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Roberto Mancini hints at Manchester City changes for Liverpool clash

Stuart Brennan

April 05, 2011
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DECISIONS: Roberto Mancini DECISIONS: Roberto Mancini
Roberto Mancini has hinted he might ring the changes for Manchester City's trip to Anfield next Monday night.

The Blues boss was “delighted” with City’s 5-0 win over Sunderland on Sunday which boosted his team back into third place in the Premier League.

But he will have Pablo Zabaleta available again, and suggested that Gareth Barry, James Milner and Edin Dzeko are all in line for a possible recall as he tries to keep his players fresh.

The game is a big one, but comes just five days before the FA Cup semi-final clash with United.

Mancini told M.E.N. Sport that the only reason he dropped Barry to the bench on Sunday was because the midfielder has played a lot of football recently and had a full 90 minutes when he captained England against Ghana in the friendly international just four days earlier.

The same went for Milner, while Dzeko had played 90 minutes for Bosnia-Herzegovina eight days earlier.

“It’s always difficult to leave a player out, like Gareth, James and Dzeko, but these players all played for the international team,” he said. “It was important that they rest because we play next Monday.”

Zabaleta returned to training on Monday despite his flight only arriving in Manchester in the morning.

Now it is a straight fight between him and Dedryck Boyata for the right back spot against Liverpool, after the 20-year-old Belgian impressed against Sunderland.

Said Mancini: “I trust in Dedryck because he is a good player, but like all the younger players he needs to improve.

“Pablo is back and will work this week so he will be available for Liverpool.”

I guess that means AJ will be dropped again and we will play Barry/Milner, Yaya and De Jong again... remains to be seen of course but I really thought the game against Sunderland showed Mancini what is possible with this team if would just release the shackles a bit.

Never a doubt that there would be changes ( or at least 1).He is saying nothing really which eeez good.

I don't know if it's been brought up on here, but Bosnia-Herzegovina have been suspended from international competition until further notice, unless FIFA/UEFA bring in an interim governing body that is allowed to field representative teams. So Dzeko won't be on international duty for a while, it seems.

BlueinBosnia wrote:I don't know if it's been brought up on here, but Bosnia-Herzegovina have been suspended from international competition until further notice, unless FIFA/UEFA bring in an interim governing body that is allowed to field representative teams. So Dzeko won't be on international duty for a while, it seems.

Great, more opportunities for him to be shit

Only one change needed.
Mad Frank in at full back.

BlueinBosnia wrote:I don't know if it's been brought up on here, but Bosnia-Herzegovina have been suspended from international competition until further notice, unless FIFA/UEFA bring in an interim governing body that is allowed to field representative teams. So Dzeko won't be on international duty for a while, it seems.

I was surprised you'd not brought this up before. It all seems like (surprise surprise) a bit of a farce.

My understanding is that Bosnia and Herzegovina have been suspended from all international competition because they failed to elect a single head of their domestic football federation (in line with FIFA regulations).

The current situation is that they have a three man leadership (one Bosnian, one Serbian and one Croat) and attempts to elect a single leader of the federation (who would clearly ultimately come from one of the three groups, likely the Bosnian one) have been stymied due to concerns of the two minorities that their interests would be prejudiced.

The three man thing comes about from pretty obvious (and pragmatic IMO) reasons as the overall football federation is made up of two individual associations: "one a Bosnian Serb and another shared by Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats, headed by a Bosniak, a Croat and a Serb to reflect the country's ethnic division after the 1992-1995 war".

Why the fuck FIFA cannot find a way to provide an exception to their rule in light of the above dumbfounds me personally. Morons. Again.

Or am I misinterpreting this Andrew?

i've no problem with changes for anfield, zabba is a shoe-in and kolarov may well need a little help down the left so i expect barry in for johnson, or for balo with johnson going up into the front 3. not saying that's what i'd do - but it's what i expect.

It was more than noticeable against Sunderland that the ball was cycled much more quickly from defence to forwards without both Barry and de Jong in the team. So Mancini is sure to change it :-(

Kladze wrote:It was more than noticeable against Sunderland that the ball was cycled much more quickly from defence to forwards without both Barry and de Jong in the team. So Mancini is sure to change it :-(

Like this?

WTF kind of sport is that?!

Bicycle football. Was a bit popular in Sweden in the 70's.

This is why we played so well the other day - Nothing to do with Mancini!

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has praised his side after their sensational defeat of Sunderland but admitted that he was somewhat taken aback by their five-goal demolition of their opponents.

- Because you never let them fucking play to their strengths you boring bastard !!!


Motivational speech by our chairman prior to Kick off.

A rousing speech from Khaldoon al-Mubarak has been cited as the inspiration behind Manchester City's push for Champions League qualification.

Roberto Mancini's players thrashed Steve Bruce's Sunderland side 5-0 at Eastlands on Sunday mere hours after being addressed by their chairman, who had flown in from Abu Dhabi to remind them of certain key priorities. These involve finishing in the top four and endeavouring to win the FA Cup.

"The chairman Khaldoon spoke to us on Sunday morning," said Adam Johnson, scorer of the game's opening goal on a day when City leapfrogged Chelsea, rising to third place in the Premier League. "He outlined what getting into the Champions League would mean to this club and, I think, spurred everyone on for the victory against Sunderland.

" He said he was fully backing us and that everyone was behind us to get that Champions League place.

"To get into the Champions League would be massive for this club but he also said how important it was to win a trophy because we hadn't won one for over 30 years."

Securing some silverware for City this spring will necessitate overcoming Manchester United in an impending FA Cup semi-final before beating either Bolton or Stoke in the final but Johnson and company seem inspired by their chairman's intervention.

"It was a really motivational message for us all to push on," said the former Middlesbrough winger, newly returned from injury. "Khaldoon has a good relationship with the players, he gets involved a lot and it was a good message which spurred us on a lot."

Having been so involved in spending upwards of £350m of the City owner Sheikh Mansour's investment on players since his installation as chairman in September 2008, Khaldoon takes an understandable interest in events at Eastlands and will have been relieved by Mancini's side's biggest league win of the season. With City finally playing with the handbrake off, albeit against opponents enduring a wretched run of form, Mancini was able to counter criticisms that his Italian managerial stye is too cautious to be translated into English glory.

Johnson may not always see eye to eye with his manager but he agrees success is tantalisingly close. "We know we have a great chance of winning a trophy this season and cementing a Champions League place," said the England international.

"We have not had a major blip this season, just a couple of bad results. There are seven games left in the league now and we have just got to keep on winning. We have got to keep pushing on."

In the process City, preparing to head to Anfield for an intriguing game on Monday, must avoid dropping one of the two balls they continue to juggle. "You have to play in the moment," acknowledged Johnson. "Next up we have got to look at our Premier League game against Liverpool. Despite the fact that most neutrals are looking ahead to our semi-final against our biggest rivals we can't take our eye off the league situation."

Nonetheless, Johnson is permitting himself to indulge in a little anticipation of that Wembley date with United on Saturday week. "It will be a massive game, an unbelievable occasion for everyone," he said. "There is nothing better than playing at Wembley. I've played there for England a few times and each occasion is huge. The semi-final will be a massive pressure game and, as a player, you want to show what you can do."

None more so than a winger anxious to make up for lost time after being sidelined with ankle ligament damage. Sunday represented Johnson's first start for two months and he revelled in reminding Mancini just how much his creativity had been missed.

"It has been hard watching while I've been injured. I have felt forgotten about for the last seven weeks so I felt like I had something to prove, to show 'I'm still here'," said Johnson. "I want to play a massive part in what we are aiming to do between now and the end of the season."


LIVERPOOL HAVE SO MANY INJURIES AND THEIR DEFENCE IS A SHAMBLES - THE SAME TEAM OUT AGAINST SUNDERLAND SHOULD BE THE SAME ONE AGAINST THEM...AND IM INCLUDING BOYATA IN THAT......ZABBA HAS NOT HAD ANY TRAINING OF NOTE FOR 2 WEEKS..HE SHOULD NOT BE INCLUDED IMO.

mr_nool wrote:Bicycle football. Was a bit popular in Sweden in the 70's.

Crazy swedes... It looks lethal, but oddly intriguing.

Surprised no one has mentioned it, but this may mean that the team vs Sunderland will be the team vs scum. And I'd love to see us line up so attacking against them

bluej wrote:

mr_nool wrote:Bicycle football. Was a bit popular in Sweden in the 70's.

Crazy swedes... It looks lethal, but oddly intriguing.

Massive in the Czech Republic, the Pospisil brothers won 20 world titles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posp%C3%AD%C5%A1il_brothers

[youtube]qO8xBlkumYM[/youtube]

Mental!

Crazy stuff that bycicle football!!

Fuck me, that takes some skill to play.

Completely agree with Carl. The same team that played againt Sunderland should start against Liverpool and I mean the EXACT same team.