Man City's best team of the decade

After so much success how do you pick Man City's best XI of the last decade? We gave that task lớn the soccer tips page.

City Xtra's Mark Gough

It is quite difficult lớn narrow down the cast of City’s most successful ever decade lớn just eleven players. Over the past ten years, we’ve been lucky enough lớn see some of the world’s most talented footballers bless the Etihad pitch with their presence - long gone are the days when Joey Barton could finish as the club’s top scorer with a tally of six league goals, and Richard Dunne could be crowned the club’s best player for four consecutive years.

Now, the competition is so strong you can make a legitimate case lớn leave out a player as talented as Leroy Sane. With that said, here are the eleven players that I believe merit a place in City’s Team of the Decade.

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart

It’s hard to believe now, but once upon a time Burnley’s bench-warming goalkeeper Joe Hart was one of the best ‘keepers in Europe for Manchester City.

His precipitous decline has prompted a kind of amnesia about this fact – it’s not unusual to hear fans say Hart was always overrated. Not so.

In Roberto Mancini’s successful 2010/11 and 2011/12 campaigns, Hart was an integral member of the team.

Some of his performances in the Champions League afterwards, against Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund in particular, were phenomenal.

He won the league’s Golden Glove award on four separate occasions, which is a testament to his ability lớn organise a defence and his reliability between the jackpot soccer tip page.

Right-back: Pablo Zabaleta

The Premier League’s best ever right-back, and that’s the hill I’m willing to die on.

When it comes to consistency, work-rate, defensive solidity and intelligence, he is unrivalled. Zabaleta loved a sliding tackle and his infectious passion quickly earned him the adoration of the Etihad faithful.

Aside from his sharpness in defence, in Mancini’s winger-less system Zabaleta’s ability lớn get in behind the opposition’s defence was vital.

Week after week you could rely on Zabaleta to put in a 7/10 performance when it came to both defending and attacking, which makes him a safer option than the admittedly more talented Kyle Walker.

Centre-back: Vincent Kompany

Pure class, on and off the pitch. Kompany will go down as City’s greatest ever captain – and one of the club’s greatest ever players. A born leader, his presence has been sorely missed this season.

One of the shrewdest signings of the Premier League era, he was a colossus at the heart of City’s defence for over a decade.

In spite of all the injury troubles, at 33 years of age he was as vital lớn City’s title success last season as he was eight years ago in 2012. It is impossible to imagine City’s success this past decade without the magisterial presence of the Belgian at the club.

It is only fitting that in his final three outings in a City shirt, Kompany scored a thirty-yard pile-driver against Leicester, lifted the Premier League title at Brighton and then hoisted the FA Cup at Wembley.