As part of an exclusive series, Goal in collaboration with Manchester City and TECNO are speaking to Man City legends to learn more about their time as a Sky Blue.
In the first episode of this series, Shaun Goater and Richard Dunne sit down with Goal India's trainee Manchester City correspondent to share about the experience they had with their teammates whilst at City.
Shaun Goater played for Manchester City from 1998 to 2003, while still at Maine Road, and was their top scorer in four of those five seasons, giving rise to the popular fan chant “Feed the goat and he will score”.
Making his debut in the 2000-01 season, Richard Dunne was instrumental at the heart of City’s defence for a large part of that decade, winning the club’s Player of the Season award a record 4 times.
The two city legends, extremely knowledgeable about the game and respected by fans for their opinions, took a trip down memory lane to name an Ultimate City team
from their time at the club.
When asked who the best player during his time at the club was, Goater said “For me, it was Ali Bernabia, an absolutely brilliant player. I used to make runs and didn't know I was free and when I looked, the ball used to be in front of me with the goalkeeper”.
He likened Bernabia to current Man City star Kevin De Bruyne who has become something of a creative force. “Ali did a lot of what we see De Bruyne do. He didn't make those passes from deep. He was certainly up closer around the box and made those 15-20 yard passes”.
Ali was the creative force behind City’s title winning First Division campaign in 2001-02 and was voted the player of the season in his very first year. In his short lived spell he endeared himself to the fans with his stylish brand of football.
Dunne, meanwhile, chose City fan favourite and former England international Shaun Wright-Phillips. He had two spells at City, one from 1999-05 and the second one coming at the start of the Sheikh Mansour era in 2008.
“He was the most enjoyable player to play alongside. From a young age, coming into the first team, seeing him develop and become a superstar and legend at the club was brilliant to watch. He is the sort of person you want to watch play. Very infectious and still loved by all the city fans,” he said.
Both Goater and Dunne agreed that former centre-back Sylvain Distin, who made close to 180 appearances for the club, was the most hard working player in the
dressing room.
“What you see generally in football is a lot of goalkeepers doing a lot of extra training and a lot of extra hours on the field, more than the outfield players. But Distin really caught your eye was someone who would be in the gym everyday till 4 pm trying to get faster and stronger. Every time he played, you could see how much of an athlete he was. He was the first one really who was doing his own thing and trying to improve all the time.” said Dunne who formed a formidable partnership with Distin in central defence.
As someone who led by example, Distin was handed the armband after the departure of Ali Bernabia at the start of the 03-04 season. Goater echoed his former teammate’s opinion and said, “He was somebody you saw doing stretches. He was really dedicated to the game and was one of the first players that I saw doing this. He was someone I thought who was aiming to go on to the next level.”
The next legend to feature in this name dropping feast was Nicolas Anelka, who was one of the most talented players he played with at City according to Shaun Goater.
“He could just have a change in gear and go past defenders like that,” said Goater. Anelka, who ended his career at Mumbai City FC, had one of the most productive periods in his career at City, prolific in front of goal, scoring 38 times in 89 appearances.
Richard Dunne named former Chennaiyin FC midfielder and Brazilian Elano as the most skilful player in his City team. “We didn't know a lot about him. I think he was in Ukraine beforehand and he had a bit of reputation. Literally from day one, you could see that he had everything that a Brazilian footballer is supposed to have and he didn't have a care in the world.”
A master of the dead ball, Elano’s time at City was marked by a transitional period for the club under changing ownership. “He could have been on the beach doing it. It's one thing doing it in training but to reproduce it on a Saturday in the league is something else. He was miles ahead of the rest of us. He could just make things happen,” said Dunne.
Elano perfectly embodied this description even at the age of 34, in the Indian Super League as the marquee player for Chennaiyin FC, ending up as the league’s top scorer in his first season. But the highlight of his career was definitely the two seasons he spent in the blue half of Manchester.
5-A-side team
Goater’s team - Peter Schmeichel (GK), Richard Dunne, Ali Bernabia, Eyal Berkovic, Nikolas Anelka. Substitute - Shaun Goater
Dunne’s team - Joe Hart (GK), Vincent Kompany, Sylvain Distin, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Nikolas Anelka.
Shaun’s team has a wealth of attacking talent on display, with Shaun himself waiting to come on from the bench. Richard’s team is set up more defensively and would plan to sit back and play on the break. Nonetheless watching these two teams these go head to head, would be quite the spectacle for Man City fans, for fans of all seasons, fans of all age groups, even if this is a spectacle each one will have to conjure for themselves.
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