Ajax put three past a desolate City on Wednesday night
Carl Kinsella
Staff Writer
Surveying the away team changing rooms in Ajax’s Amsterdam Arena on Wednesday, moments after a loss that all but cripples Manchester City’s Champion’s League ambitions, Roberto Mancini must have been struck by something rather painful. Having whimpered their way to defeat against the Dutch champions midweek, Man City’s increasingly forlorn-looking manager must be coming to a realization. For every Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure and Samir Nasri he can buy – there are certain things in life that simply can’t be bought.
Man City are champions of England. Considering Mancini is in charge of the highest paid, most expensive group of players in English football history, well, they’d bloody well want to be champions of something. It was a trophy that was very nearly squandered on multiple occasions and despite summer reinforcements in the form of Jack Rodwell, Javi Garcia and Maicon, City’s grip seems loser than ever. And Roberto Mancini, pacing the touchline on Wednesday like a dead man walking, knows exactly why.
There is no dearth of quality in the squad assembled by Mancini (and very partially Mark Hughes), but when a side of such immense talent stumbles to the least convincing Premiership win ever, something is amiss. And if there’s anything we’ve learned from Manchester United’s continued dominance of the Premier League, it’s not always talent that wins you titles. It’s a mentality, it’s a desire, it’s an attitude. And while there’s no more of a dearth in attitude than there is in quality at the Etihad Stadium, by no means is that a good thing.
Just after City’s defeat on Wednesday to a team whose European pedigree has fallen rather drastically over the past decade, defender Micah Richards took to the press to air out some perceived flaws with Mancini’s demands. He accused Mancini of playing the defenders in a system that did not suit them, and Richards claimed the players were uncomfortable with the formation. Nobody needs reminding that Mancini’s managerial honours include three Serie A titles in four seasons at Inter Milan. Nobody except the City players, it would seem. Mancini encountered a similar dispute last year when Carlos Tevez refused to take the field against Bayern Munich – the Argentine striker has given varied excuses for his behaviour that night but it’s hard for your average football fan to look beyond the petulant nature of a football who wasn’t happy to start a big game on the bench. Top of Mancini’s shopping list of things that money can’t buy? One word, etched into the paper, emboldened over and over: respect. It eludes Mancini with more evasiveness than a Champions League title.
There are many out there who question Mancini’s credentials, often the same people who talk of managers like Harry Redknapp and David Moyes as miracle workers. It’s a misguided kind of questioning. A manager cannot be blamed for every attitude problem in his squad. If players are to hold such power over contract negotiations and whether or not they stay at a club anymore, they should be prepared to expect responsibility for their performances from fans and press alike. When David Silva angled his way into a new contract worth £30,000,000, he must have been licking his lips with glee, perhaps even more now that his formed has dipped severely and yet his manager’s tactics and backbone are the things that get put under the microscope. And what of Mario Balotelli? Football’s idiot-savant who performs once every blue moon (perhaps fittingly for a City player). Is Mancini a genius when Balotelli shines and a fool when he stutters? He is neither. Balotelli is a grown man, one blessed with incredible footballing ability, whose job is to put the ball in the goal. If he can’t do that, it falls on his shoulders and his shoulders alone.
The role of a manager has become contorted in recent years, made to look glamorous by attention-hogging Mourinhos and brooding, romantic Guardiolas. The dugout is rarely occupied by a visionary, simply a man who knows his football – something that cannot be denied about Roberto Mancini. It is not his job to play a father figure to Mario Balotelli, or to treat Carlos Tevez and his wife to couple’s counselling. The role of a manager is rather straightforward: win. Roberto Mancini has proven he can fine-tune a team to do just that, but worse than ever, inflated prices, inflated wallets and inflated egos are getting in the way. And it’s about time that we, as fans, turn our attention from the dugout back onto the pitch.
