Mancini on his team selection and The Carling Cup:

[skillman]

Couldnt agree more.....

Jo scored.

 

[Gelsons Dad]

Don't understand why the Chelsea game dictated the players we selected last night. I'd love to beat Chelsea or even get something from the game but it shouldn't be priority. Its the other teams in the league we should be going all out for the win.

Chelsea, Arsenal and to a degree Utd are games where if you pick up points then its a bonus. This is where we went wrong last season, going all out at these teams and then screwing up at teams which we should be beating.

You don't think it should be a priority but that's your perspective because your ambition is to win a trophy and the easiest to win theoretically is the Carling Cup. However, the owner, board of directors, chairman and manager disagree with you. They like most other premier league management teams consider the Carling Cup as a worthless trinket which will do nothing to enhance the clubs prospective. Our aims are stated as becoming a powerful European club. To do this we need to focus on the league and then the Europa league. To remain focused on the league we need to consider who will be fit to play on Saturday. At this stage we must concentrate on not loosing touch with the top of the league. A win or draw on Saturday will do that. So we must ensure we have the strongest possible team available for that.

All those who are ranting about getting knocked out last night are not aligned with the clubs management teams vision. If that means they have stolen the club from some of the fans well that's a shame. A shame that the fans can't adjust their expectations, rethink their vision of the clubs future and let go of the hang-ups from the past. The reality is that we are not the same club that we were 3 years ago. Everything changed when we were bought out. The past has no connection with where we are and where we want to go and the ambition to win anything belongs to the old mentality. We now have a goal that is way above the carling cup. That won't change. The owner will not abandon this project. The old city is gone. You have to accept it or you will never be happy.

 

[skillman]

Disgrace that he didn't shake Di Mateo's hand.

 

[simon23]

the fact that he rested dejong, yaya and barry says to me that we are going with the one up top formation(AGAIN!!) vs chelski

Now i dont mind his team selection last night but again it was probably hampered byt he fact htat he constantly wants to play in the only way he does...and thats playing with these 3 in midfield...

if for instance he changed his formation he could have played one of thse lst night and then not used him for the chelski match (ie barry)

but his insistane on playing one formation based around te same 3 players (which again i believe is a negative fromation and creates very little)...is also compromising his squad rotation

my team for chelski (and im not sure about injuries)

Hart

richards (if fit) kolo kompany bridge/zabba

dejong

swp yaya milner

tev

ade

that means last night he could have played barry and viera and AJ (in midfield) from the start and had them on the bench vs chelski and with silva the same (he could have started and been on the bench for the chelski match (i wouldnt play him against chelski personally)

Like i said i understand RM putting out a weaker team but his rigidity in the formation he is playing is causing himself problems.

Will he learn from this....??

 

[Didsbury Dave]

[ However, the owner, board of directors, chairman and manager disagree with you. They like most other premier league management teams consider the Carling Cup as a worthless trinket which will do nothing to enhance the clubs prospective.

SO why did Mancini march right accross the pitch to have a rant at the ref at fulltime then?

 

[ST Coleridge]

But by your logic we can't risk Kompany, Kolo, deJong et al for Chelsea as we have an inportant game against Juve on thursday......you see? your argument is flawed on every level......in football you simply cannot pick and choose which games players are fit for.....what if Kompany gets injured in training today? what if Kolo gates injured against Chelsea? To wrap players up i cotton wool for fear of injury is self-defeating and has ultimalty cost us a trophy.............

Are you mental?

a) In football you can pick and choose players - it's called rotation, it's why we have a squad.

b) It has ultimately cost us a trophy?! Count those fucking chickens, eh?

Seriously man, calm down. It's a blow, but we were never going to win all four trophies this season - now we're out of the 'worst' of these, we can concentrate on the 'better' three.

 

[bluemoon32]

The old city is gone. You have to accept it or you will never be happy.

Nah, still losing cup games to teams we should beat, still dropping league points to side we shouldn't, still the same old City.
Only difference, is now we've got a few quid :)

 

[Gelsons Dad]

[ However, the owner, board of directors, chairman and manager disagree with you. They like most other premier league management teams consider the Carling Cup as a worthless trinket which will do nothing to enhance the clubs prospective.

SO why did Mancini march right accross the pitch to have a rant at the ref at fulltime then?

Because he wasn't happy with the refs desicion. Just because it was the lowest priority doesn't mean as a manager he should be happy for the ref to deny a penalty!

 

[ST Coleridge]

the fact that he rested dejong, yaya and barry says to me that we are going with the one up top formation(AGAIN!!) vs chelski

Now i dont mind his team selection last night but again it was probably hampered byt he fact htat he constantly wants to play in the only way he does...and thats playing with these 3 in midfield...

if for instance he changed his formation he could have played one of thse lst night and then not used him for the chelski match (ie barry)

but his insistane on playing one formation based around te same 3 players (which again i believe is a negative fromation and creates very little)...is also compromising his squad rotation

my team for chelski (and im not sure about injuries)

Hart

richards (if fit) kolo kompany bridge/zabba

dejong

swp yaya milner

tev

ade

that means last night he could have played barry and viera and AJ (in midfield) from the start and had them on the bench vs chelski and with silva the same (he could have started and been on the bench for the chelski match (i wouldnt play him against chelski personally)

Like i said i understand RM putting out a weaker team but his rigidity in the formation he is playing is causing himself problems.

Will he learn from this....??

Yes, I really hope he learns all about tactics from your post. I especially like how you've put De Jong and Toure up against Mikel, Essien and Ramires/Lampard. Their midfield is so notoriously weak, we can afford to only play two in the middle.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

SO why did Mancini march right accross the pitch to have a rant at the ref at fulltime then?

Because he wasn't happy with the refs desicion. Just because it was the lowest priority doesn't mean as a manager he should be happy for the ref to deny a penalty!

If it was a worthless trinket as you say he wouldn't have lost his cool. And he wouldn't have risked the likes of Silva, Johnson and Milner in an attempt to win the game.

I'm not knocking his decision to field a weakened team, I think that was the right decision because the league is by a mile the priority.

But the team he put out there should have been good enough to beat WEst Brom's reserves. That's what he has to carry the can for.