Manchester City 1 Wigan Athletic 0: ROBERTO MANCINI was smiling when he said it but he was willing to admit that what Manchester City need at the moment is a bigger squad.
While City may be a byword throughout the league for lavish spending and a comfortable surplus of quality players, their manager pointed to a threadbare performance against the Premier League’s bottom club as evidence that injuries and a demanding schedule are taking their toll.
“Every other team has 20 or 22 players to choose from and you need that if you are playing every three days,” Mancini said. “We only have 15 or 16 at present. When we recover all our players it will not be a problem but since January we have been unlucky with niggling injuries and now we have just lost Kolo (Toure).”
The defender has been suspended after testing positive for a specified substance and faces a ban of up to two years. “He’s an important player and this is a difficult moment for the team. When we could change four or five players per game we could play twice a week and play well but now we have players who need a rest. All we are doing at the moment is playing and recovering but at least we have Nigel de Jong back and Adam Johnson could be fit again soon.”
It is no exaggeration to suggest Wigan might have taken all three points and, if they had, City could not have complained. With better finishing, Roberto Martinez’s side could have won the game in the last five minutes alone, though if Wigan had better finishers they would not be propping up the table. Hugo Rodallega and debutant Conor Sammon wasted gift-wrapped opportunities in the closing moments and, considering Antolin Alcaraz struck a post and James McCarthy passed up an open invitation to give his side a first-half lead, there could be little argument that the visitors created more than Mancini’s players.
City got lucky when Ali al-Habsi allowed David Silva’s tame first-half shot to trickle between his legs. At least City had the gumption to settle for the points and a flat performance, instead of taking risks trying to be entertaining. Carlos Tevez was unusually quiet and Mario Balotelli all but disappeared after a promising start. But with Edin Dzeko on the bench, City have strikers who are capable of finding the net.
The club are ready to welcome Toure back to training today and Mancini has made it clear the Ivorian would be welcome despite his failed drugs test becoming common knowledge. City officials have been informed there is no reason for Toure not to attend. Whether the 29-year-old actually takes up the offer depends upon other factors, including the potential for meetings with his legal team. However, Toure’s appearance at yesterday’s game is a good sign at a time when the player’s mental state has been described as “not good” by Mancini.
Club sources are reluctant to discuss any aspect of Toure’s case, preferring instead to keep their counsel ahead of what is sure to be a tense FA hearing. City made it clear in a statement released before yesterday’s game that they found external interventions “unhelpful”, including those from Arsene Wenger, even though it is widely assumed he spoke out on Friday with the permission of the former Arsenal player.
The Blues are anxious to point out disciplinary sanctions, including dismissal, have not been discussed inside the club and that it would be inappropriate to speculate until such time as the case is concluded. Beyond question is that Toure’s absence is a blow Mancini could do without given the number of games City have coming up, starting with Thursday’s clash with Dynamo Kiev in the Europa League.
Guardian Service
