Mancini welcomes Tevez return

Roberto Mancini believes his Manchester City team need four strikers if they are to be successful in the English Premier League title race.

Mancini can now call upon the services of Carlos Tevez after the Argentina forward ended his self-imposed exile.

Tevez returned to England last week and has issued an unreserved apology for his part in a falling out with the City manager in September.

And Mancini feels the former West Ham and Manchester United man can still play an important part in the final months of the season.

"I think Carlos knows the team very well," Mancini said.

"The team in the last six or seven months have played very well and is top of the Premier League."

"We know Carlos very well, he is a top striker. If he is good, I think he can do a good job in the next two months. He has apologised, I do not have any problem."

"Carlos can't play in the Europa League but we will have four strikers for the Premier League and I think that will be good."

"If we go through in the Europa League it will be important to have four strikers."

Tevez joins a strike force which already includes Mario Balotelli, Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko.

Aguero and Dzeko were both on the score sheet as City beat Porto 4-0 in the Europa League round of 32 on Wednesday.

"Sergio is another top striker but he is still young and needs to improve," Mancini said.

"He has scored a lot of goals."

"He has been important during the season but it is important now, and during the last two months, to have all the strikers available."

"I am happy also for Edin, scoring another goal. If we have Carlos, Mario, Edin and Sergio on the top I think it will be good for the team."

Sumber : Soccerway

Mancini opens door to Tevez

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has spoken of a potential reconciliation with Carlos Tevez.

The rift between the Eastlands boss and the striker opened up when the 28-year-old allegedly refused to go on as a substitute in a Champions League clash against Bayern Munich.

Now Mancini appears to have had a change of heart and is willing to bury the hatchet, despite previously saying that the Argentine would never feature under him again.

Following the Bayern match, which ended in a 2-0 defeat for City, Mancini said Tevez was "finished" at the club and would not feature again as long as he remained manager.

This led to the forward being banished from the first-team, and he eventually returned to his homeland.

But now Mancini appears to be willing to put the dispute behind him and insists that he will speak to Tevez, should he return to Manchester.

"Carlos knows the situation," Mancini told The Sunday Mirror.

"If he comes back we will talk because I have no problem with him."

"Everyone knows that Tevez is a top player and it would be better for us if he was here."

"Carlos has the ability to change a lot of games. I don't know what whether he will come back this week, but if he does he can play a part in the last three months."

"It depends on his physical condition because he hasn't played for four months. Maybe he can recover his strength quickly."

Tevez was linked with a move away from Eastlands in the January transfer window, with AC Milan, Inter, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool being linked with his services.

But he was still a City player when the winter window closed last month.

Sumber : Soccerway

Mancini laughs off talk of pressure

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has vehemently denied that pressure is getting to his team as they prepare to take on Fulham.

The Italian personally blamed himself for the midweek defeat to Everton after suggesting that he may have under-estimated the opposition before the game. City have lost half of their eight games in 2012, exiting both domestic cup competitions in the process.

To make matters worse, Manchester United have caught them up in the title race as they drew level on 54 points following the Citizens' loss to Everton.

City will hope to re-establish a three-point cushion over United with a win on Saturday, particularly as United have a tricky trip to Chelsea to negotiate on Sunday afternoon and Mancini was quick to laugh off talk of feeling the strain.

"There is no pressure when you are top of the league," said Mancini. "This is impossible. The players shouldn't have pressure on them."

"We've scored 60 goals and we have the best defence in the league. This championship depends only on us and not other teams."

The 47-year-old is under no illusions of the task he faces to deliver the title to Eastlands, but he feels that having managed at Inter Milan, no-one can doubt his ability to see out a season, having won three successive Serie A titles with them.

"There doesn't exist a place like Inter Milan, where you can really be under pressure. After Inter Milan, you can manage every team," he said.

"Inter Milan has a big history like United. When you are a manager there you have a pressure every day, every minute. After Inter Milan you can't have pressure."

The Italian is backing his strikers to get the Blues out of their mid-season slump. After such a blistering start to the season, City's strikers have been found wanting in recent games.

Sergio Aguero has notched just one in five. Mario Balotelli is serving a four-match suspension and even though Edin Dzeko has netted two in four, he has still missed several gilt-edged chances.

However, Mancini insists that he has no issues with his strike force.

"People were saying how many goals City could score - 100, 200 - but this is impossible," he said.

"There are some moments when you score three or four goals but others when you can't score any goals."

He added: "It is impossible to score three or four goals every game for 38 games. Probably when Sergio, Mario, Dzeko start to score goals - that moment will probably change our situation."

The questions surrounding City’s own ability clearly does not worry Mancini, but he is wary of the threat they pose.

"I think until now we have had a fantastic season," he said. "But we know that if we want to win the title, you can't win it now."

"You should fight until the last two or three games because United have big experience."

Sumber : Soccerway.com