Another defender who spent a highly-regrettable 12 months at Manchester City was Maicon. Signed by Roberto Mancini from Inter Milan in 2012, many thought City had made a shrewd move in signing the veteran Champions League-winning defender, but it never worked out. Maicon didn't even hit double figures in the appearances stakes at the club, managing but nine outings, with his time at City largely wrecked by both injury and inconsistency. When he wasn't on the sidelines or in the treatment room, he was failing to dislodge Pablo Zabaleta at right-back, and when fellow-injury-prone right-back Micah Richards was fit, Maicon struggled to make even the substitutes' bench. When Mancini was sacked at the end of the 2012-13 season, successor Manuel Pellegrini was quick to give Maicon his marching orders, deciding that there was no room in his squad for the Brazilian, even leaving him out of the club's pre-season tour of South Africa before letting him join Roma on a free transfer.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
