Mancini's rage

He wasn't impressed with our performance on Saturday:

"I'm not surprised by this. When you don't play well you lose. We didn't play well in the first half and Hull did.

"They were more aggressive and we moved the ball very slowly. We must change our mentality when we are away from home. We are Manchester City and we want to win, always.

"When you are losing you are always angry. But you must think about changing the situation on the pitch. Sometimes when we play against the teams from lower down the league we are softer. That's OK if you want to arrive in the middle [of the table], but I want to win, I want to finish at the top so we must change this.

"The players are angry and they know they didn't play well. We must change the situation. This is not normal for a team like Manchester City and we know we must play better."

And he's right. We were woeful on Saturday, and complacency did look to be a problem. Ironing out complacency is difficult. He could drop Gareth Barry, which would probably improve the team as well as convincing the players that their places were not guaranteed. But even then there's the problem that the whole side is looking a big sluggish. And that's a problem of form, not of complacency.

A big win on Tuesday is a must.

Monday's Hull reax

Jeremy Cross, The Independent

City's soft underbelly away from Eastlands was brutally exposed once again, this time by a Hull City team put together at a cost of less than £10m, which is not much more than the likes of Robinho earn in a season's wages in Manchester, when he is there of course.

Robinho wouldn't have relished this contest, that is for sure, but what is worrying Mancini more is the fact that some of the missing Brazilian's colleagues appear to have been infected by his lethargy when it comes to securing wins on the road.

Tom Dart, The Times

Tactical and individual deficiencies were evident in this defeat, but Mancini blamed complacency. “I don’t want to be mid-table, I want to win, I want to be in the top four. For this, we must change the mentality,” he said. City have been defeated twice in six league games under Mancini — as many losses as his predecessor, Mark Hughes, endured in 17 fixtures. All four have come on their travels.

Jeremy Alexander, The Guardian

City were unprepared for the onslaught. Roberto Mancini admitted it: "When you play against a squad at a different level you think you can play softer. It's not possible in football, if you want to be a winner." He was so disconcerted that he ended ­chasing the game with three defensive midfielders, adding Patrick Vieira for Craig ­Bellamy and a podgy, puffing debut. Adam ­Johnson's was in skipping contrast.

Jonathan Liew, Daily Telegraph

They have now won just one of their past 10 league games away from home, and worryingly for their Champions League aspirations, they appear to be shirking the fight just as Liverpool are rediscovering their taste for it.

Arindam Rej, Daily Mail

But the rest of Mancini's players produced the worst showing of his tenure. As they trudged in at the interval, trailing 1-0, the Italian expressed his views in a brief and sharp manner before leaving them in the dressing room as he returned to the dugout.

This is the first time that his patience has been tested since he took over as City boss. His team improved after the break but were still out-fought.

Sunday's Hull reax

Jeremy Cross, Independent on Sunday

Yet City produced one of the most woeful halves of football since Mancini took charge. To Hull's credit they failed to let the visitors settle but this could not excuse City's overall lack of urgency and desire. It took them until first half stoppage time to have a shot on goal and the fact it was the full-back Bridge spoke volumes for their plight.

Sandy Mcaskill, Sunday Telegraph

But Manchester City’s away record is as bad as Hull’s at home is good: they have won just one of their last nine games away from Eastlands, and it appears as though opposition have got the measure of the side. It is a problem that Mancini must put right post haste. The Italian refused to admit any concern, reminding that “we have two games in hand” – but he did concede that his side must be more aggressive away from home. “If we want to make the top four, we must win away and we must fight. We must be aggressive away, not like in the first half.”

Mikey Stafford, The Observer

For the first half-hour, Bridge cut a pretty lonely figure as Hull focused on the visitors' right flank, with Stephen Hunt and, in particular, Altidore giving Pablo Zabaleta and Dedryck Boyata a torrid time. Mancini fielded arguably his strongest side, except for Boyata, who deputised for the injured Joleon Lescott in the centre of the defence, and his inexperience showed.

Richard Rae, Sunday Times

It was certainly true that the England left-back was one of City’s better performers on his comeback from injury. Unfortunately for Mancini, that isn’t saying a great deal. Required to stand up and be counted against a Hull team full of confidence, energy and determination after gaining a deserved draw against Chelsea on Tuesday, too many wearing Sky Blue wilted and several all but disappeared.

Bob Cass, Mail on Sunday

Maybe Roberto Mancini has not been at Eastlands long enough to get out the hair dryer. The Blues boss suggested his team improved as the game went on. He was right, but for players who pick up the equivalent of a decent Lottery win in wages each week, this was not good enough.

Manchester City looked as far away from the top four as Hull did from the bottom three. Goals by Jozy Altidore and George Boateng gave Hull breathing space and although Emanuel Adebayor pulled one back, there was no denying the merits of Hull's victory.

Hull player ratings

Given Could not be blamed for either goal, really. The joke's been made before but how he must despair at playing behind defences as dysfunctional as ours was yesterday. 6

Zabaleta Had a physical battle with Stephen Hunt (who could have predicted that?) in which he probably lost out. But no defensive disasters. When Micah Richards is fit it's the midfield or the bench though I imagine. 5

Boyata Without his mentor Kompany next to him he looked lost. Outmuscled three or four times by Altidore in the first half alone, and made some bad decisions when on the ball. Important to remember it was only his fifth start for City though. 4

Touré It's a shame that our club captain offers so little leadership. He did not look like a player of his experience, and was rattled by Hull's direct approach. Nice flick for Adebayor's goal, but it's not obvious to me that he's in our best team with everyone fit. 4

Bridge It was nice to see him back in the side, and not just out of sentimentality. He defended well enough and he got into our best attacking position of the first half. 6

de Jong Disappointingly quiet, although he was bearing more pressure than he ought to have been thanks to Barry and Ireland's going truant from the midfield. Looked compatible with Vieira, which was a relief. 6

Barry Another poor performance: looks more in need of a rest every week. He failed to cope with the pace of the game, failed to impose or influence. Again. 4

Ireland Started on right midfield but drifted inside, forming a midfield three. Could not ever find enough space, though, and when on the ball could not produce the quality that he did in this fixture last year. 5

Bellamy Played very wide on the left, and while he saw a fair bit of the ball his delivery was poor at key moments. 5

Adebayor He took his goal well but it was another slightly distracted performance. Two in two is impressive, but there's still a long way to come in terms of energy and movement. He needs time though. 5

Tévez His quietest game for a while, missed a half-chance in stoppage time but could never really make things happen. We don't have the luxury of resting him. 5

Subs: Johnson Shook things up when he came on, running at defenders from both the left and the right hand sides. A nice bright spark. 7

Vieira Some authority and class in midfield, which helped us to raise our game a bit later on. Should start on Tuesday. 6

Petrov Too late to mark n/a

Hull 2 - 1 City

• A serious set-back to our dreams of fourth place. The result is bad - although our games in hand mean that we're still not relying on other teams - but the performance was a sickener. For an hour we were worse than useless - worse than we were at Goodison Park, almost as bad as we were at White Hart Lane. Hull were all over us from the outset; braver, keener, stronger, first to everything all over the pitch. We improved in the last half hour, having made two changes. But if the first hour is the precedent that we follow we've got no chance of fourth.

• Where to start? How about the defence: we showed today how much we missed Vincent Kompany. Kolo Touré might wear an armband but he's no captain. Without his fellow Belgian by his side Dedryck Boyata looked lost. Boyata and Touré were savaged by Jozy Altidore and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink. Their strength and movement was too much for our defenders. Hull's first goal was a combination between the two, and it had certainly been coming. And, with all due respect etc etc, this was Jozy Altidore and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink! They're not exactly Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka.

• That said, our defence was under more pressure than they ought to have been, thanks to another no-show from our midfield. A three of Nigel de Jong, Gareth Barry and Stephen Ireland failed to exert any control over the game whatsoever. Hull entirely outfought us for the first hour, and 2-0 did not flatter them. At the start of the season I hoped that we would play 4-3-3 with a de Jong/Barry/Ireland triangle in the middle. But I don't think it has worked since the 2-2 at Anfield months ago.

• For what it's worth, we did improve once Patrick Vieira and Adam Johnson came on. Vieira added strength and authority to the midfield, while Johnson's pace and ability brightened up our attacking play. Emmanuel Adebayor bundled in a corner and for the last thirty minutes we exerted some pressure, even if we only created a few half-chances. It was disappointing to fail to rescue a point, but if you don't show up until the hour mark you don't deserve anything.

• This game looked tantalisingly 'could-win'. And we are in a tantalisingly competitive position. Before our nightmare trip to Stamford Bridge on February 28 we've got Bolton and Liverpool at home and Stoke City away in the league. Seven points from those three would be an excellent return - six would probably be fine - but if we continue to play like this we've got no chance.
  

Starting line up v Hull

Vieira ready to start

He could well play at the KC on Saturday:

"It has been a frustrating spell with the injury. Thank God it is over and I am ready to start, " he said.

"I suffered it in the last game for Inter and did not realise it was that bad. City have been right behind me and I have to thank them for that.

"I am looking forward to playing in the Premier League again and getting a run of games. When I was in Italy I followed the matches. They have been exciting and I really believe it is one of the best in the world."

Coming straight in for the jaded Gareth Barry makes sense this weekend. But in terms of a long term solution? I just don't know.