Silva planning for Manchester City gold rush
David Silva is convinced FA Cup glory for Manchester City today can be the springboard for them to join Europe's elite clubs.
With their Champions League place for next season now secured, Roberto Mancini's side have their sights on beating Stoke at Wembley to end the club's 35-year wait for a trophy.
But for Silva and his City team-mates, this is just the beginning of a process they believe can eventually see them rival the likes of Manchester United and Barcelona.
"We're starting to do things now and to achieve things," said Silva. "Let's hope it's the start of bigger things to come. The aim is to be fighting for all titles, as soon as possible.
"We are on the right lines, because what we've done this season is very positive. We've got to the FA Cup final and reached the Champions League by securing fourth spot.
"This is the plan we need to be following in the next few years, that same upward curve. We aim to be fighting for trophies on all fronts, and why not?
"It's normal for people to be talking about Manchester United on a European level because of what they've achieved over the last few years and the trophies they've won.
"But it would be a good sign towards what we're achieving now and the future if City was the name on the lips of people in terms of European football.
"What you have to notice about a team like Barcelona is that it hasn't happened overnight.
"They've been working in the same style for a good number of years. Everyone knows their job when they go out on that field and has confidence in what they want to achieve. They all work hard.
"It's certainly something we have to be aiming for."
Silva said City's emergence as a team capable of challenging the very best in Europe had not gone unnoticed by his Spain team-mates, particularly the Barca trio of Andres Iniesta, David Villa and Xavi.
"When we get together in the national side, one of the last things we talk about is football," said Silva. "When you're with your mates, there's loads more personal stuff you chat about.
"But they have mentioned that City are on the way up, growing and moving in right direction.
"We've chatted about facing each other in the Champions League one day."
Were it not for the glut of goals from Carlos Tevez and the defensive reliability of Vincent Kompany, Silva would surely be in with a shout of being named City's player of the season.
Signed from Valencia for £24million last summer, World Cup and Euro 2008 winner Silva arrived with a big reputation; his slight frame the only doubt over his suitability to the physical nature of the Premier League.
But the winger has been one of Mancini's best buys, his guile and creativity a key factor in City clinching Champions League football and being on the brink of a long overdue trophy.
"The fact there are lots of small footballers in English football shows that size doesn't matter," said Silva. "We know Stoke are a big side who play with a lot of aggression.
"We know they'll be hard to beat, but at the same time it's a final and we feel we can beat them."
Although he has won the game's top honours with his country, Silva is desperate to win the FA Cup, not least because of what it would mean to City's success-starved fans.
"It would be just as meaningful for me in the sense that it's been a long time since City won a trophy or even got into a final," he said. "So I know how important it is for the people who follow this club.
"Because I've had such a good time here and been treated so well by the fans, it's important I give something to them - a trophy."
If Tevez is unhappy he should leave - Mancini
Roberto Mancini has told Carlos Tevez he can quit Manchester City if he is not committed to the club.
Tevez will start today's FA Cup final against Stoke but his future is in doubt, with the City skipper said to be keen on a move this summer.
And City boss Mancini has told £40million-rated Tevez - who handed in a transfer request earlier this season - he should leave if he is unhappy.
"Carlos has got a five-year contract, but in my opinion a player should stay here because he believes in the project and he's happy to stay at the club," said Mancini.
"If I'm not happy to stay, then I'll leave. It's the same for the players. If they aren't happy to stay, it's better they leave.
"When you start your job you should be happy, because the season is long and there could be a thousand problems.
"I have never said that Carlos wants to leave - I said that it would be his decision. At the moment, he has a five-year contract here.
"He's scored 22 goals and that's very important. But we've got this far because all the players have contributed.
"I would say all the players here at the moment are happy to stay because this season they've worked well together and we've got into the Champions League."
Real Madrid and Inter Milan are both keen on signing Tevez, and the City board have now accepted it may be in their best interest to sell their captain this summer.
City fear a repeat of last October's unseemly saga over Tevez's future, with his representatives understood to be keen on a fresh, lucrative move for the 26-year-old.
The latest clash between the pair coming during Tuesday's 1-0 win over Tottenham at Eastlands, which secured their Champions League place.
Tevez, keen to prove his fitness following a hamstring problem ahead of today's final, was angry Mancini kept him waiting to come on and gave his boss a volley of abuse when told to carry on warming-up.
Mancini claimed he gets on with Tevez, but said he could not guarantee if the forward would be at City next season.
"I don't know," he said. "We have a good team this year but we need to improve.
"To win the title is harder but if we can buy good players with experience of winning with other teams, that would be good for everyone."
Mancini also warned his players they face a major test of their will and strength of character against Stoke, whom they have not beaten in the last four meetings.
"We've played against Stoke four times in the past year and we've had a problem in every game," he said. "They are not easy to play against.
"We have to focus on every situation. Their set-pieces could be difficult for us. We must be patient and work hard.
"Stoke are different from any other team.
"They are a physical team and the game will be 95 minutes, maybe more if there's extra-time."
MANCHESTER CITY v STOKE: PROBABLE LINE-UP FOR TODAY
Manchester City (4-2-3-1) Hart; Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov; Barry, De Jong; A Johnson, Yaya Toure, Silva; Tevez
Stoke (4-4-2) Sorensen; Wilkinson, Huth, Shawcross, Wilson; Pennant, Whelan, Delap, Etherington; Jones, Walters
MANCHESTER CITY v STOKE: LAST TIME IN THE LEAGUE...
Stoke 1 City 1 November 27 2010 - City, who had just won handsomely at Fulham, thought they had banked another three points on the road when Micah Richards fired them ahead with just nine minutes remaining. But in the end they had to be content with a point after Matthew Etherington latched on to a Tuncay back-heel to slot home an equaliser two minutes into stoppage time.
MANCHESTER CITY v STOKE: LAST TIME IN THE FA CUP...
Stoke 3 City 1 February 24 2010 - There was little between the two sides until it all kicked off in extra time of this fifth round replay. The first game ended 1-1 at Eastlands and that's how it finished after 90 minutes in the Britannia Stadium rematch, with Dave Kitson on target for the Potters and Craig Bellamy supplying a leveller. Then Emmanuel Adebayor was sent off for elbowing Ryan Shawcross, who subsequently headed Stoke in front five minutes into extra time. A clincher from Tuncay set up a last-eight meeting with eventual Cup winners Chelsea.
THE DAY CITY AND STOKE BECAME FA CUP RECORD-BREAKERS
Manchester City and Stoke attracted a crowd of 84,569 for an FA Cup sixth round tie in 1934 - an English attendance record outside Wembley, which still stands today.
City won 1-0 when an intended cross by winger Eric Brooke floated into the Stoke net.
But the Mirror report was critical of errors by 19-year-old Stoke winger named Stanley Matthews, whose was to enjoy his own Cup glory 19 years later when he lifted the trophy with Blackpool.
It also said City’s right-half Matt Busby was “the cleverest player on view”.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic transfer to Manchester City is a no-go, says agent
Manchester City have been warned off moving for Zlatan Ibrahimovic because the striker wants to win the Champions League with AC Milan.
The super Swede, who’s just won his eight league title in eight years with four different clubs, is currently on loan at the San Siro with an agreement in place to take the striker permanently from Barcelona for £22million.
However, Roberto Mancini recently fueled speculation that he’s prepared to hijack the deal when he said ‘he would always find a place for Ibrahimovic in the City team’.
With Carlos Tevez believed to be headed for an Eastlands exit, it seemed plausible that Mancini may be tempted to make his move for the striker he had at Inter Milan.
But Ibrahimovic’s agent, Mino Raiola, has dampened any speculation, saying: ‘Of course now that Mancini is in a place to want Ibra, because Zlatan brings with him not only his technical knowledge but a winning mentality.
‘The manager of City is well aware (of his quality) because he had him at Inter. When the Swede arrived at Inter, they had not won anything yet and then we saw what happened.
‘Ibra could make the final leap for Manchester City, but Roberto must not talk to me, but to Adriano Galliani (Milan CEO).
‘I believe it’s not easy to take Ibra away from AC Milan, and he does not want to leave, he wants to win in Europe with the Rossoneri.’
Balotelli: I owe it to Mancini and myself to change
He already has a reputation as a bad boy with a screw loose, just one season after arriving in English football.
But Mario Balotelli has vowed to change his ways to justify the faith placed in him by boss Roberto Mancini.
The Manchester City striker said: “I’m trying to change. I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for Mancini. He’s really important to me.”
So far this season the 20-year-old star has...
Been lambasted for joking he is better than Wayne Rooney.
Lunged at by Mancini himself after being sent off as City crashed out of the Europa League to Dynamo Kiev.
Lampooned for that YouTube video in which he struggles to put on a training bib.
Laughed at because of his allergy to grass.
Landed punches during training ground bust-ups with team-mates.
And had a suitcase lobbed at him by his exasperated boss as the relationship between the pair reached breaking point.
The litany of footballing crimes and misdemeanours will not have been lost on his former boss, Jose Mourinho, who claimed Balotelli would be a world-beater if he even trained at 50 percent, instead of just 25 percent.
But now Balotelli is determined to stay on the road to redemption to ensure Mancini, who launched his career at Inter Milan, ends up vindicated.
His attempts at reinventing himself and showing a new maturity are likely to be tested today when he has to accept a role off the bench at Wembley.
But Balotelli said: “I started to play in Serie A under [Mancini] so I have to give to him a lot.
“Also I’m trying to change some of my behaviour. On the pitch sometimes I have not behaved badly, but wrongly.
“I respect everybody but sometimes when I lose the ball I go back to the other player, but sometimes I lose the ball and I don’t follow him.
“Now I’m starting to do all these things because Mancini is very important for me.
“I have to listen to him and if I want to become a big player, I need to do stuff I don’t like.”
Balotelli arrived in England from Inter Milan last summer for £24million – staggering given the striker could not get a game with last season’s Italian Treble winners.
And for long periods of this campaign the price tag has been a millstone around Mancini’s neck with Balotelli’s antics attracting a stack of unwanted headlines.
To be fair, they are tempered by the touching tale of him accompanying a random youngster to his school to confront a stunned bully recently.
But that sort of story has been offset by his regular trips to Manchester’s Deansgate to eat at his favourite restaurant, San Carlo.
The jaunts, just half a mile from where he lives, have seen him park his Maserati illegally, incurring up to £10,000 in fines, just because he can afford to pay.
Balotelli added: “Do you know how many times I park the car and there is a queue of cars and they give a parking ticket only to my car?
“I don’t know if it is because they want to talk bad about me. I don’t know why. But one day it’s going to change, I hope.
“I think I’m a normal guy of 20 that loves football, loves his family, loves his friends.
“The one thing I have different from the other guys my age is I have money, but money is not really important for me.
“My life was difficult but the more important thing is when your family and your friends love you and stay with you – that’s the really important thing.
“People say: ‘Oh Mario, he thinks only about money and he’s lazy’ and everything. Because I drive a Maserati. But if you are 20 and you can buy a Maserati you’re going to buy one, aren’t you?
“I don’t think I’m bad because I own a Maserati or a Q7 or because I have 10 parking tickets outside San Carlo.”
Balotelli has more yellow and red cards than goals, with 10 strikes for City compared to 11 cautions and two sendings-off.
His training-ground fight with team-mate Jerome Boateng only confirmed many people’s perceptions of him as a trouble-maker but he insisted: “I like to do my own things. I know you don’t believe me, but I’m really shy.”
He claims the best is yet to come from him and that next term supporters will see more of the player for whom City shelled out their now customary king’s ransom.
“This year was not really good because when I came here I was injured,” he said, “then I played some games, and was injured again so I’ve been a bit unlucky.
“But next year I will try and I’m going to improve my performance.”
* Mario Balotelli was talking to ITV's Ned Boulting. See the full interview in ITV’s coverage of the FA Cup final today on ITV1 from 1pm
WAG OF THE DAY
OTHER BOLLOX
Scott Parker has admitted his future may lie away from Upton Park if West Ham are relegated, with Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs leading the chase for his signature.Metro
Yuri Zhirkov is wanted back in Russia by Spartak Moscow who are ready to launch a £12m summer bid for the Chelsea star. talkSPORT
Arsene Wenger has admitted that Arsenal still have not tied down Samir Nasri to a new contract despite the French midfielder being offered a deal worth £80,000-a-week. Nasri has just one year left on his current agreement so Arsenal will be faced with the prospect of having to sell him this summer unless he commits himself to the club. Daily Mirror
Aston Villa winger Ashley Young has opened the door to a summer move after hinting that he wants to win titles and cups. Liverpool and Manchester United are both thought to be interested in the England international. Daily Express
Werder Bremen winger Marko Marin has claimed he is wanted by Liverpool as the Anfield club plan a summer spending spree. talkSPORT
Porto striker Hulk has insisted he is open to making a move to the Premier League with Tottenham, Newcastle and Liverpool all interested in signing him. But the Brazilian has said he will only come to a club challenging for the title. talkSPORT
Aston Villa have offered goalkeeper Brad Friedel a new deal, but West Brom are also showing an interest in the former Liverpool and Blackburn stopper. the Sun
Newcastle are plotting a move for Bordeaux's giant hitman Cheikh Diabate as they hunt a replacement for Andy Carroll. Daily Mirror
Sunderland are leading Everton in the battle to sign England striker Jay Bothroyd on a free transfer this summer. Daily Mail
Tottenham are ready to steal a march on rivals Arsenal with a move for Standard Liege midfielder Eliaquim Mangala. Metro
Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina has been convinced to stay at Anfield after Kenny Dalglish was appointed permanent manager. The Telegraph
Harry Redknapp has revealed that he considered signing Luis Suarez in January but opted against making a bid after being told by scouts that the Uruguayan was not up to the grade. The Guardian
Gerard Houllier could make a surprise appearance in the stadium at Aston Villa's final match of the season at home to Liverpool. The Independent
Blackpool captain Charlie Adam has admitted his side's Premier League future is still in the balance going into the last two games of the season. talkSPORT
Everton are confident Marouane Fellaini will end speculation about his future by signing a new long-term contract at Goodison Park. Daily Mail
Sir Alex Ferguson fears the appointment of Kenny Dalglish as permanent Liverpool manager could herald a successful new era at Anfield. Daily Star
