Good article - sums Mancini up for me:
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-city/8394317/Manchester-City-manager-Roberto-Mancini-could-cost-club-Champions-League-place-with-caution-in-Chelsea-defeat.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... efeat.html</a>
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini could cost club Champions League place with caution in Chelsea defeat
On 77 minutes, Roberto Mancini summed up Manchester City’s approach and the difference between these two sides.
His substitutes were warming up and he sent assistant Brian Kidd to call one over. The game was goalless and there to be won — would he call on a striker and go for it? Mario Balotelli pointed at his chest, hoping he would be the one. Mancini shook his head and asked for defender Dedryck Boyata.
Before the change could be made, City were a goal behind and it was a Chelsea defender who scored it, the new cult hero that is David Luiz, heading home a free-kick. Not unexpected — central defenders are supposed to get on the end of such attacking positions — except Luiz had won the kick, deep out on the edge of the City penalty area. But what was he doing out there in the first place? He was there because he had decided to try to win this match.
Once behind, Mancini did throw on Balotelli and Adam Johnson but it was too late. The game was up.
“We were ready to change when we conceded the goal,” Mancini said, concerned that City were struggling to gain a foothold of possession. But that change was to be a defensive one. City were not going to go for it and they paid the price. It was all the more galling as Luiz is a player they decided not to bid for.
City were well beaten when Ramires scored a wonderful second goal deep into injury time to add a gloss to the result which saw Chelsea overhaul their opponents and move into third place. The result will also add impetus to Tottenham Hotspur’s hopes of finishing fourth, and they now appear to be in a head-to-head battle with City, just as they were last season.
And, just as they were last season, it may also come to down a meeting between the two, still to be scheduled, at Eastlands. Fail to finish in those Champions League places, the minimum requirement for Mancini, and it’s difficult to see him remaining beyond this campaign.
But such is City’s poor run of form, having crashed out of the Europa League in midweek, that they appear to be in a downward trajectory. They have just eight points from their last seven matches in the business end of the season and they have not won away from home since Boxing Day. In the absence of the injured Carlos Tévez, they appear more than ever to be a one-man team, which is ridiculous given the money spent.
They also play the same way. Always. Be it against Reading in the FA Cup, Dynamo Kiev in Europe or Chelsea away. There is no variety, no tactical innovation, no boldness. Mancini again blamed fatigue yesterday but that’s not an excuse which can be acceptable. “Had we won it would have been fantastic,” Mancini said. But first they had to try to win.
There should be greater ambition at such an ambitious club. Mancini will now hope that the tear to Tévez’s adductor muscle is quickly healed. The prognosis is two to three weeks but he desperately needs his captain for the home match against Sunderland on April 3. He also needs to get far more out of Balotelli — a £24 million signing — and the £27 million recruit Edin Dzeko. These are concerning times for Mancini. Even if he gains that fourth place he can count himself fortunate if he is not replaced for the next campaign. His innate caution may be his downfall.
