao, Barcelona centre-back Marc Bartra and Le Havre midfielder Guieda Fofana. Sunday Times
Stoke are close to pulling off a spectacular £20m double deal for Tottenham pair Wilson Palacios and Peter Crouch as they bid to challenge for honours at home and abroad. Mail on Sunday
Fulham are ready to make a £5m offer for 19-year-old Crystal Palace striker Wilfried Zaha. Sunday Mirror
Arsenal have targeted Everton's Mikel Arteta to fill the vacant role of midfielder creator and are ready to offer Nicklas Bendtner as part of a swap deal. Sunday People
Fulham and Newcastle United are set to battle it out for the signature of Freiburg striker Papiss Demba Cisse in the closing days of the transfer window. Metro
Scott Parker's move to Tottenham is hanging in the balance unless he agrees to take a pay cut. Premier League rivals Stoke and QPR have made bids for West Ham's Parker but the Loftus Road club are the only ones who will match the England midfielder's £70,000-a-week Upton Park salary. Sunday Mirror
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has launched one last £40m bid to prise midfielder Luka Modric from Tottenham, while Spurs are closing in on the signing of Manchester City forward Craig Bellamy. Mail on Sunday
Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign Ajax defender Gregory van der Wiel in a deal worth £28m. talkSPORT
Sir Alex Ferguson is refusing to sell Dimitar Berbatov before the transfer window slams shut on Wednesday - even though he cannot tell the striker when he will start his next game. Sunday People
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez has ruled out any further sales from the club this summer, meaning Colombian striker Hugo Rodallega and defender Maynor Figueroa will be staying at the DW Stadium. talkSPORT
Chelsea centre-back Alex has emerged as a shock £6m transfer target for Arsenal, despite reports he was close to signing for Juventus. Metro
Arsenal can sign Marseille's Lucho - but only in a £7m permanent deal. Gunners boss Arsene Wenger wanted to pay £2m to land the Argentine playmaker on a season-long loan. Sunday Mirror
Nile Ranger's career at Newcastle looks to be over, although the five-year deal he signed last season is proving to be a big stumbling block. Sunday Mirror
Ellis Short, the Texas billionaire bankrolling Sunderland, is demanding improvement as the pressure grows on boss Steve Bruce and chairman Niall Quinn. Short is seeking better than last season's 10th-placed Premier League finish from under-fire Bruce, who spent £25m on 10 new players in the summer. Sunday Mirror
New Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has been told he will not be fired even if he fails to win a trophy this season. Sunday Mirror
Daniel Sturridge will go straight into Chelsea's all-star attack - after impressing new boss Andre Villas-Boas. The former Manchester City hitman missed the opening three matches with a ban from his days at Bolton on loan. Sunday People
SNUB BOLLOX
United snubbed Nasri after broken promises
Manchester City new boy Samir Nasri was SNUBBED* by rivals United – after he reneged on an initial promise to sign for them.
Nasri went cap in hand back to Old Trafford when he feared his £24m move to the Etihad was about to collapse due to a dispute over agent fees.
But furious United chiefs slammed the door in the Frenchman’s face despite him making a personal plea to revive the deal with the champions. Mirror
(* The capitals was the Mirror's work, not mine.)