The start of a new campaign always stirs the blood for fans, players and manager’s alike, but in City’s case Sven’s arrival and the signing of eight new players so far has upped the ante even further.
The Manager is as aware of the mounting excitement as anybody, saying: “Everyone I have talked to is excited, and the fact that we have bought good players of the right age is exciting for the fans, for the owners and for me as well.
“We talk about youth and experience, and I think we have that. It’s good that we have a young team, what we talked about inside the club was that we wanted players for now and the future. We didn’t want older players on the way down, it’s much better to be the other way. Only playing the games in the Premier League will tell us if we really are ready or not.”
With a nod to Sir Bobby Robson’s maxim that there were “no easy games in international football”, Sven accepts that City must hit the ground running at Upton Park tomorrow.
“It’s going to be exciting, but I can’t see any easy games coming up. I hope we’ll be ready and that we can come up to people’s expectations, but I’m sure it will be exciting whatever happens. I’m looking forward to it.”
Sven is also happy with the perceived pressure and expectations surrounding him, adding: “Of course there is pressure, but there’s pressure on all managers everywhere in the world. The fans want results, they want to see good football, owners pay a lot of money and they want results too, so of course the pressure’s there. That’s good, it’s alright to have a lot of pressure in this job.
As yet, Sven is waiting to see the exact composition of his squad by the end of the month before announcing any targets for the club this season.
“I haven’t made a decision yet, and I always said that when the squad was finished I’d make a target so I won’t say anything on that until that’s all done,” he says.
