Did Mancini put his own CV ahead of City's interests?

[GStar]

I don't think he had any confidence in us to gain a result at Anfield irrespective of the team he fielded so he rested/protected a few of the "big guns". That being the case though, I don't know why he didn't also choose to rest/protect two of our 4 most important players, Tevez and Kompany. As it was, he fielded a team that was never going to get a result and it looks like we've lost our top goalscorer too.

But his employer is The Sheikh and The Sheikh would surely prioritise the Champions League qualification over a cup. This is what I can't understand. 3 points on Monday and we would have been favourites by a mile.

They must have some business nouse; you hire a manager to manage, not to simply be a body in which to channel your own opinions through, that's not efficient, it's ego centric but in no way busienss centric.

Losing at Anfield didn't mean we lost our CL qualifications; if it was that black and white then i'm sure we'd have gone all out to win and then dealt with the SF when the time came.

As it was, we went 50/50 Mancini put out a team he thought strong enough to beat Liverpool, whilst resting a select few players.

No-one expected Liverpool to have the first 45 they had, and that was down to them clicking as opposed to us gifting them 3 goals, imo.

 

[DenisLawBackHeel74]

Even WITH De Jong and Silva we haven't mustered a win away from home in 2011. I don't see why we would have won at one of the toughest grounds in the country anyway. I reckon Mancini thought we wouldn't win with the current system why not try something different and rest two important players for a huge game in 5 days.

i think its more about the manner of the defeat than the defeat itself...tevez injury aside, he had 2 additional chances to change the game and failed...the early days mancini was more decisive..this latter day version..sadly predictable.

i wonder whether tevez had argued before the game about the tactics and selections and then just thought fuck it...not having this....milner also taking issue later on...actions speak louder than words.<br /><br />-- Wed Apr 13, 2011 1:00 pm --<br /><br />

But his employer is The Sheikh and The Sheikh would surely prioritise the Champions League qualification over a cup. This is what I can't understand. 3 points on Monday and we would have been favourites by a mile.

They must have some business nouse; you hire a manager to manage, not to simply be a body in which to channel your own opinions through, that's not efficient, it's ego centric but in no way busienss centric.

Losing at Anfield didn't mean we lost our CL qualifications; if it was that black and white then i'm sure we'd have gone all out to win and then dealt with the SF when the time came.

As it was, we went 50/50 Mancini put out a team he thought strong enough to beat Liverpool, whilst resting a select few players.

No-one expected Liverpool to have the first 45 they had, and that was down to them clicking as opposed to us gifting them 3 goals, imo.

disagree.

it was a big game for them...you could see it in their determination...should have been a big game for us too.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

But his employer is The Sheikh and The Sheikh would surely prioritise the Champions League qualification over a cup. This is what I can't understand. 3 points on Monday and we would have been favourites by a mile.

Honestly Dave, you choose your perfect side for last night and tell me what chance you think we'd have bearing in mind our away and Liverpool's home form.

Silva in for Milner, De Jong in for Barry, Balo in for Dkeko, same formation.

There's not a single player in the Liverpool side would get in ours. We murdered them at our place. We are above them in the league.

How on earth is the mindset that this was a game we were bound to lose crept in?

 

[Boots_]

I don't think he had any confidence in us to gain a result at Anfield irrespective of the team he fielded so he rested/protected a few of the "big guns". That being the case though, I don't know why he didn't also choose to rest/protect two of our 4 most important players, Tevez and Kompany. As it was, he fielded a team that was never going to get a result and it looks like we've lost our top goalscorer too.

But his employer is The Sheikh and The Sheikh would surely prioritise the Champions League qualification over a cup. This is what I can't understand. 3 points on Monday and we would have been favourites by a mile.

But if he (Mancini) thinks we would not win at Anfield even with a full strength team then why pick a full strength team?

He has seen us go to all last season's top 4 and muster up one goal in 4 matches (a deflection). Why would he be confident of getting a result against a resurgent Liverpool who have a pretty impressive home record?!

So in the light of this total lack of confidence, he decides to rest NDJ and Silva in readiness for Sat. He still knows what his brief is, he just figured that Liverpool was a game we weren't going to get points from.

Basically, I'm as puzzled as the next man.

 

[GStar]

disagree.

it was a big game for them...you could see it in their determination...should have been a big game for us too.

It was a big game for us, but not bigger than the SF at the current point of the season.

That's why Tevez, Balotelli, Johnson, Yaya, Kompany et al all played and Silva De Jong(why?) came on... it wasn't like we fielded a reserve team.

 

[DenisLawBackHeel74]

disagree.

it was a big game for them...you could see it in their determination...should have been a big game for us too.

It was a big game for us, but not bigger than the SF at the current point of the season.

That's why Tevez, Balotelli, Johnson, Yaya, Kompany et al all played and Silva De Jong(why?) came on... it wasn't like we fielded a reserve team.

i'm not talking about just the personnel....it was the whole attitude, there was no craft, no guile, no desire, no guts...nothing.

City fighting for 3rd place ? really ?

a neutral would have been hard pressed to correctly name the team looking to secure CL football.

 

[allan harper]

Fuck knows what side he will put out against Spurs if we beat United on Saturday.

 

[King Geedorah]

Silva in for Milner, De Jong in for Barry, Balo in for Dkeko, same formation.

There's not a single player in the Liverpool side would get in ours. We murdered them at our place. We are above them in the league.

How on earth is the mindset that this was a game we were bound to lose crept in?

Quite simply because in 2011 we've been utter gash away from home, the players minds were bound to be elsewhere and Anfield has never been an easy place for us to pick up points (We've not beat them home and away for 75 years I think). You're right that the mindset shouldn't be there but it is.

i think its more about the manner of the defeat than the defeat itself...tevez injury aside, he had 2 additional chances to change the game and failed...the early days mancini was more decisive..this latter day version..sadly predictable.

i wonder whether tevez had argued before the game about the tactics and selections and then just thought fuck it...not having this....milner also taking issue later on...actions speak louder than words.

I assume from your username you're an older fan so presumably pride is important for you. For whatever reason results have taken over, "City's interests" in terms of a CL push are not concerned with the difference between a limp 3-0 defeat and a hard fought 3-2 narrow loss. So it doesn't really affect this discussion.

Also by the by I doubt Tevez was arguing about the selection. Had he chosen a youngster over De Jong maybe but the man has more sense than to say "Barry is shite put De Jong on".

 

[GStar]

i'm not talking about just the personnel....it was the whole attitude, there was no craft, no guile, no desire, no guts...nothing.

City fighting for 3rd place ? really ?

a neutral would have been hard pressed to correctly name the team looking to secure CL football.

I think everyone was playing at 75%, with one eye on the SF - there's not many teams in our position who wouldn't do the same.

I'm not saying that's right - its up to the manager to properly focus the team. But it's a difficult one in football and an occurence you generally see repeat itself.

 

[ST Coleridge]

I'm not stating this as gospel, but as i've had the same conversation with a couple of blues, I thought it worthy of debate on here.

I don't believe anyone can credibly argue that the ommision of Silva and De Jong from the Liverpool game was for footballing reasons. They had to be being protected for the semi final game this weekend. But it has been stated on numerous occasions that City's first priority is the league, and a place in the top 4. Again, I don't think it can be argued that that is the case either.

So did Mancini leave them out because to him personally the cup is more important because he is leaving in the summer? An FA Cup victory is surely a badge on his CV which would stand up more than a 4th place finish in years to come.

Did he take a risk which backfired for his own selfish reasons?

Again, just to make absolutely clear, I'm not saying he did, I'm just asking a question....

You know, Dave, I think you've cracked it.

I also heard that he rested De Jong and Silva because he wants to buy them for Juventus next season.

What a genius you are.