Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has demanded his players emulate their rivals at Old Trafford and stop complaining in public.
Mancini described as “impossible” the current situation whereby City players air their grievances via the media when not selected.
The latest player to vent his frustrations at being left out of the starting line-up is striker Emmanuel Adebayor.
Mancini wants to emulate the culture in place at Manchester United and Chelsea where players accept that they are members of a squad and have no automatic right to start every game.
“I played football. Sometimes I had this behaviour. I can understand it, so it is not frustrating for me,” Mancini said.
“But at the same time it is important they start to change their mentality. If they want to become a top squad and a top team they must change it. It is impossible that every three days players do interviews complaining that they are not playing.
“They need to knock on my door and speak with me so I can explain the situation. I want to create an atmosphere like they have at Chelsea and Manchester United but maybe it is easier for them to accept it because they have had success.
“The players must be aware I am not choosing 11 players because the others are not good. In three days’ time we have another match, so I can change it again. The players have to understand this. Sometimes there might be a tactical reason; for instance, I don’t have Aleksander Kolarov and Jerome Boateng at the moment so I can’t play with three strikers.”
