Lots of pre-match build-up in the Press today, as you’d expect, but amid all the Owen Hargreaves and Kolo Toure comeback stories is a mystery even Scooby Doo couldn’t solve.
Incredibly, it focuses around something I guarantee no City fan will be able to digest and it involves the World Cup winners and arguably one of – if not the – most gifted players to ever grace the sky blue shirt.Apparently, David Silva is being overlooked by his national team coach and it begs the questions, ‘how’, ‘why’ and the more obvious ‘is Vicente Del Bosque living on another planet?’
Darren Lewis picks up on the thread in the Daily Mirror, though it’s a snippet more than a feature. Still, he writes: “David Silva believes he is not a regular starter for Spain because he plays for Manchester City.
“The 25-year-old former Valencia midfielder has enjoyed a fine start to the new season, yet he maintains he is not getting fair treatment from his country under coach Del Bosque.
“Asked if he would be missing out if he played for Barcelona or Real Madrid, Silva said: ‘Sometimes I think if I had ended up at one of those clubs it wouldn’t have hindered me as much. Over the past-year I’ve felt like a bit-part player.’”
The Independent has a briefer version of the above, which is surprising to say the least, though this story broke late yesterday and therefore has been ‘out there’ for several hours. Is there really still a bias against City and what does it mean for Silva’s international future?
It’s hard to imagine how anyone could ignore the Spaniard’s form and it’s even harder to imagine that Spain won’t take him to the European Championships in 2012 – yet that’s what our gifted play-maker believes will happen.
If only we could get him to become a naturalised British citizen further down the line and tweak the rules a little so he could line-up for England instead – this is one nation that would build a team around David rather than throw him scraps from time to time.
Now there’s a thought – and we would have got away with it if it wasn’t for those meddling kids…
Mancini to give kids a chance but insists he’s taking Carling Cup seriously
Roberto Mancini has drafted several youngsters into his squad
City are set to draft in some of their promising youngsters for tonight’s Carling Cup clash with Birmingham.
Roberto Mancini is expected to hand Owen Hargreaves his Blues debut and give Kolo Toure his first game for seven months following a drugs ban.
But the City boss hinted that he will include several members of the Elite Development Squad.
Spanish striker Denis Suarez, Israeli midfielder Gai Assulin, Ivorian midfielder Abdul Razak, Dutch defender Karim Rekik and Italian striker Luca Scapuzzi, who has just signed a three-year deal, are all in the shake-up.
But young midfielder Joan Angel Roman, who tweeted about his involvement in the squad, was later dropped.
Mancini is also expected to give valuable playing time to several of his first team, including Carlos Tevez, Mario Balotelli and Adam Johnson.
Hargreaves is likely to be on the bench, while Toure should start alongside Stefan Savic.
“I think I will change many players because I think we need to recover and rest some players,” said Mancini.
“I will change seven or eight players. But we need to think about the Carling Cup because we want to win the next game.”
Mancini was criticised last year for playing a youthful back four in the third round defeat at West Brom, annoying many fans who felt it was a good chance to win a trophy thrown away.
“Last year against West Bromwich, we had a chance, but we lost so it’s important that we play well. Maybe some young players could be on the bench if the others don’t play,” added Mancini, who was at Hyde last week to see the Under-19s lose to Barcelona and was impressed by Suarez, Roman, Rekik and 17-year-old winger Alex Henshall.
Toure is understandably delighted but warned that he, and several other players, will be pressing their case for more first team action. “It’s been a long wait and a hard one, too, but it’s finally over and I can’t wait to play Birmingham,” he said.
“Success breeds success and we will treat Birmingham as if it were a Premier League game.
“We are a club who want and believe we can win everything, so make no mistake, we will be giving it everything when we go out on that pitch. There are a number of us who haven’t played much or at all this season, so Mario, Owen Hargreaves and Stefan Savic – we are all hoping to play and show what we are capable of. There will be a real hunger and desire to win.”
Micah Richards could also be rested but insists the club will be taking the competition seriously, “Last year we took it a bit lightly. I think this year we want to do something and there are a lot of quality players who weren't involved at the weekend who will be looking to get a start,” he said.
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[/spoiler]OTHER BOLLOX
Serie A giants AC Milan are targeting a move for Tottenham playmaker Rafael van der Vaart. talkSHIT
Inter Milan winger Ricky Alvarez, who Arsenal missed out on in the summer, could be set for a loan move to the Gunners in January. Metro
Arsenal and Liverpool will battle it out to sign 18-year-old striker Paco Alcacer from Spanish side Valencia. talkSHIT
Brazil international Neymar has offered a glimmer of hope to interested clubs Chelsea and Manchester City after denying he has already signed a pre-contract agreement with Real Madrid. Metro
Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko is rumoured to be a transfer target for Russian side Lokomotiv Moscow. Inside Futbol
Newcastle look set to miss out on Sochaux striker Modibo Maiga after the 24-year-old pledged his future to the French club. talkSHIT
Nottingham Forest are to sign QPR defender Clint Hill following a knee injury to Chris Cohen, who was hurt in Saturday's 2-1 home defeat against Derby County. Daily Mail
Fulham striker Bobby Zamora is hoping to force his way into England manager Fabio Capello's plans in time for Euro 2012. the Sun
Liverpool midfielder Charlie Adam says that captain Steven Gerrard's Reds return cannot come soon enough. Daily Mirror
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has reportedly ordered manager Andre Villas-Boas to field the club's youngsters in the Carling Cup match against Fulham on Wednesday. Daily Mirror
Everton are confident of holding onto youth system product Ross Barkley, with assistant manager Steve Round dismissing talk of the midfielder, 20, joining Chelsea for £20m as nonsense. Metro
Owen Hargreaves has tried to prove he is fit for his Manchester City debut by clattering striker Carlos Tevez in a training match. Daily Mirror
Arsene Wenger has insisted he wants to stay at Premier League club Arsenal for another 14 years. talkSHIT
Everton owner Bill Kenwright will move to safeguard David Moyes' future by offering his manager a new long-term contract. The Scot has two years to run on his current contract. Daily Mail
Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck has given a rare insight into Roman Abramovich's character, painting him as a footballing anorak who was naively surprised by the attention he got after buying the club. Daily Telegraph
Joey Barton has been caught by QPR team-mate Jay Bothroyd reading manager Neil Warnock's autobiography. Metro
Fernando Torres's horror miss for Chelsea against Manchester United at the weekend has been recreated for the digital age by a meticulous video-gamer. Metro
FOOTSIE APP 100 BOLLOX
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1. UK 272 +79 (100)%
2. USA 79 +21 (100)%
3. Italy 52 +31 (100)%
4. Brazil 37 +14 (100)%
5. China 35 +17 (100)%
6. France 31 +12 (100)%
7. Australia 30 +19 (100)%
8. Saudi Arabia 23 +18 (100)%
9. India 22 +9 (100)%
10. Malaysia 21 +11 (100)%
