Goals win games but Roberto Mancini is adamant that clean sheets win titles.
The City boss has repeatedly demanded more goals from his players in the build-up to the new season. And he got his wish as they stuck four past promoted Swansea on Monday night.
The free-scoring start to the Premier League campaign was just what the Italian wanted.
He reckons his team will need to score somewhere in the region of 75 league goals this season – 15 more than they managed last term – if they are to mount a serious title challenge.
But even though Mancini has pledged to set his side up to attack more this season, he is reluctant to give up an excellent defensive record.
And there is a sense that the clean sheet against the Swans gave him just as much satisfaction as the four goals his team scored.
The Blues achieved 18 shut-outs in the Premier League last term more than any other club and let in just 33 goals – the fewest they have ever conceded in a top-flight campaign.
Ask Mancini if he would rather win 4-3 or 1-0, and he will give you the same answer every time.
“For me, if we win 38 games 1-0, that’s okay,” he said. “But this is impossible.
“It’s better when I can stay on the bench and watch a game like the one I saw on Monday night, when we created more chances and scored more goals.
“But it’s important we don’t concede many chances to the opposition. It’s important that your squad have a balance.”
Balance has been a watchword for Mancini all summer and he is not convinced he has yet got it in his squad.
The arrival of Sergio Aguero and the lack of suitors for Carlos Tevez has left the manager with a wealth of attacking options, with Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli and David Silva in the mix too.
But whenever he has been asked about where he wants to strengthen in recent weeks, Mancini has always come back with the same answer: central midfield.
“We need to strengthen in the middle,” Mancini said. “We have a problem there because last year we had five midfielders with Patrick Vieira, and we still had a problem.
“This year, we have four midfielders because Patrick has retired, and we have to play in the Premier League, the Champions League, the FA Cup and the Carling Cup.
“We could have a problem this season, but I hope that in the next 10 days we can work harder than now and we can buy or loan. But we need other players.”
As far as Mancini is concerned, having the right balance to his squad is crucial. It is why, although he intends to be positive at Bolton tomorrow and throughout the season, he will not throw off caution altogether.
He said: “David Silva, Tevez, Aguero, Dzeko, Balotelli all play together? It’s impossible. Or at least, it’s difficult.
“But maybe it could happen during a game some time. Maybe when we are losing at home or away, we can try to put all of these players on the pitch.
“But it’s difficult, because you need to keep a balance in the team.”
Mancini, though, insists he is playing to win every game despite accusations last season that, in some of the big matches, he was setting out not to lose.
He said: “We always play aggressively. We always want to attack. Last year, we won some games comprehensively.
“Against Liverpool at the start of last season, for example, we scored three goals and created a lot of chances to score, and we played with only one striker.
“The general mentality is that if you play with four strikers, you can attack more. But sometimes, that is not true.
“It’s important to have a balance in the team. If you have two or three strikers, they always need to work for the team. But that is particularly true in the Premier League.
“It’s true that we have more offensive players. It’s important that all of these players can play, and that we can take more risks maybe than last year.
“This year, we need to score more goals if we want to win the Premier League.”
Outcasts will not play for Manchester City again
Craig Bellamy and his fellow City outcasts have been told they won’t play for the club again even if they are still around when the transfer window shuts.
Bellamy, Emmanuel Adebayor, Roque Santa Cruz, Wayne Bridge and Nedum Onuoha are all looking for new clubs after being frozen out of Roberto Mancini’s first-team plans.
Tottenham are pushing on with their bid to sign Adebayor on loan but are struggling to find the finances to pay his £160,000-a-week salary with the Blues adamant they won’t subsidise it.
Bellamy wants to go back to Cardiff, where he spent last season on loan, but his salary is also proving a stumbling block. Leeds have expressed an interest in Santa Cruz but have yet to follow up with an offer while Everton, Blackburn and QPR are looking at Onuoha and Newcastle are mulling over a move for Bridge.
Mancini has indicated he needs to off-load these players quickly to free-up space in his squad for new recruits, although his move for Samir Nasri will not be affected if he can’t.
“If we can sell these players, then we have more of a chance of taking in other players to finish our team,” Mancini said.
“We need other players to complete the squad, but until we sell the players that are here, it is a problem.”
Asked if there was any chance of the outcasts making 25-man Premier League squad, which must be named by September 1 if they weren’t shipped out, Mancini said: “I don’t think so.”
And he added: “I didn’t buy these players. I can answer only for the players I buy.
“I tried with these players two years ago but they are not part of my plans.
“I am sorry for this, because I respect these players. But it is better that I am clear with them.”
Roberto Mancini laments money 'wasted' as Manchester City fail to sell surplus stars
Manchester City may be caricatured as a club where money is no object but manager Roberto Mancini has expressed frustration at his inability to remove a group of unwanted players who are bleeding hundreds of thousands of pounds from the club every week.
As their failure to find a buyer for Carlos Tevez has demonstrated, City's policy of paying high salaries and offering long contracts, began under Mancini's predecessor Mark Hughes, has produced a pool of footballers who are almost unsellable. Once the deal to take him back to Sao Paulo to play for Corinthians collapsed, there was only a handful of European clubs able to swallow Tevez's salary and even the likeliest of those, Internazionale, has been backing away from the prospect.
Tevez, however, has a future if he stays at Manchester City, which is more than can be said for Emmanuel Adebayor, Craig Bellamy, Wayne Bridge, Roque Santa Cruz and Shaun Wright-Phillips, none of whom will feature in Mancini's Premier League squad. Even at a conservative estimate of their wages, they are costing City around £350,000 a week.
"I don't like the club spending so much on these players," said Mancini. "If we had moved earlier and more quickly [to get them off the books], we would have spent less money.
"I did not buy these players and I can only answer for the players that I buy. I tried with these players two years ago but they are not part of my plans now. I am sorry about this because I respect these players, but it is better that I am clear with them."
Adebayor is still likely to leave for Tottenham, although the deal is not as imminent as has been suggested. The Celtic manager, Neil Lennon, said yesterday he would be interested in Santa Cruz, although Bellamy's wages made his return to Celtic Park – where he played briefly after falling out with Newcastle – unfeasible.
Tevez may still play for Manchester City but he is unlikely to start at Bolton tomorrow because of his exertions in the Copa America. When it was pointed out to Mancini that Luis Suarez, who unlike Tevez had played in the final, had started Liverpool's opening game of the season, the City manager replied that, unlike Suarez, Tevez had gone on holiday after the tournament. Suarez, it should be said, did not finish the game against Sunderland.
"There are reasons why Carlos wants to leave," said Mancini. "I respect his reasons but if we don't close a move for him, he will stay with us."
Mancini dismissed the thought of a sullen, disruptive Tevez hanging around the Carrington training ground, trying to negotiate a way out of the club. "I don't think so because he is a professional player and he knows the rules. He knows that, if he wants to leave the club, he can, but at the moment there is no other club prepared to pay his value. Carlos knows he might have to stay but, if he does, his mentality will be good."
QPR eager to splash out for SWP
Ambitious QPR are offering Shaun Wright-Phillips a stunning £3million-a-year contract.
Rangers' new owner Tony Fernandes has given manager Neil Warnock the cash to offer Manchester City £2million for the England winger and the Premier League new boys are clear to speak to the London-born star about moving back to the capital on the wages he wants.
Wright-Phillips has been on the brink of joining Bolton rather than fellow suitors Stoke and Wigan, although his personal terms were proving a problem, but now QPR have topped all of the offers on the table.
Rangers hope the chance to carry on at his City salary of around £55,000-a-week will lure the 29-year-old away from Bolton - although Owen Coyle's club won't give up without a fight.
"It's fair to say he is a player we would love to get to the club," said Coyle. "There is no issue with his willingness to come or our desire to have him. But it is not settled yet financially."
QPR will have to convince Wright-Phillips to join their 'revolution' under Fernandes though, and there would be the question of whether he would have to take a pay-cut if they go down.
The west Londoners' new financial clout has caused a stir in the transfer market as the summer window enters its final days.
QPR are also willing to pay West Ham skipper Scott Parker his £70,000-a-week salary in full if he joins them either in a permanent move or on loan.
Their move for Parker has hit Tottenham's hopes of landing the England midfielder on the cheap.
or according the the Sun Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips could be in line for a shock move to Italian giants Lazio. Wright-Phillips returned back to Manchester City in 2008 after a spell with Chelsea, however since returning to City he has found it hard to gain a regular spot in the first team.
Chances of regualr starts or appearances have become even hard to come by since Roberto Mancini took over at Eastland's, and the City boss has made it clear Wright-Phillips is more than welcome to stay but chances will be limited.
The 29-year-old is in the final year of his contract, and ideally Manchester city would like to make some money for the player, with the winger being valued at £2.5million.
During the course of the summer a number of clubs have shown an interest in acquiring the services of the former England international including, Bolton, Stoke, Wigan and Paris St Germain.
However it now seems as though Lazio have also entered the race for Wright-Phillips signature before the new Seire A season gets underway next weekend.
Last season Wright-Phillips made 18 appearances for City, with most of them coming for the side in the Europa League and he managed to score one goal, whilst helping the side win last seasons FA Cup.
AC Milan are looking at loan deals for Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli, Spurs striker Peter Crouch and Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani. Daily Mirror
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[/spoiler]OTHER BOLLOX
Juan Mata is on the verge of joining Chelsea from Valencia for £23.5m. The Guardian
Liverpool outcast Daniel Pacheco is a target for Spanish side Rayo Vallecano. The 20-year-old striker has made only 14 appearances in all competitions for the Merseyside club since he arrived from Barcelona in 2007. talkSHIT
Arsenal target Mathieu Valbuena will not be joining the Premier League club this summer - but Marseille are willing to cash in on him next year. talkSHIT
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce believes a club will meet the Hammers' £8m valuation and buy Scott Parker before the window closes. Daily Mirror
Liverpool and Spurs are weighing up bids for Hugo Rodallega as Wigan boss Roberto Martinez admits he is struggling to hang on to the £9m-rated striker. Daily Mirror
Tottenham centre-back Sebastien Bassong is a £2m target for Turkey's Bursaspor. Daily Mirror
Arsenal agree a deal in principal with Lille for midfielder Eden Hazard worth £23m - but nothing will be signed until the future of Arsenal's Champions League aspirations for this season are known. Footybunker
Sunderland boss Steve Bruce has admitted that he "hates every minute" of the Tyne & Wear derby - hours before Saturday's game at the Stadium of Light. Daily Star
Cesc Fabregas says he left Arsenal because he had gone stale.The Sun
Meanwhile, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes his new captain Robin van Persie can be the "perfect leader". The Guardian
Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas has praised John Obi Mikel for the "amazing mental toughness" he has shown since his father was kidnapped almost two weeks ago in Nigeria. The Sun
Everton manager David Moyes has dismissed fears of an impending financial crisis at Everton by insisting he is in charge - not the bank. The Guardian
Former Manchester United goalkeeper Massimo Taibi says that he can relate to David de Gea's poor start to life at the club. The Sun
Jack Wilshere has discovered why he might not getting much fan mail after he posted a picture on Twitter showing his empty pigeon hole had misspelled his name. Metro
