Mancini´s case for the defence

Roberto Mancini has called on his Manchester City team to tighten up in defence after their 4-2 FA Cup win over Leicester City on Tuesday.

Mancini’s side have conceded seven goals in their last three matches and were lucky to hang on for a 4-3 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the English Premier League on January 15.

They shipped two goals in each of their FA Cup third-round matches against Leicester and Mancini knows they will need to improve if they are to maintain a title challenge.

“Our defending has been so-so,” Mancini told ESPNsoccernet.

“I don’t like 4-2 or 4-3 results. It is good for you but not good for me. I prefer 4-1s or 2-0s and 1-0s. Those are the results that win you titles.”

“We have conceded a lot of goals in the last three games, so we must be sure to work hard.”

Manchester City struggled to contain Leicester in the first meeting at the Walkers Stadium on January 9 and they were forced to contend with another spirited performance in the replay at Eastlands.

“It is always difficult in the FA Cup,” Mancini said.

“Leicester played very well in the first 20 minutes but after we played better and scored the three goals.”

“But again in the last 15 minutes, like against Wolves, we thought that it was finished and we conceded another one.”

Leicester boss Sven-Goran Eriksson was proud of his players for remaining in contention against one of the Premier League title challengers.

“We were in the game for 90 minutes at home, and 87 here, and that’s good,” Eriksson said.

“They were better than we were tonight, but we never gave up and from 3-1 down at half-time, coming back to 3-2, we’re in the game again and of course I’m happy with that.”

“It’s a little difficult. They have some better players than us, but I think we need to be proud.”

Former City manager Eriksson hoped his players would now reproduce their encouraging cup performances in the Championship.

“Maybe there will be some different type of games, but we have shown in these two games we can play good football and stand up to physically strong teams,” he said.

“The rest of the season is very much about that.”

Wed 19 January, 2011

Mancini´s case for the defence

Roberto Mancini has called on his Manchester City team to tighten up in defence after their 4-2 FA Cup win over Leicester City on Tuesday.

Mancini’s side have conceded seven goals in their last three matches and were lucky to hang on for a 4-3 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the English Premier League on January 15.

They shipped two goals in each of their FA Cup third-round matches against Leicester and Mancini knows they will need to improve if they are to maintain a title challenge.

“Our defending has been so-so,” Mancini told ESPNsoccernet.

“I don’t like 4-2 or 4-3 results. It is good for you but not good for me. I prefer 4-1s or 2-0s and 1-0s. Those are the results that win you titles.”

“We have conceded a lot of goals in the last three games, so we must be sure to work hard.”

Manchester City struggled to contain Leicester in the first meeting at the Walkers Stadium on January 9 and they were forced to contend with another spirited performance in the replay at Eastlands.

“It is always difficult in the FA Cup,” Mancini said.

“Leicester played very well in the first 20 minutes but after we played better and scored the three goals.”

“But again in the last 15 minutes, like against Wolves, we thought that it was finished and we conceded another one.”

Leicester boss Sven-Goran Eriksson was proud of his players for remaining in contention against one of the Premier League title challengers.

“We were in the game for 90 minutes at home, and 87 here, and that’s good,” Eriksson said.

“They were better than we were tonight, but we never gave up and from 3-1 down at half-time, coming back to 3-2, we’re in the game again and of course I’m happy with that.”

“It’s a little difficult. They have some better players than us, but I think we need to be proud.”

Former City manager Eriksson hoped his players would now reproduce their encouraging cup performances in the Championship.

“Maybe there will be some different type of games, but we have shown in these two games we can play good football and stand up to physically strong teams,” he said.

“The rest of the season is very much about that.”

Wed 19 January, 2011

Mancini´s Tevez delight tempered by loss

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini said the news that captain Carlos Tevez was staying at the club was the silver lining to their loss to Everton.

Mancini’s men flopped to a 2-1 defeat at Eastlands on Monday, missing the chance to head the English Premier League table on Christmas Day for the first time in 81 years.

But while the Italian was shattered to drop points at home, the fact that his leading goal scorer Tevez withdrew his transfer request on Monday was a relief.

“I think that is important news, and is the only good news this evening. He (Tevez) is very important for everyone, for the club, for the squad, for him,” Mancini said.

Mancini said City’s slow start cost them all three points.

“We lost the game in the first 10 minutes, we conceded the first goal to easily, we slept on the first chance that they had,” he said.

“We conceded the second goal, when we were with 10 men (Pablo Zabaleta was off the field receiving treatment at the time). I think we had a lot of chances the second time, the second half.”

“We are frustrated for this, we had a big chance to go top (at Christmas) after 80 (81) years. But now we must restart, the season is long, I think if we understand that we can’t sleep when we play this game, maybe we can go on the top in the future.”

Mancini added that striker Mario Balotelli’s early substitution was ‘probably’ due to a knock to his knee, but did not confirm the extent of the injury.

Everton manager David Moyes was full of praise for his side, but added that their inability to beat lower-ranked teams was the major factor in their position in the bottom half of the league table.

“I think we can compete at the top end, but we’ve not been able to compete at the bottom end, because we’ve not been able to beat the teams below us, especially at Goodison (Park). I think when it’s come to the bigger games I think we were able to respond to the challenge,” Moyes said.

The Scottish boss credited his midfielders for their efficiency in possession.

“It was tough for us even when it was 11 men, I thought Man City played better than last year. I thought last year we had played better football,” he said.

“Tonight, it was (Mikel) Arteta and (Steven) Pienaar that made more of a difference when we had the ball. I thought the resilience and the competitiveness as a team (was good).”

“When it went to 10 men, I thought this is going to be a long (day), it was long as it was, but it was going to be longer. I thought they did a great job, resilient, stuck to our task, and ardent defending at times, blocking shots and getting in the way of things. And the goalkeeper (Tim Howard) as well, made some terrific saves.”

Tue 21 December, 2010