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Roberto Mancini wants Manchester City to 'be more Italian'
The former Inter manager feels the Eastlands club's approach should be that if they cannot win a game, they should at least make sure they do not lose it
12 Feb 2012 13:00:00
By Adithya Ananth
Getty Images
Roberto Mancini insists that Manchester City must approach away games in a more "Italian" fashion and go in with a mindset of not wanting to lose the match as opposed to trying to win every clash.
The Eastlands club have experienced problems on the road in the recent weeks, having won only one of their last six away games. They have also had trouble scoring goals on their travels, since three of those matches ended without City putting the ball in the back of the net.
Mancini feels that teams have begun to adapt to City's style of play, and reckons he will have to adopt different tactics in the coming weeks.
"When we go away from home now, the teams we play keep all their players behind the ball and so it is difficult.
"At the start of the season, it was different. Teams gave us more space and we took advantage.
"In the last two months, our opponents have approached games differently. That is normal because of the results we were getting. We have lost three games away from home – and we didn’t deserve to lose any of them.
"We played well at Chelsea, Sunderland and Everton but couldn’t score.
"When that happens, the team has to be more careful to make sure that we take at least a point."
Mancini added: “We need to show more attention when we play away from home.
"It is impossible to play at 100 per cent for the whole year.
"There will always be moments during a season when you play well and other times when you have a problem.
"I hope that, if we have a good result against Villa, things will change away from home.
"We will have Yaya and Kolo Toure back from the African Cup of Nations and Mario Balotelli will also be back for us.
"Sometimes we need to be more Italian and make sure that, if we can’t win, we don’t lose."
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The Eastlands club have experienced problems on the road in the recent weeks, having won only one of their last six away games. They have also had trouble scoring goals on their travels, since three of those matches ended without City putting the ball in the back of the net.
Mancini feels that teams have begun to adapt to City's style of play, and reckons he will have to adopt different tactics in the coming weeks.
"When we go away from home now, the teams we play keep all their players behind the ball and so it is difficult.
"At the start of the season, it was different. Teams gave us more space and we took advantage.
"In the last two months, our opponents have approached games differently. That is normal because of the results we were getting. We have lost three games away from home – and we didn’t deserve to lose any of them.
"We played well at Chelsea, Sunderland and Everton but couldn’t score.
"When that happens, the team has to be more careful to make sure that we take at least a point."
Mancini added: “We need to show more attention when we play away from home.
"It is impossible to play at 100 per cent for the whole year.
"There will always be moments during a season when you play well and other times when you have a problem.
"I hope that, if we have a good result against Villa, things will change away from home.
"We will have Yaya and Kolo Toure back from the African Cup of Nations and Mario Balotelli will also be back for us.
"Sometimes we need to be more Italian and make sure that, if we can’t win, we don’t lose."
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|
| Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
|
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