Manchester City missed out on Robin van Persie last summer who proved to be the difference for United in the title race this season. PHOTO: AFP
Manchester United’s title was confirmed with their 3-0 victory over Aston Villa on Monday and they lead City by 16 points going into the weekend.
Mancini’s side have an FA Cup final against Wigan to look forward to but in the league, where they take on West Ham today, they have made an underwhelming defence.
The Italian manager has frequently discussed his anger at the club failing to sign the players he wanted after winning the league and he is sure those errors will not be repeated.
“I think that when you build your team you need to start like in this case, we are in the end of this championship, we have time, but not a lot of time,” he said. “We should have our targets in mind.
“You should move quickly. We didn’t do this last year. We moved so slowly. We lost the players that were our targets to improve our team. We should have moved more quickly.”
Euro hurt can aid top four bid: Villas-Boas
Meanwhile, Andre Villas-Boas has warned Tottenham’s top-four rivals that he can see determination from his players to make up for last season’s Champions League disappointment.
Spurs, who play Wigan today, missed out on a place in Europe’s top competition last season as Chelsea qualified as holders, meaning fourth place missed out.
“The determination is visible and they have made it public as well,” said Villas-Boas. “I think all of them really want to get in to the Champions League next season and most of them are playing with that ambition and playing with the experience of last year, for sure.”
Suarez not to appeal 10-match ban: FA
Liverpool forward Luis Suarez has not lodged an appeal against a 10-match ban for biting an opponent.
Uruguay striker Suarez was suspended on Wednesday after he was shown to have bitten Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic on the arm last weekend.
The Anfield club had said they were shocked at the severity of the ban, which rules him out for the rest of the season and into the next.
“Suarez has not appealed the suspension,” read the Football Association statement. “The suspension begins with immediate effect and applies to Liverpool FC’s next 10 domestic first-team fixtures.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 27th, 2013.
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