Mancini wants more from City

06 August 2011 15:00

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini is demanding improvement as he targets silverware on all fronts this season.

Mancini is widely expected to lead a Barclays Premier League title charge having ended a 35-year wait for a trophy by winning the FA Cup last term. City will also play in the Champions League for the first time this season and, after three years of heavy investment, Mancini knows he has to aim high.

The Italian said: "We need to forget what we did last year, that is finished. The pressure should be in the future. We want to improve. Our targets are top of the table, Champions League, FA Cup, to win every game and the Carling Cup."

He added: "It is difficult to say who will win the title - Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool - but this year it is important to stay at the top for a long time. We want to try to improve and stay at the top until the end of the season. We will try to do the best we can in the Champions League."

Mancini, whose side face champions and arch-rivals Manchester United in the Community Shield on Sunday, is likely to come under heavy pressure should his team start to falter.

His position was the subject of speculation in the latter half of the last campaign but he achieved the minimum requirement of a top-four finish - ending in third - and then secured a fine bonus in the FA Cup. Mancini would not comment on the potential fragility of his status, but accepts the coming campaign is a big one.

"It is an important season because it is a new one," he said. "The other ones I have done are in the past. It is a very big season. I think it is important for me and the guys to work well and improve last season and I think we have a good chance to do that. I am not a magician but I am sure we can do a better job than last year."

The derby element and the battle for supremacy in the city of Manchester has added more spice than usual to the Wembley season-opener.

For City it is a chance to lay down an early marker for the campaign but Mancini does not want to over-emphasise the importance of the encounter, although fans will relish a rare taste of the fixture.

Mancini said: "This one game is totally different from the Barclays Premier League or the FA Cup final. United have played this game a lot of times and it is normal for them to play this game. For us it is not, it has been a long time. It is also important because it is a derby and we want to win, like United."

Source: PA