SKY NEWS ARABIA - 17.05.12 - INTERVIEW WITH MANCHESTER CITY MANAGER, ROBERTO MANCINI

Transcript of the interview conducted by Sky News Arabia sports presenters Ali Garni and Nada Al Shaibani with Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini.                    

Garni: First let me thank you a lot for having you here with us here in the studios of Sky news Arabia in Abu Dhabi.  

Mancini: It’s a pleasure for me to be here.   

Garni: It’s not as cold as in Manchester is it?   

Mancini: I need a moment like this because it’s warm; in Manchester its very cold.                 

Garni: Let’s start this chat by going back to the last moment of that dramatic Sunday. Please have a look at this. We have some celebration; celebrations at the end of the game. Your celebrations - I’ve seen you celebrating many goals, many wins but I’ve never seen you celebrating in such a way.   

Mancini: I think that I had an incredible moment. In my football life I have never seen a moment like this because three minutes changed everything.   

Garni: If we go back… we will see the pictures in a minute… talk about those last two minutes. It was injury time, QPR [were] winning 2-1 and the title was in the hands of Manchester United. Was there a moment where you lost belief that Manchester City could do it?   

Mancini: Before the last four minutes I [was] 47; after a minute I [was] 97…   

Garni: You don’t look like 97                 

Mancini: …no but, I don’t know. It’s really difficult to say [what we were] feeling in that moment because, you know, in two three minutes we lost everything   

Al Shaibani: Let’s watch the celebrations and the footage.   

Garni: It was an incredible moment; that‘s why I said at the beginning that I’ve never seen you celebrate in such a way. Of course, it was fitting for the moment. Were you believing all the time that you would win even tough [it was] just a minute and half before the final whistle, [before] the end of the injury time?   

Mancini: I believed always, but you know when its three or four minutes to the end and you are losing 2-1 it’s really difficult to score. Also, in this year, there were other games where we scored 2-3 goals in four or five minutes. I hoped always this. And I hoped always that from Sunderland would arrive a good result. In the end I think we deserved to win this title.   

Al Shaibani: In your long career Mr. Mancini, have you ever gone through such a drama, the three minutes of drama 

Mancini: No.It was a real drama. We worked for one year, two years for this and to see all our supporters crying, it was terrible. In the end we are very, very happy for them.   

Garni: Generally speaking… because you could have won the title way back before the end of the season and Manchester United also could have won it toward the end of the season.... According to you, what was the turning point in the season that favoured your side, Manchester City?   

Mancini: I think we deserved to win because we stayed on top [of the league] for 28 games. We beat United away 6-1 and we beat united at home 1-0. These probably were the two crucial moments because it’s not easy to beat United twice in one year. They play to win every year; for us it was the first time. I think the derby was the crucial moment.   

Garni: Some people say the game against Newcastle was the one that was more important than the derby…   

Mancini: You know, it’s difficult to say, but if you beat United at home 1-0 a week before Newcastle, after you should play against Newcastle, you should play for the Champions League. We had a difficult game the last game. All the people thought now it’s easy against QPR. In England….   

Al Shaibani: Nothing is easy.   

Mancini: Nothing is easy. Until the last second you should play against every team. In that game we shot 44 times on goal, [had] 19 corners against zero, 83% ball possession. It’s incredible to lose a game like this.   

Garni: You’re talking about the game against QPR. What was the problem? Was it QPR or was it nerves and the pressure on the players? Because everyone was expecting Manchester City to easily win as you yourself said.   

Mancini: [It was] probably the pressure that we had before the game because everyone was waiting for this tile for 44 years. Also the players had a lot of pressure; probably, they were worried and after when we conceded their goal, maybe in that moment there were some problems. After the second goal it was terrible because in that moment you have a lot of pressure; you’re thinking you can score… you don’t have time to score another two goals. When you play like this you can’t play well.   

Al Shaibani: Your relationship with the owner and management of the Manchester City club; can give us some reflections on the way, the performance of the team during the season?   

Mancini: We have a fantastic relationship. They are really good men. They always supported the team in every moment, also in bad moments. I think we won this title also for this reason because in a difficult moment like after Arsenal when we were 8 points behind, Khaldoon Mubarak [declared his] support [for] me and all the team.           

Garni: Talking about the close relationship you are enjoying with the board, two years ago you managed to qualify for the Champions League, last year the FA Cup, this year the Premier League. What next? What can we expect next from you? 

Mancini: Easy to say, the Champions League. The Champions League is a strange tournament. Really strange because you should be lucky to win Champions League, you should be in good form in a good moment, in a crucial moment. Clearly, you should have an able team. I think that as a team we need to improve for this competition. You know in football, never say never. If you have a good team, if we work hard like we did in the last two years I think we can do everything. But to say now what we can do next year is really difficult. We want to improve because by work you can improve, you can win other titles.   

Garni: That’s for the Champions League next season, your aspirations for the club. As for the Premier League, you are the team to beat. Everyone wants to beat Manchester City. Before that there were other clubs. Everyone wanted to beat Manchester United or Liverpool; now you are the team to beat either in England or even outside… even in Europe. How do you see the Premier League season next year?   

Mancini: I think it will be the same because it will be the same squad that will probably fight for the title and Manchester City is the first after United, Chelsea, Tottenham, I think that… Arsenal… these four five teams will fight for the title. But the Premier League is, it’s my opinion, it’s the most difficult championship in Europe. It’s very hard. You don’t have a break during the season, you play always in December when in the other championships there is a break. You play more games, for this reason you arrive at the end and you are very, very tired.   

Al Shaibani: Let’s talk about today. You are with us in Abu Dhabi. You’ve visited the region so many times. What’s you’re feeling toward the region?   

Mancini: I like the Emirates, I like Abu Dhabi, I went to Dubai for holiday many years ago but they say in the last two or three years Abu Dhabi is an incredible city, it improved a lot. I told Khaldoon [Mubarak] yesterday, I think in two or three years it will be like New York, Abu Dhabi.   

Al Shaibani: What is the most thing you liked?   

Mancini: Everything, I like the people, I like the beach, I like the sun, I would like to stay ten days because I need sun.   

Garni: Talking about the region, of course there is the Manchester City football school, which is a very good initiative, and now there is a queue of kids waiting to join Manchester City because they want to be the next Samir Nasri, the next Carlos Tevez, so do you think we will see more initiatives like this one, not only in the Emirates but also in the other countries of the Gulf?   

Mancini: I think this is a fantastic initiative, I think it is very important to do this in other countries, because the kids are our future, if we work well with young guys I think it will be very important for our future, I think it will be better and I think that is very important?   

Al Shaibani: Will you have a major role in this school in Abu Dhabi?   

Mancini: Yes ,yes, yes, now I think that after this championship, that we can come here a lot of times in the year, that we have maybe one week without a game, then we can come here to meet all the young players. And I met also other players in Manchester, other guys.   

Garni: Talking about the players, what is your assessment of the regional clubs here, either from the Emirates or from the Gulf, do you have any ideas over the players and clubs?   

Mancini: I start to come here maybe ten years ago, I think that in the last ten years football here has improved a lot, the teams have good players, I think that for the future that lots of players that comes from the Emirates can play in the Premier League, in Serie A, in Spanish league, because if you work well then you can arrive everywhere.   

Garni: Going back to the Premier League, because I can’t stop talking about that last day, because I was there, and it was so dramatic…. Were you aware of what was happening of what was happening in the game between Manchester United?   

Mancini: Football is strange, when you fight, and you arrive, you have 89 points like United, it is clearly difficult to say who deserved to win, it is dramatic in this case for United and if we lose it probably was dramatic for us. And this one, I said we worked and we did really well, us and United, and I think in the end we did better than United because we scored more goals, we conceded less goals and we beat them twice.   

Garni: I agree, everyone will agree that even at the end of the game Sunderland and Man United Sir Alex Ferguson said congratulations to Manchester City, they deserved the title, because as I see it the Premier League is like a marathon, and everyone agreed you played the best football, you deserved it. Apart from the last day, is there any key moment that will stick in your mind for a long time, any key moment or game?   

Mancini: I think that there were a lot of key moments, but when we did a draw against Sunderland, everyone thought that now it’s finished, but I think that was a key moment, when Kolarov scored a goal in the last second, I thought that could be a key moment, because we were losing 3-1 and missing two or three minutes at the end, and we scored two goals, Mario and Kolorov, I think that moment was an important moment.   

Al Shaibani: What about Aguero, how the players were feeling?   

Mancini: I think Aguero is a fantastic player. 

Al Shaibani: How was he feeling after scoring…? 

Mancini: I think it’s difficult to say what we think in that moment, I think that this moment will stay in the history of football for 100 years, it is impossible to forget this, at that moment you don’t understand what you can do, what you should do, your feeling in that moment is crazy.   

Al Shaibani: Any changes in your strategy for next season, in terms of your players or ?   Mancini It depends, now we will have one month, 40 days, to prepare for the new season, after a break! And probably we will buy some good players, because we need to improve, in that moment we need to improve the team and that depends which players we can buy, because it’s not easy. We just have a good team, it is important we can put inside a player that can play with this team.   

Garni: To finish, the FA Cup is in the bag, the Premier League title, now the fans of Manchester City either here in the region or in Manchester, everyone is talking about the Champions League as a certainty. For you, what is the priority, to retain the Premier League and just a good display in the Champions League, or just to focus on the Champions League now the Premier League is gone?   

Mancini: No no no, absolutely, I think a team like us now need to try to win every game and every trophy, because you can say we choose this Champions League or this Premier League, it is impossible. Because during a season you can have a difficult moment, you can think ok Champions League or Premier League, no we should try to win every game and every trophy. We will start with the Charity Shield in August and we want to try to win against Chelsea, and after we see for Premier League and Champions League, it is possible.   

Al Shaibani: Any names in your mind for next season that you want to join your team?   

Mancini: Yes, Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi! [laughter] No, I joke. It is not easy in this moment; it is too early, now we have two months’ work about this.   

Garni: One final question, have you received any private congratulations message from Sir Alex Ferguson?   

Mancini: No, but I think when he said congratulations to Manchester City then it is enough. We are happy and we are proud to beat a team like Manchester United.   Garni: Thank you for joining us and congratulations for winning the title.   

Mancini: Thank you and I want to say thank you to Sheikh Mansour because he supported me and the team and this is very important for us.