Manchester City returned to Premier League play this past weekend with an emphatic 4-0 destruction of Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.
Rovers defended stoutly for almost an hour, before Adam Johnson opened the scoring with a spectacular curling effort to give City a 1-0 lead. Mario Balotelli doubled the City lead three minutes later when he volleyed home Samir Nasri’s cross.
Nasri himself got on the score sheet in the 73rd minute, before defender Stefan Savic iced the game with an 87th minute header.
The win leaves City behind league leaders Manchester United on goal difference alone, and will have raised morale after what had been a turbulent week.
On Tuesday night City traveled to Germany and were convincingly beaten 2-0 by Bayern Munich. A Mario Gomez brace handed City defeat and there was clearly a gulf in class between the two teams on the night.
As if that in itself was not enough to dent locker room morale, Roberto Mancini had to deal with selfishness and petulance from his so called star players.
Edin Dzeko was rightfully subbed off after putting in a poor display, and chose to throw his arms around, shake his head at Mancini and act like a child. Worse was to come from the ‘me me me’ brigade, when Carlos Tevez, who was horrified at the fact that he did not start despite not scoring yet this season, refused to warm up when asked to come off the bench.
Thankfully, it appears the self serving behavior of Dzeko and Tevez did nothing other than hand Mancini an opportunity to reinforce his influence in the dressing room, and show his strong leadership skills.
Mancini assured the assembled media after the game that they had seen “the last time” a City player would act in the manner of Dzeko. Regarding Tevez Mancini simply said the striker was “finished” at the club and the team would move on without him.
This is simply an outstanding show of management and leadership in a dressing room full of egos. Tevez was City’s best player last season, and if he is not allowed to act like this, what are the odds of the temperamental Mario Balotelli throwing a strop in the near future?
We live in an era where it has become fashionable to pander to star players, and a coach must ‘understand’ each individual. While there is an element of truth to that, the team must always be bigger than the individual.
Having the humility to be part of a bigger cause is crucial in football, and Mancini has demanded that every player at City do exactly that.
The strong words of Mancini have been reinforced by actions. He fielded a team without Tevez and Dzeko, and they destroyed Blackburn 4-0. This is a clear message to the disgruntled pair that the team can, and will succeed without them.
The result and performance at Ewood Park that City may have been knocked down in midweek, but they have got back up again and will be strong title contenders as the season progresses.
Nasri himself got on the score sheet in the 73rd minute, before defender Stefan Savic iced the game with an 87th minute header.
The win leaves City behind league leaders Manchester United on goal difference alone, and will have raised morale after what had been a turbulent week.
On Tuesday night City traveled to Germany and were convincingly beaten 2-0 by Bayern Munich. A Mario Gomez brace handed City defeat and there was clearly a gulf in class between the two teams on the night.
As if that in itself was not enough to dent locker room morale, Roberto Mancini had to deal with selfishness and petulance from his so called star players.
Edin Dzeko was rightfully subbed off after putting in a poor display, and chose to throw his arms around, shake his head at Mancini and act like a child. Worse was to come from the ‘me me me’ brigade, when Carlos Tevez, who was horrified at the fact that he did not start despite not scoring yet this season, refused to warm up when asked to come off the bench.
Thankfully, it appears the self serving behavior of Dzeko and Tevez did nothing other than hand Mancini an opportunity to reinforce his influence in the dressing room, and show his strong leadership skills.
Mancini assured the assembled media after the game that they had seen “the last time” a City player would act in the manner of Dzeko. Regarding Tevez Mancini simply said the striker was “finished” at the club and the team would move on without him.
This is simply an outstanding show of management and leadership in a dressing room full of egos. Tevez was City’s best player last season, and if he is not allowed to act like this, what are the odds of the temperamental Mario Balotelli throwing a strop in the near future?
We live in an era where it has become fashionable to pander to star players, and a coach must ‘understand’ each individual. While there is an element of truth to that, the team must always be bigger than the individual.
Having the humility to be part of a bigger cause is crucial in football, and Mancini has demanded that every player at City do exactly that.
The strong words of Mancini have been reinforced by actions. He fielded a team without Tevez and Dzeko, and they destroyed Blackburn 4-0. This is a clear message to the disgruntled pair that the team can, and will succeed without them.
The result and performance at Ewood Park that City may have been knocked down in midweek, but they have got back up again and will be strong title contenders as the season progresses.
