Tuesday's B*ll*x

[Chinners]

Mancini insists he is on track to deliver at City
Roberto Mancini has dismissed suggestions that he feels under any pressure at Manchester City, having coped with the intensity that goes with the top job at Internazionale for four seasons. The Italian has faced criticism that he had not improved City since taking over from Mark Hughes last December, given their roughly similar points totals this season and last, but his position was strengthened by a comprehensive 4-1 win over Hughes' Fulham on Sunday.
The result at Craven Cottage sent City back into fourth place in the League, a position that Mancini has previously said would satisfy him should City finish there. That would mean qualification for the Champions League play-off round, which would be the first time since 1968 that they had been involved in Europe's most prestigious club competition. But having enjoyed considerable success with Inter, Mancini feels relaxed about his attempts to do the same thing for City. "Journalists continue to say I am under pressure. I am not under pressure," he said.
"When you have worked for Inter Milan for four years it is impossible to be under pressure. They are one of the top teams in Italy and one of the biggest clubs in the world.
"When I went there, they hadn't won anything for years. I was under pressure every day, with people demanding to know, 'When will Inter win? When, when, when?' But I stayed four years, which is a big record for a manager there."
Mancini went on to defend his record so far at City. Since taking over, he has been criticised for a defensive style of play, which has seen City both score and concede fewer goals than they did under his predecessor. Hughes said after he saw City beat his Fulham team that City's chances of winning the league were dependent on their continuing to be "a bit more attack-minded". But Mancini insisted that his cautious approach was correct. "It is impossible to build a house from the roof down," he said.
"You must start with the basement. Now, maybe we are on the second floor. We have time but we must continue to improve."
The City centre-back Vincent Kompany said that Sunday's performance was one of the best of the season so far. "We have had a couple of good performances but this was one of a very high standard," said the Belgian.
"When we came in at half-time we said, 'This is the standard we have to expect from ourselves now for the whole season'."
Kompany is keen that Sunday's performance becomes a benchmark for performances for the rest of the season. "There is not one minute of this season that we want to play at a lower level than we did at Fulham. Maybe we won't achieve it but if the team shows this mentality it is a good thing.
"Who knows where we go now? But the ambition of any team in the top six should be to compete with Chelsea and Manchester United and there is no reason to suggest why it would not be possible." Independent

Manchester City eye £8m Udinese defender Zapata as rivals United look set to land Leeds teenager Kebbie
Manchester City are watching young Udinese centre-back Cristian Zapata.
City scouts have joined Inter Milan in monitoring the 24-year-old who is a tall, quick and aggressive defender who can also play right-back.
The Colombian, who has won 12 caps, is contracted to Udinese until 2013, and he is valued at £8m.
Meanwhile neighbours Manchester United look set to land Leeds teenager Elliot Kebbie after an 18-month pursuit.
United are understood to have agreed a £500,000 deal.

Silva hails 'great striker' Tevez
Manchester City's David Silva feels Carlos Tevez deserves comparison with Spain and Barcelona striker David Villa.
Silva is uniquely position to assess the two men's qualities, having starred alongside Villa for Valencia last term before heading to England and life with Tevez at Eastlands.
The 24-year-old accepts the two players are somewhat different in their approach but feels their impact is equally significant.
Tevez scored two more goals at Fulham on Sunday to take his season's tally to nine, and assume top spot in the Premier League scoring charts.
And Silva is adamant the Argentina forward deserves bracketing with the best players on the planet.
"Carlos is a great striker, one of the best I have played with," said Silva.
"David Villa tends to go more to the wings and look for the spaces behind the defence, whereas Carlos works in the centre channel and also holds the ball in front for us so we can play.
"They are both great goalscorers."
Certainly after a turbulent couple of weeks, City are right in the thick of the title picture, having closed the gap on joint leaders Chelsea and Manchester United to just three points.
With their added financial muscle, which could come into play during the January transfer window, City have their backers as potential title winners this term.
Not that Silva is allowing himself to get consumed by that prospect.
"Everyone has been losing points but the same is also true of us," he said.
"All we can do is keep on moving forward, try to do our job and see where it takes us."

The VMC Man of The Match No. 21 versus Fulham
The VMC Forum Posse have spoken. The uncompromising Aleksander Kolarov is running into form and fitness and in typically self assured style means business...
Any Lazio fan will tell you this is a bloke to have on your side when you are up against it and he is likely to come into his own at Stoke.
With his outspoken desire to be the very best, the big Serbian left back is on course to become a fan's favourite with his marauding runs and excellent dead ball delivery which had Fulham in a panic. He has a tendency to smack in left foot rockets out of nowhere and nearly netted with one curler. A worthy Man of The Match.
Oh yes, and that David Silva again proved what a failure he is at Premier League level. (copyright all Street of Shame football hacks - August 2010).
Meanwhile, our Captain needs no introduction. 38 goals in 53 City starts now with 9 already bagged this season.
13. Aleksandar Kolarov 30.43%
21. David Silva 21.74%
32. Carlos Tevez 21.74%
5. Pablo Zabaleta 8.7%
42. Gnegneri Toure Yaya 8.7%
27. Joao Alves Jo 4.35%
34. Nigel De Jong 4.35%
25. Joe Hart 0%
28. Kolo Toure 0%
4. Vincent Kompany 0%
18. Gareth Barry 0%
11. Adam Johnson 0%
24. Patrick Vieira 0%
7. James Milner 0%

WAG OF THE DAY
http://www.caughtoffside.com/2010/10/11 ... il-clancy/

DAILY BOLLOX
Juventus are eyeing up a bid for Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov, whose form has dipped dramatically after a solid start to the season. Daily Mirror

Everton target Yannick Djalo says he is interested in joining the Toffees from Sporting Lisbon in January but only if it is for the good of the Portuguese club. Daily Mirror

Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier could be lining up a move for Brazilian midfielder Juninho, 35, who played for the Frenchman at Lyon. Daily Mirror

Houllier also has his eye on Middlesbrough centre-back David Wheater, whose contract with the Championship strugglers ends in June. Daily Mail

Bolton are to hold last ditch talks with Swedish forward John Elmander on Wednesday about signing a new deal at the club. the Sun

Chelsea's stars fear for the future of manager Carlo Ancelotti who they feel is being seriously undermined. the Sun

Inter Milan are preparing a shock bid to replace manager Rafael Benitez with England coach Fabio Capello. talkSPORT

Raul Meireles believes he can fill the gap left by Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard during the captain's absence through injury. The Portugal midfielder was moved from the right to the centre in the Reds' 3-0 win against West Ham on Saturday. Daily Mirror

West Ham are on the verge of sacking assistant manager Zeljko Petrovic following the Hammers' dire start to the season but boss Avram Grant is set to stay put. Daily Mail

Tottenham defender Gareth Bale has the potential to be as good as Lionel Messi, according to Brian Flynn, who hopes to manage Bale as Wales boss. "Comparisons with Messi wouldn't faze him a little bit," says Flynn. "He wouldn't be worried by that sort of adulation because of his intelligence, as he can handle being a big star." Daily Mirror

[markuse]

Zapata: very good CB but you don't want to have him play continously at RB, trust me. I've lost at least a couple of years because of the heart attacks he's given me while playing at RB