Last night we saw a City great play his last game at The Etihad. Pablo Zabaleta was not just the Premier League's best right back for the 2010's though. He was a symbol of a link between the players on the pitch and the fans off it.
We all have our own stories as to where we were on the last weekend of August/start of September 2008. I woke up on the Monday morning and switched on Sky Sports News to see that Vedran Corluka was likely to make his switch to Tottenham as we had just bought a 23 year old Argentine attacking full back called Pablo Zabaleta. He, and the signing of Glauber Berti, got sorta lost in the mix of what was to come as City were taken over by new owners, reports of bids for Berbatov and David Villa being thrown around and eventually signing Chelsea-bound Brazilian play maker Robinho for over £30 million. Only 15 months earlier, City had finished a season with scoring 10 goals at home. Times were about to change significantly.
Not just on the pitch either. Garry Cook had reflected on the facilities of the club at Carrington needed a huge overhaul of improvements. Since the move away from Maine Road, the club didn't seem to have a direction apart from sell anyone of any worth. The only serious investment the club had been given until this point was the previous summer when former Thai president Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra had taken over from Wardle. We were a big PR stunt for Dr. T and despite being worth £2billion, he was actually skint. Typical City to get a skint billionaire.
Although not part of the club long before the takeover, Zabaleta walked into pre-takeover City. Not won a trophy since 1976 City. The City that I and a lot of people who will read this grew up with. I will be honest - I wasn't sure on him at first. I thought he went to ground too early and seemed like a mistake/red card waiting to happen, similar to how a lot of people view Otamendi now in a way. He moved from right back into midfield in the early part of 2009 scoring his first goal against Wigan in a 1-0 win. As time went past and the team gradually got better and better he wasn't always a starter, but you felt better when he was on the pitch. He played either side as a full back or could fill in in midfield. His work rate and determination made him able to be adaptable, and his adaptability made him popular with the fans as he never seemed to grumble about being moved around.
He and Micah Richards were battling head to head on a weekly basis for the right back position. Both loved by the fans at this point in 2012, but it wasn't clear who was ever number 1. The run-in for the 2012 title he made the position his own, and he pushed on to be City's player of the season in the 2012/13 season. From then until this season, he was first choice unless injuries played a part.
But what Zabaleta means to the fans is more than just a successful career. He embraced the club. He became a City fan. He loved Manchester. Opting to live in Didsbury over tucked away in a Cheshire mansion and often recalling how he'd go in the chippy and play pool in The Barleycorn before it shut down. He was on the pitch last night calling his son a Mancunian.
In the first half of his career he was lucky to be around people like Richard Dunne, Nedum Onouha, Joe Hart, Shaun Wright-Phillips and the aforementioned Richards as they had been part of the furniture at City for many years. But Zabaleta and Kompany, who had joined the club a few weeks earlier, became City people and the effect they had on the players purchased over the next few years is easy to see.
Seeing the faces of players like Joleon Lescott, Nigel de Jong, Mario Balotelli now warms the hearts of a lot of City fans because there seemed to be a bond between the players and with that there was a bond between them and the fans. Zabaleta mentioned the 1-0 win against United at Wembley as his highlight - when I think about that game I think about the players and staff running over to our end at Wembley and doing the Poznan in front of us. Something as simple as that goes a long way as a short term buzz and a long term love.
With Zabaleta gone, Joe Hart seemingly gone and Kompany on the edge of breakdown, the players who seemingly love the club are hard to be seen. Sometimes I watch these great players and it seems like they're at City on loan and going through the motions of a football career. I know people who really like players like Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane and John Stones - the investment and ability of these three in particular suggest that they are players the club are pinning their hopes to for the future, but they don't have a bond with the support in the same way. They cannot have stood there last night taking it all in and not think "I want a bit of this when I go". They don't have that connection yet - and again I don't think this is anything to do with them not winning anything or ability. Now is their time to stand up.
Similarly with the manager. Find me someone who feels more positive emotions towards Guardiola than Mancini and you'll find me a liar. "This is for all of the fans" - Mancini said at about 17:00 on May 13th 2012, Pellegrini didn't say anything like that when he won the league and if we ever do with Pep, I doubt he'll say that, he'll probably say the football is amazing or something. Embracing the fans, getting the fans on side is important. Slagging off the size of the club, the atmosphere or the pressure is just bullshit excuses for your short comings.
I know some people "get it" and others don't. Frank Lampard, a legend of a rival, embraced the club more in the 12 months he was at the club more than Gael Clichy has in 6 years. It's just a fact of life and it's not for everyone - I've not mentioned my three favourite players in this whole blog because none of them are particularly like Zabaleta or Kompany but at the same time they do have a real connection due to their achievements on the pitch, hence why most games you hear chants of Sergio, Yaya or David.
Pablo is a legend but now a part of our past. I'm hoping last nights admiration of him and his legacy is to enthuse the current crop of players and staff to embrace the club and Manchester the way he did. If they don't they're in danger of leaving the fan base disillusioned.
