Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini says Liverpool's impressive contingent of English players was not the reason the Reds beat his team 3-2 at Anfield on Sunday. The Chilean has spoken previously about the value of having Englishmen in Premier League sides. âI think the players are perfectly conscious what we are fighting for from now until the end of the seasonâ Manuel Pellegrini "It is important to have English players in all English teams," he said. "But that is not why Liverpool won the game. In this game, three or four important decisions went against us." The defeat left City in third place in the table, seven points adrift of leaders Liverpool but with two games in hand. Pellegrini, in his first season in charge of City, said it was not easy to buy English talent and that his first priority was to buy the best players for City, wherever they were from. Nevertheless, while Liverpool started with six Englishmen at Anfield, other than goalkeeper Joe Hart, English players have been noticeable by their absence from the Blues starting line-up recently. James Milner, who made a big impact as a substitute at the weekend, has started just eight times in the league this season. With Gareth Barry on loan at Everton and Scott Sinclair at West Brom, the only other Englishmen who have appeared in the Premier League for City this term have been Joleon Lescott, Micah Richards and Jack Rodwell, who have made just 11 starts between them. Man City's run-in â¢Wed 16 April: v Sunderland (H) â¢Mon 21 April: v West Brom (H) â¢Sun 27 April: v Crystal Palace (A) â¢Sat 3 May: v Everton (A) â¢Wed 7 May: v Aston Villa (H) â¢Sun 11 May: v West Ham (H) Milner, along with Spaniard Javi Garcia, may hope to play a more significant role now key midfielder Yaya Toure has been ruled out for up to two weeks with a muscle injury. "I know what those players can give," added Pellegrini, who said it would be a challenge for his squad to overcome the disappointment of defeat by Liverpool as they prepare to face Sunderland at home on Wednesday. "Of course it is difficult, but I think the players are perfectly conscious what we are fighting for from now until the end of the season," he added. "Playing against a team in the relegation positions is very difficult. We play here at home, but I am sure they will try to fight to the end to continue in the Premier League." City captain Kompany is expected to start Wednesday's match, having overcome the knock that made him a doubt for the trip to Anfield. Striker Sergio Aguero is also expected to be named in the starting XI . http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27042786
I agree with him, he got it tactically wrong as people before the game were talking Milner and we played the same diamond that he then exploited second half Sure we started well but had they just been set up differently the result might be different English? Pah fernandiho et al were class and hell dimichellis who would be the one dropped for lescott played 1000 time better v SAS than many and me expected Frankly Nasri is always an issue as he never penetrates the line but runs laterally and back passes so all Milner added was getting behind
Manuel Pellegrini talking about decision-What about decisions that went against Liverpool at Manchester?. Sterling scored and goals was criminally ruled out and others
It wasn't a question of nationality or desire. It certainly was a question of City's set up. For me City proved that they were the second best attacking team in the country. It's a pity that their board is such a desert that it' not worth going over there to tell them how good they are.
Man City with Aguero leading the line is a completely animal - top class. Either way, LFC vs Man City are the two best attacking teams in the league and the match did not disappoint. Football played the way it should be.
The best player in the entire game last weekend wasn't one of ours- he was a Man City player... I think he must have been English: David Silver.
