Roberto Mancini says referees should stay objective towards Nigel De Jong
Roberto Mancini, the Italian manager of Manchester City has come out in defence of his midfielder Nigel De Jong, and said that referees have to be objective towards the incident that saw Newcastle’s Hatem Ben Arfa break his leg.
There has been a lot of criticism for the Dutch midfielder from all corners for his rash tackle on Ben Arfa during their Premier League match on Sunday.
De Jong was later not selected for the Dutch national team for the Euro 2012 qualifiers to be played against Moldova and Sweden.
Mancini said that he was very worried about the injury to Ben Arfa , he said that the African is an amazing player and has no doubts that he will be able to return to full fitness in due time. Mancini hoped that Hatem will be back
in action very soon.
The City manager while talking about his player De Jong said that, he is a player who gives it his all and is very passionate about the game. He added that still does not mean that in any way he would want to harm a player. Mancini
said that De Jong or for that matter any player should never go in with an intention to injure a player. Former Inter Milan manager said that what happened on Sunday was just part of the game. He added that the referee was on the spot and did not make a strong
call, and he would not like to comment on the official’s decision.
Mancini hoped that what happened on Sunday would not affect the way De Jong is perceived by the referees, and they would continue to remain objective about him.
While talking to a British newspaper Mancini was also asked about a reported spat between him and his Argentine forward Carlos Tevez. The manager denied the rumours and said that yes there were words said, but it was nothing serious
as these kind of things do happen in a team. He added that sometimes it is important to have some strong words in the team as it brings out the issues that are bottled up inside.
Roberto Mancini who took over Manchester City last year said that, at half time against Newcastle he had seen his team just drift through the first 45 minutes and wanted to give them a wakeup call, and that is what the loud argument
was all aboutl
"My team fell asleep in the first half against Newcastle, my confrontation with Tevez was a wake-up call for all of them.
"In the second half we won deservedly. So the wake-up call did work." said Mancini
While commenting on the media reports regarding the incident, he said that tabloids do not pay attention to facts and details. They just go on their own theories and write what they like, which he said was unethical and it has
to be clamped down. He though admitted that when he was heading to England he was warned by many former players and managers about the British press so things like these really do not come to him as a big surprise.
Mancini once again referring to Tevez said that he is a player that has a lot of potential, and if I am reported to be giving him a hard time that is only because Tevez has immense potential and someone needs to be on his back
to keep him improving as a player. He added that he handed Tevez the captain’s arm band, and that shows how much confidence the manager has in him.
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