After the transfer window closed, Manchester City boldly moved out the unnecessary players and brought in only the ones they needed, then submitted their 25-man squad.
It had been put together after careful thought about player dissatisfaction, the number of players in each position, the team's balance, and everything else, and the list was as follows.
[Manchester City 2011-2012 Premier League 25-Man Squad]
Goalkeepers: Stuart Taylor (30), Joe Hart (24), Gunnar Nielsen (24)
Defenders: Gaël Clichy (26), Thiago Silva (26), Vincent Kompany (25), Pablo Zabaleta (26), Aleksandar Kolarov (25), Joleon Lescott (29), Micah Richards (23), Shay Logan (23)
Midfielders: Patrick Vieira (35), Yaya Touré (28), Marouane Fellaini (23), James Milner (25), Michael Johnson (23), Iniesta (27), David Silva (25), Scott Kay (22), Vladimír Weiss (22)
Forwards: Ronaldinho (31), Gareth Bale (22), Emmanuel Adebayor (27), Roque Santa Cruz (30), Robinho (27)
Since Kyle Walker (21), Eden Hazard (20), Casemiro (19), Phil Jones (19), and Ho-young (18), all under the age of 21, could play regardless of whether they were registered in the squad, they were left out of the roster.
And since they could still meet the homegrown rule even without him, Kyle Walker was excluded as well.
That left some open spots, which they filled by bringing in promising youngsters from the reserve team who looked useful.
Shay Logan, Scott Kay, and Vladimír Weiss were the ones.
And so the 25-man squad was completed.
They were the players who would lead Manchester City this season.
At this point, the team had changed completely compared to last year.
The biggest change was that the average age had clearly dropped to 25 compared to last season.
Another major weapon was that most of the players were already in their prime.
In other words, there was no need to wait for them to develop.
What mattered was the players' unity and chemistry.
Since the team had been rebuilt, Manchester City's number one task was to build understanding among the players.
Because of that, many football experts all said the same thing.
"Manchester City were able to complete a treble last season thanks to Ho-young. But this time, they're trying to conquer football with money. What they're doing isn't football, it's a capital game."
"Modern sport was always a capital game. I'm bloody delighted that every time United fans buy oil, money goes into our pockets."
"I'm sorry to Chelsea fans, but I'm glad I left Chelsea this season. Managing a big club in the Premier League is like walking barefoot across a field of thorns. The wall to winning the Premier League has become incomparably higher than before. Now is the time for all of us to lower our expectations. The best league in the world right now is not La Liga, it's the Premier League."
"Manchester City spent in just 3 weeks all the money I carefully saved for years at Arsenal. It makes me feel hollow inside..."
"Manchester City are pirates who plunder everything. They even stole Gareth Bale, our future."
"I don't think winning the Premier League will be easy this season either... Not unless Ho-young goes back to La Liga..."
Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, and the rest.
Having suffered losses to Manchester City in this summer transfer window, they strongly criticized City's actions while also revealing their fear.
And for good reason, because the newly built City squad looked like the kind of team that simply could not lose just from hearing the names in it.
It was a squad reminiscent of the first Galácticos era.
The difference was that Manchester City still had several prospects mixed in who had not yet experienced the biggest stage.
David Beckham, Luís Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, and the rest had already conquered the world by that point, but City's new signings were the opposite.
Some of them did not even have Champions League experience.
Daniel Taylor, the Manchester correspondent for The Guardian, did not view City's rebuilding in a purely positive light because of that.
[Judging by the results alone, Manchester City's rebuild looks like a success. The new signings are players already proven at their previous clubs, and they are prospects wanted not only by City but by many big clubs. On top of that, City have many players who are just entering their prime.
However, there is one decisive problem.
Manchester City lack the force needed to unite them as one. To put it bluntly, Pep Guardiola lacks the necessary qualities. He could not even make Zlatan Ibrahimović and Messi click together, so can he really handle this many signings thoroughly? On top of that, factions are likely to form within the team.]
It was a fair point.
Likewise, what many City fans were worried about was Guardiola's ability to control the squad.
That concern was even greater because over the past 2 months he had already clashed with several players, including Gareth Barry, Adam Johnson, and Carlos Tevez.
That was why Guardiola had called the players in 4 days before the next match.
August 31.
Today, the day closing out the month, was more special than ever for Manchester City.
All the players had gathered at Training Ground No. 1, and some of them were shaking hands with each other.
The atmosphere was awkward.
Quiet battles for dominance were taking place here and there without anyone openly acknowledging them.
That had already been expected.
The core players who had represented their respective clubs had all gathered together on one team, so none of them were willing to lower themselves easily.
And since the manager and staff had not come in yet, the atmosphere was even heavier.
In particular, Fellaini with his striking massive afro, and the highly prideful Eden Hazard, were standing in one corner with a heavy presence that only dragged the mood down further.
But that did not last long.
"...!"
"He's here."
"Phew..."
When Ho-young, wearing training gear and the captain's armband, walked in last, the entire atmosphere flipped in an instant.
No one could take their eyes off Ho-young, and a heavy silence settled over the air as if the atmosphere itself had sunk.
It was utterly overwhelming.
There was a reason Ho-young had come in last.
It was on Guardiola's instructions.
"Go first and take control of the squad. It'll be a hundred times faster for you to overwhelm them with charisma than for me to say a hundred words."
And it turned out to be true.
Like growling beasts suddenly turned into obedient sheep, the new signings could only look at Ho-young with submissive eyes.
He overwhelmed them in the most literal sense.
It looked as though taking control of the squad had succeeded.
But then.
'If there's a problem...'
Ho-young's eyes shifted toward the right corner.
There was one player standing there who alone did not look cowed and remained bold.
'Just as I heard.'
It was none other than Eden Hazard, fresh from conquering Ligue 1.
He was still only 20 years old.
Not just high-spirited, but a player who could barely contain his own energy.
So for now, Ho-young had to let it pass.
'I'll have to win Hazard over by clashing with him directly and making him mine.'
Ho-young moved on to the next step.
What came next was bringing the players he had taken control of together as one.
'This is the most important step.'
At the same time, it was also the hardest one.
The new signings gathered on the pitch all had different skin colors, different personalities, and above all had all come up in completely different football environments.
For that reason, blending them into one unit was extremely difficult.
So Ho-young had been thinking about the method for the last several days.
The result was this.
"From this moment until the next match, we'll play football together every single day without fail."
The method of taking control of the squad and building unity varies depending on the captain's style.
Some gather the new signings together and make them sing the club's official anthem. Others put them through regular training camps to strengthen unity.
Ho-young's method, however, was football.
After all, was the reason for building unity not to create better football?
When some of the players showed confusion, Ho-young added an explanation.
"First, we'll split into 2 teams and play for 20 minutes. After that, we'll reshuffle the players and play another 20. We'll do a total of 4 sets."
Ho-young planned to solve all of these problems through football, the thing he was most confident in.
Because he believed that was the fastest way.
"We're playing football from the first day?"
"This is a bit strange... Is this what training sessions are normally like here?"
"Hmm."
There were still 4 days left until the match.
So normally, instead of playing football, they would do lighter training, slowly get to know each other, or just maintain their touch on the ball.
But Ho-young and Guardiola thought differently.
'There's no time.'
If they were going to do it anyway, the sooner the better.
And they were footballers, were they not?
If you were a footballer, then you should be kicking a football.
That was the essence Ho-young wanted to pursue.
"We are footballers. Professional players who are paid to play football. It doesn't matter what position you held at your previous club. Right now, you are only Manchester City footballers whose job is to bring joy to the Citizens. Prove here that you deserve that. The manager, the coaches, and I will be watching."
Those words sent a jolt through the hearts of some of the players.
No matter how much he was the captain, it might have sounded arrogant for him to say such things when he was not the manager, but all of it was possible because Guardiola had given Ho-young that authority.
And because Ho-young had the skill and qualities to match, no one openly challenged it.
Of course, while some players were stirred by his words, others clearly let it go in one ear and out the other.
But the atmosphere changed once again when Ho-young added one more sentence.
"I'll take part in training too. All 4 sets."
Ho-young himself stepped onto the pitch first, becoming the example.
And his final line was even more decisive.
"All new signings, loan returnees, and returning players move to Team B."
Gunnar Nielsen, Gaël Clichy, Thiago Silva, Shay Logan, Kyle Walker, Casemiro, Marouane Fellaini, Eden Hazard, Vladimír Weiss, Gareth Bale, and Roque Santa Cruz.
On top of that, Zavan Vidić, Scott Kay, and Phil Jones joined as reserve members, and Team B was completed.
The formation was 4-2-3-1.
Up to that point, there was nothing especially strange about it.
But the makeup of the opposing Team A was something else entirely.
"Joe Hart, Yaya Touré, David Silva, Iniesta, Ronaldinho, Adebayor, and me. The 7 of us will play."
To force chemistry into place, he had to take complete control of the squad.
And Ho-young intended to do exactly that.
Through skill.
About 5 minutes remained until training began.
Wearing Team B's fluorescent bib, Eden Hazard was quietly showing signs of displeasure.
Of course, he had come to City because he liked Ho-young and wanted to achieve great things with him, but he had not expected to be looked down on like this.
That was not Ho-young's real intention, but regardless, that was how Hazard felt.
'This is too much. No matter what, they're really saying they'll face us with just 7 men? Do they think we're just some green prospects?'
Eden Hazard, who had conquered the French league at a young age.
His competitive fire began to rise from deep in his bones.
'This is arrogant to the point of absurdity.'
Of course, he knew very well how incredible Ho-young was.
And he knew just as deeply how incredible Joe Hart, Yaya Touré, Iniesta, David Silva, Ronaldinho, and Adebayor were as well.
They were the world's best combination, the group that had led Manchester City to a mini-treble.
But still.
'Even so, we're world-class players too. Eleven against 7, this is too much. They're going to face us without a back four? Seriously. Even if it's only 20 minutes...'
It was ridiculous.
And at the same time, it was also a chance to crush Ho-young and catch the manager's eye.
On top of that, Team B had even been given the kickoff.
'They're even giving us the kickoff? They really are treating us like scraps.'
But it was only after the whistle blew that he realized the truth.
"What, what is this?"
The strongest combination on Earth, the team that had scored 7 against mighty Manchester United.
And standing at the center of it all was Ho-young.
With unmatched man-marking, he stole the ball from Hazard in an instant.
And on top of that, the talent that had grown one step beyond Ultimate Dribbling (W+3), and even fused into Dribbling Beyond the Realm (L).
The talent of Transcendent Dribbling (TS+2) was more than enough to overwhelm the new signings at once.
That was immediately proven by the result of his successful tackle.
"...!!"
"He's coming! He's coming!"
"Stop him!"
"Focus!"
"Hey! Fellaini! What are you doing!!"
"What about you?!"
"I don't know... damn it..."
"What the hell is this."
In the blink of an eye, the structure formed by Gaël Clichy, Thiago Silva, Shay Logan, Kyle Walker, Casemiro, and Marouane Fellaini collapsed.
And even Gunnar Nielsen, the goalkeeper brought up from the reserves.
Thud!
It was a solo goal from Ho-young that completely overwhelmed the new signings in one stroke.
But the real beginning was only now.
(To be continued.)