Thank god Van Persie didn't join City

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini admits ‘missing out on Robin van Persie may cost the title’
Roberto Mancini fears Manchester City’s failure to sign Robin van Persie at the start of the season will cost them the Premier League title.

Top man: Robin Van Persie celebrates yet another goal for Manchester United Photo: PA
By Neil Johnston10:00PM GMT 31 Dec 20122 Comments
Mancini revealed on Monday he thought he had persuaded Van Persie to sign for Manchester City four months before the Dutch striker was unveiled at Old Trafford in August after completing a £22million move from Arsenal.
Since then, Van Persie has scored 14 goals in 20 Premier League games for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, who have established a seven-point lead over the defending champions.
Those goals, including last-minute winners against Southampton and City themselves, have been worth a total of 19 points for Manchester United, and Mancini believes City could pay for missing out on the 29 year-old’s signature.
“At the moment, he is the difference between us,” said the City manager yesterday. “He has scored 14 Premier League goals and it is clear he has changed their situation.
“We were very close three or four months before he went to United. We wanted Van Persie because we knew he was totally different from our other strikers.
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“We wanted to improve our team, particularly for the Champions League. We were very close to signing him, I know what the reason was [why he did not sign] but I won’t say. It was not about money.”
Van Persie said he had listened to “the little boy inside him” when deciding to join United on a four-year contract worth £250,000 per week – the same terms handed to Wayne Rooney two years ago.
Speaking at his official unveiling press conference, he said: “In these situations, when you have to make a hard decision in your life, I always listen to that little boy inside me. What does he want? That boy was screaming for Manchester United.”
When pressed to explain why he thought Van Persie chose to move to United ahead of the champions, Mancini added: “I don’t know if he listened to his heart. He took his decision but three or four months before that we were there. We were very close and we were sure it would be very good for us, but it didn’t happen and now we can do nothing about it.”
City’s four strikers – Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tévez, Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko – have contributed 23 to City’s 38 goals in the first 20 games of this season, 12 fewer than United have managed from the same number.
Chelsea and Arsenal have also scored more than Mancini’s side yet the Italian declared himself satisfied with his forwards, despite missing out on Van Persie.
“I am happy with my strikers because last season they scored more than anyone else in the Premier League,” said Mancini.
“But when you can improve your team with other top players it is important to do it. With Van Persie you can sometimes play three strikers.”
If Mancini is feeling under pressure after falling seven points behind United then he was not showing it yesterday as he publicly wished Sir Alex Ferguson a happy 71st birthday.
“Happy birthday, congratulations because I think now they deserve to stay on the top,” he said when asked in front of the television cameras if he had a message for the United manager. “Happy New Year to him and his family.”
Later he referred to Ferguson’s behaviour towards match officials during United’s 4-3 win over Newcastle, when the Scot strode on to the pitch to confront referee Mike Dean at the start of the second half on 26 December.
The Football Association has written to Mancini over his criticism of referee Kevin Friend during the 1-0 defeat at Sunderland on December 26. The City manager questioned whether “maybe the referee ate too much for Christmas”, and claimed what he thought was a foul on Pablo Zabaleta in the build-up to Adam Johnson’s winner was so blatant it was “impossible two men couldn’t see it”.
“It was a joke, I said the referee had a big lunch for Christmas. They can do what they want,” said Mancini, who is waiting to learn whether he will be charged of improper conduct.
“I haven’t received anything yet. Maybe the post is too slow this month. Maybe next time I will go on the pitch and go like this against the referee. That’s OK. I’m joking.”
England defender Joleon Lescott, frustrated at his lack of starts for City this season, looks set to stay at the Etihad until the at least the summer after Mancini revealed no players will be allowed to leave in January.
Balotelli is unlikely to feature against Stoke despite returning to training after missing Saturday’s 4-3 win at Norwich with illness.
Tévez could start alongside Dzeko, who marked a rare start at Carrow Road by scoring twice. Samir Nasri starts a three-match suspension after City opted not to appeal his red card at the weekend.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...-on-Robin-van-Persie-may-cost-the-title.html#

 

Someone ban this kid

 

i've done nothing wrong, and i'm not a ''kid'' by the way i turned 22 last friday.

 

Why did you call me a charlton fan btw?

 

because i thought you told me you were, i do apologise, now stick to the topic.

 

**** that..Thank God Van Persie didn't die

 

I cannot believe the FA didn't ban Williams for at least 8 matches. Attempted murder !!

 

RVP is dead, long live RVP

 

So it's okay to get a perma ban and return under a new name? What's permanent about that?

 

I can't understand why he was banned in first place

 

2-0 to United.HappyNewYear,Nuff said!

 

too soon imo .. one injury and City fans will be laughing

 

He's had some time to calm down, so we'll give him a second chance. He did make some decent contributions before the spamming and flame wars. If he goes back to how he was we'll ban him again.

 

It is nice to have someone make a new thread once in a while aswel, surely you can see there is no harm in giving him a chance?

 

wise decision

 

anyway onto RVP, Mancini said the were very close three or four months to getting Van persie before he joined United, i know he was good at Arsenal but i didn't know he was this good, our top scorer this season and has 6-7 assists this season ( correct me if i'm wrong ).

 

scored a world-class goal.

 

tbh i was not happy about it at the start.. and only accepted the deal bcz we missed out on Lucas Moura
am afraid with him going older he will run less and we will end up with another classy man like Berbatov who will not fit the system

 

Not sure if serious

 

He has at least another 3 very good years left in him.