Mancini praises City's English players
Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has said that his English players' strong display for the national team during the international break reflects positively on his club.
Six City players were called up by Fabio Capello for the squad that faced Bulgaria last Friday and Switzerland on Tuesday.
Out of these, Joe Hart, Gareth Berry and James Milner started in both games, with Joleon Lescott getting the nod against Switzerland and Adam Johnson and Shawn Wright-Phillips making substitute appearances.
Johnson, who came on for Arsenal's Theo Walcott in both games, impressed with his wing play and scored an important goal in each game, his first two for England.
"It was very important for the club because it is the first time there have been six of our players," Italian Mancini told the club's official website. "It has happened in Italy before with Juventus players, but I think it is unusual here in England. For England to have six City players is something everybody at the club is very proud of, myself included."
Hart convinces for club and country
Capello will also have been impressed with keeper Hart, whose performance against Bulgaria earned England a clean sheet. While he had some nervous moments against Switzerland, Hart cannot be blamed for Xherdan Shaqiri's remarkable long-range goal.
The 23-year-old's recent form has made him first-choice keeper at City and for the national team within the space of a month.
Mancini also said he was especially pleased with the six players' national team performances because he values their presence in the City squad.
"I believe it is important that we have that because of the English mentality. I want the core of the squad to be Englishmen, and we have signed English players despite what sometimes gets said by the media."
Several Premier League managers, including Arsene Wenger at Arsenal and former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez, have been criticized for not bringing in enough players of domestic origin.
Such criticism is harder to put forward against Mancini's City.
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