'Man City don't need a striker - they are still favourites for Champions League'

If you ever need someone to show you just how far ­Manchester City have come over the past two decades, then I'm your man.

They face a good Bruges team in the Champions League on Wednesday, where a win would put them close to ­qualification for the knockout stages...and no doubt make them strong favourites for the trophy.

On a slightly less glamorous occasion 18 years ago this month, I was part of a City side that also faced Belgian ­opposition in Europe, as we wrote a tiny bit of history.

We were the first City side to have qualified for Europe for 25 years, so where it is totally ­commonplace now, back then it was quite a momentous occasion.

And our first, huge, glamorous game? Total Network Solutions!

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Manchester City thrashed Club Brugge 5-1 in mid-October ( Image:

Getty Images)

Yep, we actually opened the new converted City of Manchester ­Stadium with that huge qualifying-round tie - and Kevin Keegan played all his first-team stars as we won 5-0!

Lokeren in the next round was the real eye-opener though, in a way.

I was used to playing at the likes of the Bernabeu and the Stadio ­Olimpico in Europe, so their tiny ground on a proper European night was a really strange feeling. We eventually got knocked out by a ­Polish team - I couldn't even ­remember who they were, but I checked and it was ­Groclin - but for me, it was the faint beginnings of ­something at City that eventually grew into what it is today.

We weren't in the same bracket, not even on the same planet, as Pep Guardiola's incredible team.

But we were decent and had some big players like myself and Nico Anelka, David Seaman, Steve McManaman, a young Shaun Wright-Phillips and David James.

It was a new City era, and I like to think I had a small role in what they have since become - in part ­as I MISSED a Premier League ­penalty on the final day of the 2004-05 season which would have got them back into ­Europe.

People remember that miss far more than my only European goal for City, which came against ­Lokeren, because it was in the final minute against Boro and if it had gone in, we would have qualified for the UEFA Cup instead of them. Boro got to the final in the end. Who knows what would have ­happened for us?

I think that ­moment was larger in City's history than people realise, because it showed they were a big club - but one that had missed out on European money.

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John Wardle was the owner then and had done a good job, but just didn't have the money to ­compete with the big clubs. If my penalty had gone in, maybe he'd have stayed, and maybe the subsequent ­takeovers would never have happened.

So Pep may have me to thank for the position he's in today!

I marvel at how far City have come, not just in terms of money, obviously, but also in the evolution of the game.

They are criticised so much for 'not having a goalscorer', a ­recognised centre-forward, but what does that even mean?

Pep Guardiola's side are strong candidates for the Champions League even without a striker

We had several - me, Anelka, Jon Macken, Paulo Wanchope. But we didn't score as many as this team.

Yes, I accept if Pep had a ­recognised centre-forward, then he'd score lots of goals. But honestly, ­fundamentally, ­formations don't ­really matter.

If you score goals by ­getting it in to a ­recognised striker, fine.

But if you score goals by ­dominating possession in the crucial areas of the pitch, and then have fluid movement that exploits space and rigid ­defensive formations, it's also fine.

Phil Foden is in brilliant form for Manchester City having been used as a false-nine ( Image:

Getty Images)

So long as there are players ­getting on the end of things and scoring, that's all that matters. And City have those players. De Bruyne, Jesus, Gundogan, Sterling, all ­effective finishers.

Phil Foden too. He is such a ­sublime talent, wonderful to watch, standing out even in this team and with an instinct for goal. So let's not hear any more about 'no strikers'.

That has been consigned to the dustbin of football history - just like my contribution to Manchester City's current glory!