Man City: 5 Problems Stopping Mancini From Winning The Champions League

2. Play Like Barca OR Chelsea

When Roberto Mancini first joined City he was accused of being too defensive in the big games, but last season he struck the right balance between going for goals and keeping it tight at the back. This season the defence has been as leaky as a sieve as Mancini plays around with his tactics. Chelsea showed that you can win the Champions League without posing much attacking threat: in the knockout rounds one goal can settle the tie, and thus it is often better to be defensively solid than to show attacking intent. Mancini, perhaps stung by the criticism of his stereotypical Italian tactics, is hesitant to put men behind the ball as he did in his early days, and with the quality and quantity of forward players €“ Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli, with David Silva, Samir Nasri, Scott Sinclair and Yaya Toure behind them €“ the ex-Lazio manager may feel that attack is the best form of defence. This ethos can be seen in his choice of tactics. His City team has gradually evolved from 4-3-2-1 to 4-2-3-1 to 4-2-2-2 and as far as a 3-4-1-2. This resembles Barcelona€™s experiments with a 3-4-3 system, as they look to commit more men forward as the opposition puts more men back. The problem is Mancini€™s change has come quickly - barely have they made two steps forward before they take a step back as they get to grips with a new system. Add to this the chopping and changing of personnel, and it€™s easy to understand why the Citizens are not performing to their best. With the talents at his disposal it is easy to see why Mancini would look to take the game to the opposition, whoever they may be, but as his defence sat back and was battered by wave upon wave of white shirts, Mancini might have been best going the €˜full Chelsea€™ and looking for the point, rather than finding himself stuck in a halfway house between rock solid defence and commanding attack.