Mancini on his team selection and The Carling Cup:

[YourBirdCanSing]

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.

This all sounds good, but it doesn't reflect the reality. The more domestic cups Mancini wins, the more stepping stones there are towards the bigger goals, the more he shows himself to be winner, and the more the owners decision to appoint him is vindicated.

Alternatively, the less City win, the more pressure will be heaped upon the club from all sides, the harder it will be for everyone (players, management, chairman) to do their jobs, and in the end the harder it will be for Mancini to keep his.

A club that has won nothing for 35 years is not in a position to pick and choose which competitions it would like to win. Everyone wants to go from A straight to D without passing through B and C. But it's not realistic, and I don't believe the owners think it is either.

This was a winnable cup. We should have tried harder to have a go.

 

[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....??

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.

er milner aand also swp are in midfield as well both who are excellent defensive as well as going forward.....whe we lose the ball both have the pace and know how to tuck in and defend...swp pace can be used to defend against cole out on the left hand side (which is one of chelskis best ways of attacking....having swp there will make him think twice about it...and SWP tackles as well as anyone....

and as for milner...well people on here led me to believe that he has a great engine on him and is a box to box player who can defend as well as attack .

so thats 4 vs the 3 you mention ( i hope i dont need to go into detail about how godd defensively Yaya and dejong are....dejong can track lampard with his late runs int ot ehbox which meand yaya can take control of essien when he comes forward.....cheslki dont attack ddownt he right as much as their left so milner can also tuck in and help out

Get this into your head please.......IM NOT anti RM...!! If you read some of my m,ost recent posts i was actually defending him for the basis his team selection last night.i unberstand why he put some of the kids in...but he got the balance wrong again

 

[Gelsons Dad]

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.

OK "worthless trinket" is an overstatement. But if you substitute lowest priority the point is the same. It's a shame we couldn't beat their reserves but it shows how critical a good defense is. We had nobody else last night and I hope it doesn't dent Boyata's confidence too much.<br /><br />-- Thu Sep 23, 2010 12:01 pm --<br /><br />

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.

This all sounds good, but it doesn't reflect the reality. The more domestic cups Mancini wins, the more stepping stones there are towards the bigger goals, the more he shows himself to be winner, and the more the owners decision to appoint him is vindicated.

Alternatively, the less City win, the more pressure will be heaped upon the club from all sides, the harder it will be for everyone (players, management, chairman) to do their jobs, and in the end the harder it will be for Mancini to keep his.

A club that has won nothing for 35 years is not in a position to pick and choose which competitions it would like to win. Everyone wants to go from A straight to D without passing through B and C. But it's not realistic, and I don't believe the owners think it is either.

This was a winnable cup. We should have tried harder to have a go.

I see we completely disagree and will leave it at that as I see no benefit of arguing for arguing sake.

Lets hope we're all happy at the end of the season.

 

[ST Coleridge]

er milner aand also swp are in midfield as well both who are excellent defensive as well as going forward.....whe we lose the ball both have the pace and know how to tuck in and defend...swp pace can be used to defend against cole out on the left hand side (which is one of chelskis best ways of attacking....having swp there will make him think twice about it...and SWP tackles as well as anyone....

and as for milner...well people on here led me to believe that he has a great engine on him and is a box to box player who can defend as well as attack .

so thats 4 vs the 3 you mention ( i hope i dont need to go into detail about how godd defensively Yaya and dejong are....dejong can track lampard with his late runs int ot ehbox which meand yaya can take control of essien when he comes forward.....cheslki dont attack ddownt he right as much as their left so milner can also tuck in and help out

Get this into your head please.......IM NOT anti RM...!! If you read some of my m,ost recent posts i was actually defending him for the basis his team selection last night.i unberstand why he put some of the kids in...but he got the balance wrong again

No, that's 4 vs 5, when we include Cole and Ferreira. Their spare man will be in midfield, while ours will be at the back. We'll be going two up top against Terry & Alex, but in fairness the ball will only reach them via a punt from the fullbacks.

De Jong and Toure would have to watch the runs of - and run past - Essien and Ramires, at which point they'd run into Mikel. Similarly, Mikel will be able to receive the ball from defence and start their moves from a fairly advanced position.

I know that you're not anti-RM, it's just that I'm very anti-442 ;)

 

[BurnCK]

It just makes it more of a fukin joke we have spent millions and cant beat WBA SECOND STRING FUKIN SICK

Yeah because Vidal, Mee, Cunningham, etc, cost us millions. You're making out like we had our 1st choice team out and got beat.
As Mancini has already stated, we would have had a stronger team out but his hand was forced by injuries.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

It just makes it more of a fukin joke we have spent millions and cant beat WBA SECOND STRING FUKIN SICK

Yeah because Vidal, Mee, Cunningham, etc, cost us millions. You're making out like we had our 1st choice team out and got beat.
As Mancini has already stated, we would have had a stronger team out but his hand was forced by injuries.

And why have we got so many injuries so early in the season? It has to be the way we're training.

 

[Troubadour]

Mancini OUT!

It was a disgrace to play such a team and throw away the opportunity of progressing further. An insult to the fans and the club.
We get the '34 years' rammed down our throats week in - week out and he goes and plays that team!
Mancini does not understand this club, the fans and what we are about.
Roll on January when he will be on his way.

 

[persvenality cult]

Yeah because Vidal, Mee, Cunningham, etc, cost us millions. You're making out like we had our 1st choice team out and got beat.
As Mancini has already stated, we would have had a stronger team out but his hand was forced by injuries.

And why have we got so many injuries so early in the season? It has to be the way we're training.

Has to be. 7 players out. something's not right.

Same with Wenger (9 out), Bruce (9 out), Hughes (8 out), Redknapp (7 out), Ancelotti (6 out)

They're all doing it wrong!

 

[BurnCK]

Yeah because Vidal, Mee, Cunningham, etc, cost us millions. You're making out like we had our 1st choice team out and got beat.
As Mancini has already stated, we would have had a stronger team out but his hand was forced by injuries.

And why have we got so many injuries so early in the season? It has to be the way we're training.

Kolarov - Injured in a match
Boateng - Not sure, but would have been back by now if not for a dizzy stewardess and a drinks trolley.
Ballotelli - Injured in a match
Bridge - Injured in a match

Not sure about the rest, but I doubt it's all down to training. More like bad luck.

-- Thu Sep 23, 2010 12:54 pm --

Mancini OUT!

It was a disgrace to play such a team and throw away the opportunity of progressing further. An insult to the fans and the club.
We get the '34 years' rammed down our throats week in - week out and he goes and plays that team!
Mancini does not understand this club, the fans and what we are about.
Roll on January when he will be on his way.

34yrs....here we go again. Considering we've been shit for the majority of those 34yrs I don't understand the obsession with it. If we'd been a major force and still not won anything for 34yrs then fine, we'd have something to moan about. I personally couldn't care less about the past, I'm looking towards the future because we are now in a position to win things better than the Carling Cup. It's a disappointment but not the end of the world. People are making out like Mancini is the first manager ever to field a weakened side in this competition. Managers at lesser clubs with longer trophy droughts than us have been doing it for years....<br /><br />-- Thu Sep 23, 2010 1:07 pm --<br /><br />

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!

Because he obviously still wanted to win the game but originally felt that the team he put out were up to it. He made a mistake, shit happens, get over it.
Would you rather that he hadn't shown any emotion to losing and simply decided at 2-1 that it was already game over ?

 

[PSmyth07]

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.

What so if we win the Carling Cup we can't achieve top 4? Its a load of shit.

If we want to progress as a big European team then good cup runs should be expected, not overlooked.