Eriksson’s Electrifying Elano

Man City fans are on cloud 9 right now as the Citizens lie 3rd in the league after nine games, a feat which owes much to the renewed defensive strength and solidarity installed by Sven Goran Eriksson, supplemented in no small way by the exquisite creativity and sharp shooting of the Brazilian Elano, who is already proving one of the buys of the season. There is now genuine feeling from not just within the club that City are capable of finishing in the top five this season.

Eriksson has done a fine job in turning Man City around, albeit with the aid of several million from the Thai benefactor Thaksin Shiniwatra. The Swede’s time as England boss has clearly helped him understand the Premier League, its tempo and tactical emphasis and the qualities required from a player to be successful in it. Whereas many a manager would have been obliged to spend ‘willy-nilly’ when presented with a such a substantial transfer budget and a demanding chairman, Sven bought sensibly and moulded a balanced team where pace, strength and passing ability are the core of everything. He could have easily rushed out and signed players with big reputations to temporarily satisfy supporters and board alike but Eriksson has plans for the long term. Eriksson benefits from the experience of having managed at the top level for 25 years, a younger manager may have succumbed to such pressure as seems to be the case at West Ham. Alan Curbishley, under pressure from the ambitious Eggert Magnusson signed many players with big reputations (and even bigger salaries) but who have so far failed to gel as a team. Think Luis Boa Morte, Lucas Neill and Kieron Dyer to name but a few.

A case for the defence
The foundations of any good team are built in defence and City in Micah Richards, Richard Dunne, Vedran Corluka and Javier Garrido, have a back line to rival any in the division. There is immense height and strength throughout, with all four over six feet, meaning aerial challenges are rarely lost and always fiercely contested. Over the past 12 months Micah Richards has emerged from relative obscurity to become one of the brightest England prospects for some time and is already establishing hero status among the Citizens faithful for consistent domineering displays. He is comfortable playing at the heart of the defence or at right back, as he has done for England and enjoys surging forward to aid the odd counterattack. As a schoolboy Richards was a sprinter and he uses this blistering pace to both cover and counter. Last week against Newcastle was a fine example of this natural stamina and enthusiasm, as first he broke up play before bursting down the length of the pitch to get a shot in at the other end. Richard Dunne is Richards’ defensive partner and after putting behind him the troublesome off-the-pitch problems (drink related) that blighted his early years as a professional, the big Irishman has emerged a fiercely determined professional. Rarely do you see Dunne lose a header, he leads and organises well from the back and his fellow defenders regularly look to him for direction and inspiration. The two centre backs pictured side by side are an intimidating presence. Powerful and muscularly built, they often leave opposition strikers cowering away from further contact after a few early robust challenges. Richards and Dunne are flanked by Corluka and Garrido who could quite easily play as centre halves too such is their height and strength. Eriksson obviously recognises that these skills are vital in the Premiership as they are evident throughout the whole team. There is pace in Garrido and a decent cross too, although from what I have seen, Corluka seems to have a more languid style. While he is good in the air and clever with the ball at his feet, he lacks acceleration despite an acceptable top speed.
Ace in the hole
The ace in Eriksson’s pack is undoubtedly Elano, who stitches the team together with his one and two touch passing, killer through balls and appreciation of space. Eriksson allows Elano to play in his favourite position in the hole behind the strikers, where he links play from midfield to attack with the energetic Michael Johnson and the tidy Dietmar Hamann. In particular the Brazilian has quickly struck up a rapport with Johnson, both enthusiasts of the short one touch game and Bulgarian winger Martin Petrov. Whenever Elano receives the ball he looks up to see where the pacey Petrov is and invariably releases him behind the opposition defence. The Brazilian showed glimpses of his talent several weeks ago with some slick passing and clever assists – a perfectly weighted and timed one-two with Michael Johnson against Aston Villa sticks in the memory. However, he has suddenly hit top form, earning national recognition with 3 goals in two games against Newcastle and Middlesbrough. Against Newcastle Elano demonstrated his dribbling ability and passing prowess as Nicky Butt and Alan Smith simply failed to cope with his speed of thought and vision. The first time stabbed pass with the outside of his boot to put Stephen Ireland thorough had Peter Beardsley drooling, ‘for me that’s the pass of the season.’ He deservedly got on the score sheet late on, showcasing his typically Brazilian-made striking technique with a free kick blasted into the upper-most top corner of Shay Given’s net. A shot no keeper could save. This man of the match performance was followed up by another at Boro, this time scoring twice. The first a clever shot from 25 yards whistled in to the bottom corner, as Elano used the defenders in front of him to blind the keeper’s view from the ball’s route to goal. The second half provided the opportunity for a second goal for the boy from Brazil as Boro gave away a free-kick in perfect position. Elano decided to show his guile and craft on this one, after powering in against Newcastle, this time he showed his subtlety, gently curled the ball over the wall and into the top corner.

Man City have a new idol in the making with Elano and will be gutted they have to endure the international break before seeing his mercurial talent once again. It seems a crime, knowing now how good Elano is, that it took so long for him to be discovered and thrust into Europe’s elite leagues – he is now 26. He had been at Shaktar Donetsk for 3 seasons and it was while he was in the Ukraine he broke into the national team under Dunga (he now has 9 caps and 3 goals). For a player from the Ukraine to be in the Brazil side surely pointed to serious quality, although Elano seemed to slip through the net of the European clubs. Eriksson though had no reservations about that playmaker’s ability, ‘I’ve had Baggio, Mancini, Gullit; you say ok, give them the ball and something will happen. And now we say, give the ball to Elano. Your life is much easier if you have these players because they do things you cannot coach. It’s in their DNA.’ eulogised the Swede. The Brazilian has helped his team mates benefit from his creativity and even makes Emile Mpenza look a decent player. If, as predicted City invests in an out-and-out goal scorer in the January transfer window they should do very well this season. And with Elano providing the assists City are unlikely to be short of suitors for the role either.