Right so lets dust these cobwebs off, following reports today that Mancini is not wanted at the club by his own players, is he the man for the job?Now I have to admit I have a few problems with Mancini myself, so I wouldn't be surprised if the players have as well.
For me it started right at the beginning of the season, getting rid of Craig Bellamy was one of the most ridiculous decisions I have seen. He is one of our best players and for good reason, we all know what he is capable of and letting such a sought after player leave, I thought made us look arrogant. I'm not sure how Mancini justified spending so much money on new players whilst at the same time getting rid of one of the Premier Leagues most consistent players, but obviously he did. Oh and before anyone mentions the supposed rift between the two being the catalyst behind Bellamy's move, I am not taking that as a valid reason. Grown men should be able to sit down, talk it out and push it to one side. I honestly think once Mancini does not like someone then that's it and I don't like that attitude when it could cost us on the pitch.
The second player I wasn't impressed with being allowed to leave on loan is Nedum Onuoha, now while he isn't as influential as Bellamy, he is a player that I believe should be in our squad. When Nedum was allowed to leave I was quite surprised, you could see us being short in defence if we were to have an injury crisis, or you could also consider that the new defenders may not have adjusted to the Premier League. Well, the injury concern that I had has been proven correct because Mancini has had to play Dedryck Boyata. I am a massive Boyata fan so don't think I am criticising him, it's just that I don't think he is ready for starting Premier League games just yet. Mancini would certainly have been better off keeping Nedum in my opinion.
So two players have been allowed to leave that I think should have stayed but those disappointments ended up being really minor to me after seeing the way Mancini is setting the team up. One up front! That has really been annoying me, at times it has worked because Tevez is pulling it off but why should he have to keep putting in the work of two strikers considering the kind of quality that City have in the squad. It is really disappointing to see Tevez dropping off into midfield to collect the ball because he hasn't got a second striker to link up with, as well as that in the long run it will take its toll on Carlos and he will end up burnt out. Mancini needs to follow through on his comment about preferring two up top and do it a lot more often.
It isn't just the one up top thing that I have a problem with as far as the tactics are concerned, the midfield area is a sore point for me as is playing people out of position. At times we have Milner, De Jong, Barry and Toure on the same pitch, why? The latter three like to sit in the middle and are far too similar to have on the pitch at the same time, then you have Milner who goes forward but likes to get in the thick of the action in the middle of the park as well. It packs the midfield out far too much and if Mancini had the guts it would be Yaya Toure that would be long gone for me because he has been awful.
Leading on from that, Milner who I mentioned likes to go forward, really does just not on the left hand side by the looks of things. It is obvious he is far more comfortable on the right why can Mancini not see that, just like he can't see that Boateng has to keep coming on to his right foot whilst playing at left back.
There are other things I could mention but I won't otherwise I will be typing for a while, all I know is the problems we have when isolated are all quite minor in the grand scheme of things but collectively they are spoiling our performances and that includes when we win games.
I would probably not care to much if Mancini left City apart from the fact it would mean yet another managerial change. I do also have a little bit of faith in Roberto coming through and being a good manager but I stress only a little at this moment in time. I think we should give him his chance to get people back from injury so that he has a full team to choose from and if he still isn't doing the business when that happens, maybe then it should be time to worry about what should happen to him.
Is Mancini the right man in your opinion?
P.S. I'm sorry for blurting that out, I have been frustrated with City lately as well as itching to get my first post since returning out of the way.
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