Manchester City head in to tomorrow night’s Manchester derby with United in 4th place in the Premier League just three points behind their city rivals.
They are also only five points behind leaders and champions Chelsea. Yet City boss Roberto Mancini doesn’t seem that confident in the squad he has assembled.
Acceptance
Ahead of the crucial clash the Italian told the media: “I think Chelsea will win the Premier League as they are better than the other teams,”
“But all the other side’s that are near them can try because the season is long and difficult. We must play a lot of games.
“Our target must be the Champions League. It is important we are near Chelsea and Manchester United in January and February.
“I think we can have a chance. We must take it game to game. For the moment we must only think of United.”
Those are not words of a champion. He is almost already accepting that they will not win the Premier League title. Having spent millions shouldn’t he be ultra confident that his squad are capable of winning the title? He should be but apparently he isn’t.
Ambitious
Manchester City’s owners didn’t take over Manchester City to just challenge for the top four. They are expecting their club to be champions. It may take time but the amount of money they have already spent they should at least be hoping that their manager displays his confidence in achieving their aims.
Realistic
Obviously Mancini is being realistic but I think he should be realistic in private and play it cagier in the press. If I was a Manchester City fan I wouldn’t want to hear my team’s boss saying that they are playing for second place in the Premier League, even though we were still in with a chance of winning the Premier League title.
Mourinho
Manchester City has long been linked with Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho. He is the sort of boss that would guarantee instant success. The only question is would he be prepared to leave a club he only joined in the summer.
And also would he be prepared to leave arguably the biggest club in the world for Manchester City. He has always stated his love of English football and also that he wants to return to the Premier League one day. He has also been linked with the managerial hot seat at United.
If City did fire Mancini then Mourinho would be very unlikely to take the job, especially as Real Madrid are looking very strong in both La Liga and the Champions League. If Mourinho does return to the Premier League I don’t think it will be for a few years and when he does his likely destination is Old Trafford.
Champions League
I’m sure Manchester City will qualify for the Champions League this season. If they don’t then you can be sure that City’s ambitious owners will be looking for a new manager next May.
The problem for the next man would be fulfilling the lofty aspirations of City’s fans and owners because of the vast amount of money that has been spent on players in the last few years. Money is a vital resource to football clubs but sometimes too much can prove a curse. And that could just be the case at City.
Should Manchester City be challenging for the Premier League title?
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