|
|
Manchester United will falter in title race, insists Mancini
Feb 2, 2013 8:44:00 AM
The Italian is adamant the fixture pile-up will take its toll on Sir Alex Ferguson's men and has not given up hope of his side repeating the miraculous fightback of last term
Roberto Mancini is adamant Manchester United will slip up in February as they try to balance their Premier League title charge with Champions League aspirations.United currently lead rivals City by seven points as they gear up for a month which sees them take on Real Madrid away, as well as throwing up domestic clashes with Fulham, Everton, Reading and QPR.
Yet although Sir Alex Ferguson's men enjoy a commanding lead at the top of the table, Mancini is in no mood to give up hope just yet, having seen his team dramatically claw back an eight-point deficit in the final six games of last season.
 |
|
| PREMIER LEAGUE LATEST |
|
| 19/1 | Manchester City are 19/1 with BetVictor to beat Liverpool 3-0 |
"In every championship, never has one team won a title in January. We should fight until April. If they have seven, eight, nine points in April it could be difficult. But in this moment we have a big chance.
"Every team during the season has two or three weeks when they don't play well, when their performances go down and they don't score.
"Even if you have fantastic strikers, like the situation we had last year, there were some moments when we scored three or four goals a game but then didn't score for three or four games and we didn't know why.
"It could be the same for them now."
On Sunday City face a challenge of their own as they take on Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium, and Mancini took the opportunity to praise his opposite number, Brendan Rodgers, who almost became his assistant three years ago.
"I talked with him but for me it was easier to take David [Platt] because I played with him, I knew him very well and David spoke Italian," he added.
"I was impressed with Brendan. I met him in Milan. I spoke about him with our chief scout [the former technical director Mike Rigg] and also with Garry Cook [the former chief executive].
"He impressed me because he knows his football very well, he showed he is a good manager in the last two years. I'm not surprised he went to Liverpool because he's a good manager."
| Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
|
| Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
|
| Sign up to Paddy Power for £250 in free bets |
|
| Sign up today with Coral and get a £50 FREE bet - no strings attached! |
|
| Sign up today with BetVictor and get a £25 FREE BET! |
|
Related Stories
Inside Goal.Com
-
Player Ratings: Siena 1-2 AC Milan
Goal was on hand to judge all the players as Allegri's men finished third in Serie A and secured a Champions League berth next season
-
Player Ratings: Barcelona 2-1 Valladolid
Goal rates the players on show as the newly-crowned Liga champions cruised past the challenge of Miroslav Djukic's men to keep up hopes of reaching 100 points
-
Arsenal hold their nerve in top-four battle
Arsene Wenger's side produced a clinical performance to secure a top-four Premier League finish but now they must kick on if they wish to challenge for honours next year
-
Player Ratings: Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal
Laurent Koscielny's 52nd-minute volley secured the Gunners the win over Alan Pardew's side and made sure they would be playing Champions League football next season
-
Player Ratings: West Brom 5-5 Man Utd
Sir Alex Ferguson was given a farewell to remember, but certainly not for the right reasons as the Romelu Lukaku-led hosts battled back from three goals down to earn an unlikely point
