Source: Man_City
Mancini puzzled by paper talk
Roberto Mancini has defended his training methods, saying he finds it "incredible" that reports have suggested they are a divisive issue within the Manchester City squad. Mancini enjoyed four straight wins after being appointed manager at Eastlands in December with the team netting 10 times and conceding only once, but since then things have been more of a struggle. City go into the FA Cup fifth-round replay at Stoke with only two wins from their last seven matches. The Italian's honeymoon period seems to be over and rumours of unhappiness amongst the players about his approach to the job - in contrast to that of his predecessor Mark Hughes - have risen to the fore in recent weeks. However, although he admits his style may take some adjusting to, Mancini is keeping faith with his techniques and remains fully confident they are the right ones to deliver success. "I read that the players are angry because I changed the time of the training sessions, that I changed (things) because we did more tactics," Mancini said. "I read these things, but these are our players. Players want to work on the pitch training with tactics, with power, with running - these are normal things. "I changed the time of the training because 11 o'clock is too cold and the pitch is frozen. I don't know the other history (of training). For me, everything is normal. "I understand that it might not be their habit to work in that tactical situation, but this is my opinion - I work in this mode. City tactics "I work because I think if you want to win the Premier League, if you want to win the Champions League, you must prepare very well for every situation. "Tactics, power, running; if these aren't very good, it is impossible to win." For many, the anti-climax of Sunday's 0-0 draw with Champions League rivals Liverpool - in which they only had one meaningful effort on target - summed up the problems City are experiencing under Mancini. But midfielder Gareth Barry has since insisted that the squad are training well and are right behind the manager, something Mancini feels was actually vindicated by the performance against Liverpool. "For me it is incredible when I read that I have a problem with some players. I read a newspaper yesterday night and Gareth Barry said the right things - that they work very well on the pitch," Mancini said. "For me, if they didn't work very well in the past week, against Liverpool we wouldn't have played with this tactical situation. "Liverpool is a strong team. If we hadn't prepared for this game very well, maybe we could have scored one goal, but we could have conceded two or three goals minimum. "We played very well against Liverpool because the players prepared for this game very well, worked very hard." What do you think? Have your say.| Submit Comments| Comments (9)| PrintWhat's this? Emaildel.icio.usDiggredditFacebookStumbleUponNewsvineGoogle BookmarksNetscapeTechnoratiWindows LiveYahoo! MyWebMa.gnolia
