Manchester City: Player-by-Player Guide to 2013-14 Premier League Squad

Manchester City was recently flattered by NBC Sports, though if you blinked you might have missed it.

Jason Sudeikis' Ted Lasso, in trying to learn the teams and tendencies of Tottenham Hotspur's Premier League opponents, has flash cards made up to link terms with teams.

When Manchester City's card comes up, Lasso immediately blurts out "Jennifer Lawrence!"

It is a throwaway moment in a larger skit, but the comparison is really apt.

Jennifer Lawrence is beautiful and absurdly talented. She has achieved quite a bit in a short period of time, but it is her potential that has tongues wagging. Well, that and how she looks in certain dresses.

Manchester City has played beautiful football at times, most notably the 6-1 caning of Manchester United at Old Trafford two seasons ago.

City has achieved great things recently, with an FA Cup and a Premier League title to their credit in the past three seasons.

It is City's potential, though, that makes both casual and hardcore football fans eager to see what this expensively-assembled squad can do in 2013-14.

City players are previewed in order of their listing on the Club's website.

Joe Hart

Manchester City's No. 1 keeper, Joe Hart, has won three consecutive Golden Glove awards in the Premier League.

Does that fact in and of itself make him the best keeper in the Premier League? No. The award is a function of both Hart's own play and the play of the defense in front of him.

While Roberto Mancini was boss, Hart's job was relatively easy. City defended possession like hyenas defending a fresh kill, and Mancini was more than happy to park the bus once he got a lead.

That is not looking to be the way of Hart's world under new manager Manuel Pellegrini. City have ceded at least two goals in each of their last three preseason friendlies.

Still, Hart's value is undeniable; if any Premier League club offered their keeper in exchange for Hart, City would almost certainly say no.

Costel Pantilimon

Costel Pantilimon is Manchester City's first choice to play any match that Hart does not play.

In other words, Pantilimon has never played a Premier League minute for Manchester City.

Being Hart's backup is akin to being Cal Ripken Jr.'s understudy during his career games streak, except that Ripken occasionally came out of games he started.

Pantilimon did lead City to the FA Cup final last season, where the team sustained a gutting 1-0 loss to Wigan Athletic.

Pantilimon could not be faulted for that loss, though. Roberto Mancini, desperate to save his own job, started Hart in the final to no avail.

Rumors have come and gone that Pantilimon wants to go to a club where he can feature. For City's purposes, though, he is extremely valuable as insurance against an injury to Hart.

Richard Wright

Manchester City recently re-signed Richard Wright to back up Pantilimon, who backs up Hart.

Insofar as Hart has not missed a Premier League start in three seasons, Wright figures to be paid handsomely again to stay sharp in training and tell stories about when he used to be England's No. 1 keeper.

Terms of the deal were not announced, which is just as well.

Nobody really wants to have it confirmed that Wright will be paid more money than they'll make in a decade to do next to nothing for a year at Manchester City.

Matija Nastasic

Matija Nastasic quickly went from an afterthought signing to a mainstay on the Manchester City back line last season.

Through Nastasic's emergence, City saved some face from what was, all told, an awful summer 2012 transfer window haul.

Maicon is already gone. Scott Sinclair has one foot out the door. Jack Rodwell may never get healthy. Javi Garcia might not be of Premier League caliber.

But Nastasic is the genuine article.

Nastasic made 21 appearances in the Premier League last season. He started every one of those matches.

Unfortunately, Nastasic will start the Premier League season not on the pitch for City, but recuperating from an ankle injury he sustained during a friendly in Hong Kong.

It will be interesting to see how and when Nastasic works himself back into the side once he is fit again.

Aleksandar Kolarov

Aleksandar Kolarov spent much of the summer being the subject of transfer rumours.

Kolarov had made no secret of his concerns about playing time given Manchester City's significant depth on the back line.

According to Nick Lustig of the Daily Star, one of Kolarov's great hopes of the summer was a move to Juventus.

Any such move by Kolarov appears to be on hold for now, though, with Nastasic out for at least another month and the Premier League season about to begin.

City cannot afford to let Kolarov go just yet.

Vincent Kompany

Vincent Kompany wears the captain's arm band for Manchester City. He is the keystone of City's defense and, when he is healthy, he is among the best center-backs in the world.

Nagging injuries caused Kompany to struggle through much of the 2012-2013 season.

Per Ian Ladyman of the Daily Mail, "The Belgian International missed a large chunk of the second half of the Barclays Premier League campaign after pulling a calf muscle back in January."

Ladyman's report goes on to detail that Kompany was held out of the last two matches of City's Premier League season in an attempt to expedite his healing process.

Kompany is apparently fit enough to broadcast his sentiment that Manchester United are the Premier League favorite this season, per Alex Horlock of the Daily Mail.

At least Kompany's gamesmanship is in midseason form.

Gael Clichy

Gael Clichy is a real rarity on Manchester City's squad.

While almost every first-choice player at City is constantly threatened for playing time, Clichy has a firm hold on the left-back job.

Clichy made more appearances for City in the Premier League last season than any back other than Pablo Zabaleta.

Clichy started as many Premier League matches for City as Kompany did.

As with referees and accountants, you know Clichy is doing a good job when you do not notice him or hear his name.

City will rely on more steady left-back play from Clichy in the coming season.

Joleon Lescott

Joleon Lescott entered the 2012-13 season with his spot in Manchester City's starting lineup seemingly quite secure.

He ended the 2012-13 campaign as an emblem of what went wrong for City.

After some notably poor performances, particularly in Champions League play, former City manager Roberto Mancini benched Lescott in favor of Nastasic.

Nastasic went on to play very well, which further diminished Lescott's prospects.

Mancini's departure and Nastasic's recent injury may provide Lescott with the opportunity to re-establish himself as a key player in City's back line.

Certainly, Lescott has been among the City reserve players who want assurances about playing time, according to Adam Crafton of the Daily Mail.

If Lescott plays well enough when given the chance, he will not need to ask for playing time.

Micah Richards

Micah Richards is at something of a career crossroads entering the 2013-14 season.

Richards had bright prospects at Manchester City at the outset of last season. Unfortunately, he sustained a serious knee injury in October that, combined with Zabaleta's emergence, ultimately limited Richards to seven Premier League starts.

Now, Richards still has to contend with Zabaleta while proving himself fully fit and ready to contribute. If for whatever reason those things do not come to pass, Richards may push to leave Manchester City.

That is not exactly how he puts it, though.

"I want to be here and I don't know why any player would want to leave but every player wants to play football and if I can do that here it's perfect," said Richards according to Graham Chase of The Daily Telegraph.

Richards has publicly called for a return to split duty at right back with Zabaleta.

Whether City manager Pellegrini has any interest in that sort of platoon remains to be seen.

Pablo Zabaleta

Pablo Zabaleta had perhaps the best season of any Manchester City player in 2012-13.

According to whoscored.com's defensive statistics, Zabaleta averaged just short of four tackles, four clearances and two interceptions every time he lined up in Premier League action.

Zabaleta was City's 2012-13 Player of the Year as chosen by the team's fans according to the club's website.

Manchester City have plenty of questions to address as the Premier League season dawns, but Zabaleta's place at right back is not presently one of them.

Fernandinho

Manuel Pellegrini's respect and affinity for Fernandinho were confirmed by the speed the manager showed in getting Fernandinho signed.

Such was Pellegrini's desire to land Fernandinho that (presumably) he saw to it that City signed Fernandinho even before officially taking charge of City's team.

Fernandinho projects to start in Manchester City's midfield.

Due to the financial commitment City made to acquire Fernandinho, and to Pellegrini's obvious preference of him, the Brazilian will be given ample chances to establish himself as a regular at the Etihad.

Gareth Barry

Gareth Barry is another Manchester City player who wonders whether he has a place with the team going forward.

Last season, Barry played in 31 matches for City, scoring once and assisting on two other goals.

His role has been to quietly hold the line at midfield while more spectacular teammates like Yaya Toure and David Silva press upfield and get creative.

That was a vital role for the club while Mancini was in charge. Mancini favored defensive-minded players, particularly whenever he was nursing one of his beloved one-goal leads.

But with Pellegrini at the helm promising "attractive" football, and City having spent vast sums on players like Fernandinho and Jesus Navas, Barry might find himself relegated to a reserve role.

Jesus Navas

Pellegrini has a great deal of capital, financial and otherwise, invested in new midfield signing Jesus Navas.

The prevailing belief is that Pellegrini will deploy Navas in ways that will revolutionize what had been a fairly drab Manchester City attack in recent seasons.

Specifically, Navas will be charged with providing width from the right flank, a tactic that Mancini simply refused to attempt when he ran the team.

The only nagging question about Navas is whether he has in fact put his homesickness issues behind him.

Early appearances suggest that he has, per Chris Wheeler of the Daily Mail.

If so, Navas can fairly be expected to energize City's offense right from the start of the season.

James Milner

James Milner may be the lone Manchester City midfielder whose status will not be significantly jeopardized by the arrivals of Fernandinho and Navas.

Milner had a very steady and solid 2012-13 campaign for the Sky Blues. He is not expected to provide much in the way of offensive spark, and normally he does not.

What he does is fill in the spaces left by his more offensive-minded teammates, tracking back to break up counterattacks caused by the occasional Yaya Toure turnover or blocked shot off the foot of Sergio Aguero.

So while creative types like Samir Nasri and Silva may see their opportunities reduced by the presence of Fernandinho and Navas, Milner will probably continue to receive steady match action.

Someone has to mind the store while the rest of the City team tries to pick the opposing defense apart.

Samir Nasri

Many Manchester City players expressed real relief when Mancini was sacked near the end of last season.

Almost certainly, Samir Nasri was one of the players happiest to see the Italian go.

John Drayton's piece in the Daily Mail set out at length the excitement Nasri had to see a new, offensive-minded manager come to the Etihad.

"All his teams play attractive football. And I think that is what people want to see," said Nasri.

Nasri's performance in City's preseason friendlies suggest that those words were not just loose talk.

The Frenchman has been especially active, buzzing about the pitch and exhibiting many of the gifts that made him such a sought-after commodity in the first place.

Perhaps City will secure a return on their significant investment in Nasri after all.

If they do, the Pellegrini hiring will at some level have paid for itself.

Abdul Razak

Manchester City's summer splurge for midfield stars Fernandinho and Navas was bad news for Abdul Razak.

The youngster was already having a difficult time finding first team minutes in a midfield stocked with Premier League standouts like Toure, Silva and Nasri.

Now, Razak projects to be the ninth- or 10th-choice midfielder at the Etihad.

And he will have a tough time even equaling the three Premier League cameo appearances he was given last season.

Jack Rodwell

So what exactly did Manchester City get for all that money they paid Everton last summer?

Jack Rodwell's freshman year at City was a decided dud. Rodwell spent much of the season disabled, and the stories that came from his maladies were as disconcerting as all the time he missed.

Can you imagine being 21 years old and having to change the car you drive and the way you sleep to try to heal an injury? Most 21-year-olds just go and go and never think about pain.

Pain is for old people. Trust me on that.

Yet, for all the time Rodwell missed and all the concern City must have about him, Rodwell did show a flash or two of greatness.

City have so many terrific midfielders that you have to wonder whether Rodwell will get many chances to make his case to start.

What a difference a year makes.

David Silva

Whereas players like Nasri and Rodwell probably saw the Fernandinho and Navas signings and fretted over playing time, one imagines that David Silva might have breathed a sigh of relief.

Silva started 29 contests in the Premier League last season, making 32 total appearances of a possible 38. Only Carlos Tevez, Yaya Toure and Edin Dzeko played as often for City in the league last season.

Those three, of course, can easily withstand the physical punishment. Ya Ya Toure and Dzeko are enormous men; Tevez is a bulldog who seems to thrive in traffic and with contact.

Silva, though, is a small, slight man whose magic is best performed with no one else too close to him.

Further, City fans can attest that Silva wears down at times. And when he does, he becomes a liability because he pretty much cannot defend you.

So City might consider finding more soft spots in the Premier League schedule to rest Silva more often in 2013-14.

Silva may be turning into one of those players who will produce the same statistics in 25 matches as he will in 35 matches.

Javi Garcia

The trouble with Javi Garcia where Manchester City is concerned is that, by the looks of him, Garcia should be a dominant force in the Premier League.

That had to be what City were thinking when they acquired him from Benfica for a sum greater than several gross domestic products.

A funny thing happened on the way to Garcia dominating the Premier League, though. He didn't.

Worse yet, at times Garcia looked like he did not belong in the Premier League at all.

Former City manager Mancini tried Garcia in the midfield, and occasionally on the back line, with little success.

Garcia's appearance log from last season tells the whole story. He went from a regular starter to a player Mancini would only use as a late substitute, if at all.

And that was when Garcia was playing for a manager who theoretically had an interest in seeing him succeed.

Pellegrini inherited Garcia, which means he owes Garcia nothing.

It will be very interesting to see whether Pellegrini invests any time or energy in trying to rehabilitate Garcia's confidence and his game.

Scott Sinclair

Manchester City's trip to the transfer window in the summer of 2012 was an egregious waste of time and money.

Rodwell, Garcia and Maicon all disappointed City in spectacular, cover-your-eyes fashion.

And Nastasic only got the chance to somewhat redeem City's acquisitions of that summer because Kompany and Richards got hurt, and Lescott was shoddy.

Somehow, though, despite all of that, the real emblem of City's woeful 2012 summer transfer efforts was Scott Sinclair.

Brought in with fanfare from Swansea City, Sinclair somewhat mysteriously landed himself in Mancini's doghouse and never found a way out.

Sinclair appears on his way out of Manchester as of this writing, with West Bromwich Albion and Everton seemingly willing to end Sinclair's misery for him, according to Richard Jolly of ESPNFC.com.

The sooner the better for all concerned, probably.

Yaya Toure

There was a time not that long ago when there was absolutely no doubt that Yaya Toure was Manchester City's best and most irreplaceable player.

It may still be true, but as Toure's odometer rolls ever higher and the candles on his birthday cake become more numerous, Toure's place as City's peerless player becomes more tenuous.

Former boss Mancini never seemed to name a starting XI without Toure in it if the big man could play.

Pellegrini need not be that wed to Toure, not with seven or eight other midfielders on the roster who would start for almost any other side in the Premier League.

Still, it strains the imagination to think that Pellegrini will not lean heavily on Toure in the big matches, especially in Champions League play.

The bursts through midfield with the ball were less frequent last season, but they were no less breathtaking.

When Toure is right and of a mind to play, he is still more or less unstoppable.

He just cannot do it three times a week any more.

Edin Dzeko

Some day in the not-too-distant future, you should be able to win a bar bet on who led Manchester City in goals in 2012-13.

It was not Mario Balotelli, who was gone before the spring.

It was not Tevez, who somehow only scored 11 goals in 34(!) Premier League matches.

And it was not Sergio Aguero, who missed too much time with nagging leg injuries to do any better than 12 league goals.

City's leading scorer in 2012-13 with 14 goals was Edin Dzeko, who was such a dominant scoring force that  Mancini started him in all of 16 Premier League matches.

As things would have it, of course, Dzeko's work in the 16 matches he appeared in as a substitute became his calling card. Much to his chagrin.

The good news for Dzeko is that new City boss Pellegrini has gone out of his way to reassure Dzeko that he does not consider him to be a super-sub.

Not yet, anyway.

Sergio Aguero

After you have scored the goal that wins the Premier League, in stoppage time, for your side's first title in 44 years, everything that follows has the potential to disappoint.

Only one imagines that Sergio Aguero did not figure that his firework of a career at Manchester City would so quickly fizzle.

Aguero was not bad in 2012-13, but after City whiffed on acquiring Robin van Persie and let Balotelli walk, City did not need Aguero to be not bad.

City needed Aguero to be great, and unfortunately for them both Aguero's legs would not go along with the plan.

Aguero is City's first choice striker until proven otherwise, with the latest news on his fitness being a mixed bag per Jamie Jackson of The Guardian.

But understand that if Aguero was of the caliber of van Persie, Luis Suarez or even Wayne Rooney, Pellegrini would not have spent so much money to acquire Stevan Jovetic and Alvaro Negredo.

Trust but verify seems to be Pellegrini's attitude toward his strikers.

Stevan Jovetic

Manchester City's acquisition of Stevan Jovetic from Fiorentina this summer is a classic risk/reward play.

There are two question marks about Jovetic that City will look to have answered early in the season.

First, is Jovetic fully recovered from the knee injury that his ESPNFC.com player profile deemed "horrific?"

That injury can take two full years to heal. It has been two full years now.

Second, is Jovetic a player who can contribute on a team as loaded as City is, or is he merely a product of being the best player on a pretty mundane side like he was at Fiorentina?

Given Aguero's health questions and the tendency of Dzeko to disappear from time to time, Jovetic is definitely going to play.

Watching him will be intriguing, no matter how he performs.

Alvaro Negredo

Manchester City's pursuit and ultimate signing of Alvaro Negredo proved that new manager Pellegrini was not kidding when he said that City need two players at every position.

How else can you explain City's decision to bring Negredo on when their roster already boasted Aguero and Dzeko, with Jovetic all but signed as Negredo's acquisition was announced?

As American comedian Adam Carolla once observed, you can tell what is important to a man by the things he makes happen.

So you know what's important to Pellegrini? Goals.

Gone are the days of City trying to grind out 1-0 victories against clubs like Sunderland and Aston Villa.

Pellegrini seems bent on keeping the scoreboard operators busy this season.

John Guidetti

For every action, it was famously said, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

In my mind, that chain reaction was played out by John Guidetti learning of the Manchester City signings of Jovetic and Negredo and promptly throwing a potted plant through his flat screen television.

Of all the players profiled here (26!) Guidetti is the one with the outright least chance of seeing action for City this season.

All right, maybe he has a better chance to play than goalkeeper Wright does.

But only maybe.