De Jong eyes Euro success

[Mark (Blue Army)]

De Jong eyes Euro success

Nigel De Jong insists Manchester City are in the Europa League to win it.

City have not won a trophy for 34 years, but with their huge financial backing silverware is one of their top priorities this term.

City open their Europa League group campaign with a trip to Red Bull Salzburg and De Jong feels glory is very much in their sights.

"We expect to win something this season," he said. "Being the first one for so long, it doesn't really matter which it is.

"Once we have got the first, I expect a few to quickly follow. We are in four competitions and we could win any of them.

"Our long-term project is to win the league but if you look at the players we've signed, they all have the winning mentality."

David Silva is poised to start that match in Austria and De Jong is tipping the Spaniard to make a big impact for the club.

"I've seen quite a lot of him over the years and we are very excited to have him.

"David reads a game very well, he has a terrific left foot and is very skilful."

City boss Roberto Mancini is also looking for Silva to show what he can do against Salzburg.

"David is now ready to play. When he arrived was he was only here a couple of days and then went off with Spain," said Mancini.

"He came back and then went away again but now he is here with us.

"I have no doubts he'll be able to cope with the English game. He's a fantastic player.

"When you arrive in the Premier League it is normal to have a few problems at first.

"But when David's played a few games you will start to see the best of him."

skysports.com

[Mike J]

once again its all talk, they need to get out there and actually do it this year.

last year we seemed to be constantly talking ourselves up off the pitch but once we got on it there were quite a few lame performances.

[sandman]

once again its all talk, they need to get out there and actually do it this year.

last year we seemed to be constantly talking ourselves up off the pitch but once we got on it there were quite a few lame performances.

Spot on. It is very rare that the performances match the same ambitions as the interviews.

I find the majority of interviews over the last 12 months cringeworthy, especially since its often the half arsed donkeys that spout off the most. (I dont consider NDJ to be one of them)

[the_georgian_genius]

What are they supposed to do when asked questions?

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Oh goody good. I was slightly worried they wouldn't be interested about the competition. I'm all relieved now. Cheers Nige.

[Fish111]

Audley Harrison talks a good fight as well. We just need to answer the feckin journos with some smart performances and then they'll stop asking shit questions.

[Chewbacca]

Cmon big Nige !!

[MaineRoadMemories]

once again its all talk, they need to get out there and actually do it this year.

last year we seemed to be constantly talking ourselves up off the pitch but once we got on it there were quite a few lame performances.

Unfortunately it’s the nature of the beast with the website we now have. It's a content hungry monster so each day they have to interview a player and ask them stupid leading questions which inevitably leads them to say we'll win everything and makes them look fools when we put in a poor performance the following day - especially as the website then fails to acknowledge the poor performance and looks for only the positives starting the cycle all over again.

[Slim]

Nige is gonna break some Austrian in two tonight, I can see it.

[sandman]

Nige is gonna break some Austrian in two tonight, I can see it.

As long as its Sybille Bammer

[Beefymcfc]

I'm glad these players don't come out telling us they'll lose!

Love the interviews, just love 'em!

[Green & Blue]

He was excellent tonight again.
We all know what a great ball winner he is but his all around game seems to have come on a lot, i think the run in the world cup has helped him step up another level as a player.
He seems far more confident in his own ability on the ball and is even passing the ball forward very nicely these days.

[Slim]

He was excellent tonight again.
We all know what a great ball winner he is but his all around game seems to have come on a lot, i think the run in the world cup has helped him step up another level as a player.
He seems far more confident in his own ability on the ball and is even passing the ball forward very nicely these days.

Maybe not forward, more sideways but willing to spray it out to the wings which I was surprised by. A lot better than we've seen of him over the last 18 months.

[the_georgian_genius]

Interesting stat from last night regarding Nigel. He made 59 passes and completed 59 passes. 100% success rate. I know he only gives little 5-10 yarders but still is very impressive to get 100% with so many passes.