Revolting! Meddling Mancini is losing the Manchester City dressing room
Players are no longer bothering to hide their disdain for the tinkering and tactics that saw left-back Clichy end up at right-back in loss to Ajax
Roberto Mancini is facing a battle to head off a dressing-room mutiny at Manchester City.
Mancini summoned his players in to City's training ground on Thursday morning for an inquest into their 3-1 Champions League loss to Ajax, despite the squad having not arrived back from Holland until 1am.
Several senior City players have become disillusioned with the Italians approach, culminating in their humiliating 3-1 Champions League defeat at Ajax.
Mancini was furious with his side for lurching to the brink of another Champions League group stage exit and is himself facing growing unrest from within the squad over his own approach.
Micah Richards questioned Mancini's decison to switch formations several times during the Ajax game, while fellow defender Joleon Lescott said City's players were not "overly enthusiastic" with how this season had gone, hinting at further discord.
Mancini started the match against Ajax with a 4-2-3-1 system, changed midway through to 4-4-2 and then abandoned that for 3-5-2 during the second-half, leaving his players completely bewildered.
Richards pulled no punches in his post-match assessment and made no secret of the fact there was opposition within the dressing-room to operating with a three-man defence.
"It's not something that we've worked on a lot, we're just used to a back four," said Richards. "But the manager likes it and if we want to do well then we'll have to work harder on it.
"It's a hard system and I think the players prefer 4-4-2, but he's the manager and we'll do what he says."
Mancini is famed for his stubborn streak and believes good players should be able to adapt to any formation, despite the fact they may have a preference for a particular system.
But the City boss faces a fresh test of his managerial power, with several of his players no longer bothering to hide their obvious disdain for his tinkering and tactics.
Mancini should be used to the script by now though, after nearly three years in charge at City.
The Italian has had to work against a backdrop of player dissent throughout his tenure, so the latest rumblings of discontent are unlikely to faze him.
Mancini was praised for his handling of Carlos Tevez's one-man mutiny last season and for the way he dealt with various training-ground skirmishes between his players as they - literally - fought their way to the Premier League title.
But with City now facing Champions League elimination at the group stage for the second year running and players publicly voicing their dismay at Mancini's tactics and approach, the City boss finds himself under pressure and scrutiny once again.
It all amounts to a club with serious issues to address within the dressing-room and on the training pitch if this season is not to see a return of City's familar under-achievement after last term's glorious title success.
Although Mancini's position is not under immediate threat - he only signed a new £7m-a-season, five-year contract in the summer - there will be disquiet among senior City figures over his perceived tactical failings at the highest level in Europe.
Confusion reigned among the players as Mancini switched their formation at least three times in Amsterdam.
From 4-2-3-1 to 4-4-2, they ended up playing 3-5-2 - with left-back Gael Clichy inexplicably at right-back.
The arrival of Italian defensive coach Angelo Gregucci, Mancini's former assistant at Fiorentina, has not had the desired effect, as City have conceded 20 in 12 games this season, and kept just one clean sheet.
Mancini is having to act as an interpreter for Gregucci, who cannot speak English.
Meanwhile, rumours from Spain about former Barcelona sporting director Txiki Begiristain fulfilling the same role at City hints at dissatisfaction from the club's hierarchy with the current regime.
City lost at Real Madrid in their opening group game, having led 2-1 with three minutes left, and only snatched a point against Borussia Dortmund with a last-minute penalty, having been totally outplayed by the German champions.
But for that fortuitously awarded spot-kick, City would be on zero points from three games, which sums up how little they have learned since last season's debut Champions League campaign.
"It's hard to put your finger on why it isn't working, other than to say the opposition is a great standard," said Lescott.
"Three wins from the last three is the only option now.
"It's going to be hard but two of those are at home and maybe that will give us chance to impose ourselves on the opposition.
"We still believe we have the players to do well in this competition. On paper our squad looks great but paper doesn't win games, does it?
"We need to pull it together and do it out there."
City have been poor defensively this season, with Lescott admitting the criticism they have come in for is justified.
The England international and skipper Vincent Kompany formed a formidable defensive partnership last season as City snatched the title in dramatic style.
But Mancini's willingness to break up that pairing, with the arrival of Nastasic, along with his desire to play with three centre-backs at times, has seen City lose their defensive solidity.
"Last season we were good, not conceding many goals," said Lescott. "We got a lot of plaudits, so it's only fair that we get criticism now because we are conceding more goals.
"It's been a slow-ish start to the season but we're in the top three of the Premier League and still in with a chance of qualifying for the next stage of this."
However, the cold reailty for City is that their humiliating 3-1 defeat away to Ajax has left them bottom of Group D with just one point from three games.
Ajax, who had seven academy graduates involved, have left City needing to win their remaining three group games - and even that might not be enough for them to reach the knokcout stage.
City's players fear their Champions League woes may have a negative impact on their domestic form and wreck their title defence.
But Lescott, who was at fault for Ajax's second goal, said City could not afford to let their European problems spill over in the Premier League.
"There's still a chance," he said. "Until it's mathematically impossible, we have to still believe we can do it.
"As a team we're not overly-enthusiastic about the way things are going.
"But we can't let it affect our league form. We haven't done so far and we won't do on Saturday.
"Swansea will be a very different game. We're at home so we'll look to dictate that game and create some more chances."
While City remain unbeaten in the Premier League this season, the club's Abu Dhabi owners had set Mancini a minimum target of reaching the knockout stage in the Champions League, with the expectation of advancing further
Despite publicly playing down their Champions League hopes, those in power at City had privately hoped to make a big impression on the competition this season, given the huge investment in the squad over the past four years.
While Mancini is said to still be smarting over City's failure to land his top transfer targets in the summer, Robin van Persie and Eden Hazard among them, he is unlikely to garner any sympathy from his employers, who still allowed him to spend £50million.
Javi Garcia, Maicon, Jack Rodwell, Scott Sinclair and Matija Nastasic were all recruited late on in the transfer window, and Mancini feels City's failure to do their transfer business early in the summer has been reflected in their poor European performance.
City closing in on deal with former Barcelona director Begiristain as Chelsea and Spurs lurk
Manchester City are close to persuading former Barcelona director of football Txiki Begiristain to join the club.
In a move which will spell re-organisation behind the scenes at Eastlands, the 48-year-old is ready to team up with his friend, City chief executive and former Barca vice-president, Ferran Soriano despite been courted by Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea.
He will take up a technical director role which will give him responsibility for recruitment and will also look to bring in former Johan Cruyff adviser Joan Patsy.
Begiristain is also a close ally of Pep Guardiola and, following City’s performance against Ajax in the Champions League, the appointment will only further speculation that under-fire coach Roberto Mancini will be replaced by the wily Spaniard.
However, Guardiola is determined to see out his year’s sabbatical despite the likes of Chelsea, AC Milan and Bayern Munich also all maintaining an interest in his next move.
Begiristain, who was an attacking midfielder for John Toshack’s Real Sociedad and Barcelona’s ‘Dream Team’ of the early 1990s, spent seven years as director of football at Barcelona before leaving in 2010.
He was responsible for bringing in the like of Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o and Dani Alves while maintaining the development of La Masia programme which spawned talent such as Lionel Messi.
His arrival would also change responsibilities for football administrator Brian Marwood who has clashed with Mancini over player recruitment.
Tottenham were very keen for Begiristain to join and he was interested in a move to London but a move to City will underline his belief that they are building the right project to dominate European football.
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