Mancini: Eu having a laugh?
thesun
ROBERTO MANCINI has hit out at the decision to make Manchester City kick off this weekends Premier League action.
The Sky Blues will face Sunderland at the Etihad 60 hours after their Champions League draw with Borussia Dortmund.
Mancini admits he cannot understand why this has happened and fears his troops will struggle to recover in time. The Italian reckons the other European teams would never be handed such a punishing schedule.
He said: Its incredible we play Wednesday and then Saturday at 12.45.
We have two days and 12 hours to recover because we lost a lot of energy against Dortmund.
Everywhere else the teams that play in the Champions League play three or four days before the game and have three days minimum after.
But here it is strange. I will need to have four or five fresh players.
Ex-City star Adam Johnson will relish going up against any former team-mates who are feeling weary.
Mancini had a sparky relationship with the England winger during his 2½-years at the Etihad.
But he admitted he could not offer AJ the regular games he craved so allowed him to move back to his native North East.
He said: Adam played well here. The problem was he didnt always play and for youngsters like him thats important. Im sure he will do well at Sunderland.
The Sky Blues will face Sunderland at the Etihad 60 hours after their Champions League draw with Borussia Dortmund.
Mancini admits he cannot understand why this has happened and fears his troops will struggle to recover in time. The Italian reckons the other European teams would never be handed such a punishing schedule.
He said: Its incredible we play Wednesday and then Saturday at 12.45.
We have two days and 12 hours to recover because we lost a lot of energy against Dortmund.
Everywhere else the teams that play in the Champions League play three or four days before the game and have three days minimum after.
But here it is strange. I will need to have four or five fresh players.
Ex-City star Adam Johnson will relish going up against any former team-mates who are feeling weary.
Mancini had a sparky relationship with the England winger during his 2½-years at the Etihad.
But he admitted he could not offer AJ the regular games he craved so allowed him to move back to his native North East.
He said: Adam played well here. The problem was he didnt always play and for youngsters like him thats important. Im sure he will do well at Sunderland.
