Roberto Mancini - next Italy manager

Rather sad watching for those of us keeping an eye on Zenit and hoping to see Mancini prosper. They drew 3-3 yesterday away to mid-table Arsenal Tula, but it was a poor display and they were lucky to be only 2-1 behind when the home side had a man sent off with 15 minutes remaining. That changed the game entirely and Zenit quickly moved into a 3-2 lead. But they were porous all afternoon and Tula levelled late on.

Mancini took pelters because his expensive side generally looked pretty clueless going forward and vulnerable defensively. However, it also didn't help that the Tula star man, and scorer of the equaliser, was striker Artem Dzyuba, bombed out of Zenit by Mancini this winter and sent out on loan (Dzyuba pointedly celebrated in front of Roberto). The Russian league has a rule that an on-loan player can face his parent club if the loan employer pays a fee of GBP 120,000 and the player apparently put up half of the cash in this case because he was keen to prove a point.

This match does seem like a tipping point in terms of supporter reaction to Mancini. Discontent has been rumbling for a while now at least among the online fanbase, but yesterday saw an explosion of rage on Zenit Twitter. And several well-placed Russian journalists were suggesting that he has no hope of avoiding the sack once the season ends. I wish there was better news to report.

The standings are: 1. Lokomotiv - 57 points; 2. CSKA - 51 points; 3. Spartak - 50 points (but having played a game fewer - their match in this round of fixtures is on Monday evening); 4. Zenit - 49 points; 5. Krasnodar - 47 points.
 
petrusha said:
Mancini took pelters because his expensive side generally looked pretty clueless going forward and vulnerable defensively. However, it also didn't help that the Tula star man, and scorer of the equaliser, was striker Artem Dzyuba, bombed out of Zenit by Mancini this winter and sent out on loan (Dzyuba pointedly celebrated in front of Roberto). The Russian league has a rule that an on-loan player can face his parent club if the loan employer pays a fee of GBP 120,000 and the player apparently put up half of the cash in this case because he was keen to prove a point.
Click to expand...

He was always gonna get that at some point but that said, he might not be a bad pick for Arsenal. Under Wenger, they're weak defensively, soft-centred, and the players get to go through the motions and do what they want essentially. Under Mancini, I reckon they'd be more defensive and harder to beat and I reckon he'd probably improve half the players (while pissing off the half). Saying that though, I doubt Arsenal would pick him after his last few jobs and would probably shy away from appointing someone potentially toxic after what happened with Wenger, but on a short-term contract, I reckon it would be a good appointment for both parties.
 
Another goalless draw, this time at home to CSKA, leaves Zenit up against it in the race for a CL spot. A leading Russian football journalist labels Mancini's season a 'disaster', though they played OK today, I thought.
 
SSN reckon he's reached agreement to leave Zenit at the end of the season and will become the new Italy manager.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top
✖
  AdBlock Detected
Bluemoon relies on advertising to pay our hosting fees. Please support the site by disabling your ad blocking software to help keep the forum sustainable. Thanks.