Sven-Goran Eriksson hastily assembled a team that Man City fans fell in love with almost as quickly as it fell apart
Sven-Goran Eriksson’s appointment as Manchester City boss in July 2007 set in motion a whirlwind period that remains fondly remembered by the Blues faithful.
At West Ham on the opening day of the 2007/08 season, 36 days on from his appointment, eight City players made their first-team debuts following a trolley dash around Europe. Vedran retired earlier this year after almost a decade in the Russian capital and he is now an assistant coach with his country Croatia, having become a cap centurion alongside the likes of Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic at international level.
Fans were still sad to see Elano go, given he was a player who could certainly have thrived alongside the calibre of players signed as the money rolled in. A return to Santos in his homeland followed and the 40-year-old largely remained in Brazil thereafter, where he left his job as head coach of Serie D club Ferroviaria on a mutual agreement after their relegation last season.
Unlike some who returned for Vincent Kompany’s testimonial in 2019, Petrov had kept himself in very good shape and displayed plenty of the tricks of old. Bianchi joined Torino on a permanent deal in 2008 and scored 77 times in 179 appearances for the Turin club, before considerably less-fruitful jaunts to Atalanta, Mallorca, Perugia and Pro Vercelli.
A nomadic career followed, including stints with Parma, Sporting Lisbon, Partizan Belgrade and Levski Sofia, where the 35-year-old signed a one-year contract extension earlier this year to prolong a third spell with the club.Geovanni Former Barcelona attacker Geovanni completed the opening victory at West Ham with a debut goal from the bench and his deflected long-range strike sent Eastlands into raptures in the Manchester derby.
Javier Garrido A technically gifted left-back, Garrido began the season as Eriksson’s first-choice before defensive vulnerabilities saw him fall behind the experienced Michael Ball in the pecking order. Persistent thigh injuries hampered his progress under Hughes and an FA Cup winner at Middlesbrough during the early days of Mancini was effectively a swansong before he was loaned to Sunderland.
The Ecuadorian youngster was incredibly raw at the time and, although he showed flashes of his potential in amassing seven goals in 2008/09, he was another player whose development was outstripped by that of the club as a whole.
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