Pride in Battle

So I've decided to take charge of Manchester City for what I believe is the first time ever. I was kind of inspired to start another story after reading this story here and decided against going with my beloved Manchester United. I've used the editor to delete Manuel Pellegrini and will be taking over as him at the Etihad. I've only deleted him from the database because I hate seeing a manager I'm playing as eventually appointed somewhere else, it adds to the realism for me personally.


Above you can see the transfer budget I've been given and obviously if there are any departures I'll receive 100% of the proceeds. So far I've not really looked at the squad and decided if anybody will leave or arrive, performances during our pre season schedule may very well make up my mind for me. The board expect me to sign high profile players so that's something I'll probably look into, although I firmly believe the talent in our squad can lead us to Premier League glory.

KEY PLAYERS

First thing I wanted to do was set up my own pre season fixtures so that's the first thing I've done. I've decided to play all of them at home except for the one friendly we're required to play against Al-Jazira. We'll play Boca, Roma, Genk and Lille at Etihad Stadium during July in preparation for our opening Premier League game against fierce rivals and reigning champions Manchester United. The goal of our pre season is to build our fitness and tactical awareness whilst winning all five games.

Yes KEVO! Really appreciate the link to my story in your opening, glad it inspired you, I'm expecting big things man!

You're welcome bud.

Just getting through pre season today, so will update either tonight or tomorrow.

After some tinkering with the wage and transfer budget I had identified two world class players that I wanted to purchase if possible. I've spent a hefty amount in bringing in these two players, but both are world class players and top internationals for their respective countries so I believe the investment of £42 million is worthwhile. I firmly believe these two signings complete our already hugely talented squad and now we can target both domestic and European success this season.


Polish international Robert Lewandowski was my first signing and cost the club £22 million. That amount seems quite low for a player of Lewandowski's calibre and it is in my opinion, however he had one year left on his contract and I used that to my advantage and thankfully Dortmund were more than happy to receive £22 million upfront in cash for the 24 year old.


My second signing was Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira for just £20 million. Again I feel as if we've been able to complete this deal a lot cheaper than first expected and I'm delighted the German international, who has been capped 39 times, has decided to join us instead of heading to French side Paris Saint Germain who were also interested.

Two good signings chap! Already going on the spending hunt, I've decided that maybe next season, it may be my year to spend the dollar! We will see..

Well I thought I should bring in one or two high profile signings to impress the board and I wanted them to be quality players who can contribute over the coming seasons so Lewandowski and Khedira were perfect given their age. It's going to be very interesting trying to keep Agüero, Džeko, Jovetić Lewandowski and Negredo all happy.

I think you should to be honest man, it'll help you further cement your position as a dominant force in World football.

Pre season has begun and despite dominating the game we've only come away with a draw against Argentine side Boca. We created a lot of chances during the game and should have scored a few, however some wayward finishing cost us as the visitors netted on the stroke of the half hour mark and that setback left us chasing the game. In the end Robert Lewandowski came to the rescue and equalised with just nine minutes remaining, that £22 million investment paying off immediately.


Our next pre season game is against Roma in four days and hopefully we'll be able to record a victory against the Italian side. I feel confident that with a few more days focussing on our tactics on the training ground we will improve enough to record a win at Etihad Stadium. We can certainly improve in front of goal after todays disappointing result that's for sure.

Our second pre season friendly ended disappointingly in a draw against Italian side Roma. The performance wasn't bad, in fact it was quite good considering the level of our opposition, however after taking the lead with a quarter of an hour to play it's disappointing to have conceded, although the goal scored by legendary Roma striker Francesco Totti was sublime.


So far our pre season obviously hasn't gone as planned and our upcoming games against Genk and Lille are important for our confidence going into the Manchester derby in our opening Premier League fixture. At this moment in time I'm not certain what formation I want to use going into the Manchester derby, but I'm leaning towards a traditional 4-4-2.

Looks like pre season has got off to a slow start, but you havent lost yet!

Yeah it's not going as planned so far and that's a little disappointing.

In saying that pre season is there to iron out those small issues and hopefully we'll be ready for the derby.