EPL News: Mancini says he is not under pressure as City draw yet another game in Premier League
After Manchester City drew their second home game in a row in the English Premier League, the pressure is back on Roberto Mancini. Manchester City played against Birmingham City on Saturday in what was an interesting goalless draw. Interesting
because neither team failed to capitalize on the chance that fell their way, however it was a case of two points dropped rather than one gained for the Blue half of Manchester, as Mancini’s men lacked creativity throughout the match.
Mancini came under fire for his tactics in the Manchester derby as well against Manchester United in mid-week where, City played defensive football and in doing so they ended up drawing the match eventually against the Red Devils. However,
things have now taken a spin for the worse as far as the ex-Inter Milan manager is concerned. Mancini who usually plays only a single striker upfront has been termed as too pragmatic and this was certainly evident at the full time whistle when the departing
crowd for the Eastlands stadium in Manchester bid farewell to their team with jeers from the stands.
Speaking about the match in his post-match press conference, Mancini stated, "I am frustrated as well. I wanted to win. I don't want to draw or lose. Carlos has had a little injury for two or three weeks and I felt if we took off that
player we might have more chances to score. But if you think I put four strikers on and we score four goals, it is not true. All supporters are like this, in England and Italy. I must think like a manager. We can play wide, get the ball into the box, and then
we can score. Supporters just think why don't you put more strikers in the box, two, three, four, five."
Despite the fact that Manchester United currently have five strikers in their squad, namely Emmanuel Adebayor, Mario Balotelli, Roque Santa Cruz, Jo and Carlos Tevez. Mancini’s options have become rather limited in recent times due to
the fact that Adebayor is out with a heel injury whereas Balotelli is suspended from action.
Mancini defended himself in face of criticism as he added to his remarks by saying, "Which pressure? For what? You continue to say I am under pressure. Which pressure? Because some supporters say I did not put two strikers on, or journalists
say I am too defensive? I am not under pressure. We are in fourth position. We have some problems. Since the start of the season it has been the case that if Carlos Tevez doesn't score, no-one does. We must improve that. But we have only played 13 games. When
I have all my players and we have the right balance, then maybe we play better."
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