Roberto Mancini yesterday was absorbed in the Euro 2024 qualifying draw – Italy teamed up with England, Ukraine, North Macedonia and Malta – and his statements on a group “affordable prices” they project us into a future before which we will unfortunately have to suffer the torture of watching the World Cup on TV from which we were ignominiously excluded.
In the last few hours, Mancini’s name has also resurfaced in England, as he was mentioned more than once in the Micah Richards autobiography which will be released on October 27th. “The Game: Player. Specialist. Fan“, this is the title of the book in which the 34-year-old former defender city of ManchesterFiorentina and Aston Villa – as well as the England international – relive juicy chapters of his career, right up to his current job as a football commentator.
Richards, who retired in 2019 just 31 years after playing the last competitive match three years earlier due to his never-ending physical problems, has inextricably linked his name to City, with whom he won two Premier Leagues. One of them, in the 2011/12 season, was placed on the wall with Mancini on the bench: a historic title, as the Sky Blues have not won the Premier League for 44 years.
In the newly released book, Richards reveals a furious fight between Jesi’s coach and Samir Nasri, a fight that became so violent that it reached the physical threats of the former French midfielder of Algerian origin, who retired last year. “A few days before the Manchester derby in 2011, Nasri had an altercation with Mancini, the biggest argument he’s ever seen. – reads autobiography – Mancini had indicated the team he wanted to play at Old Trafford and we were making the moves on the field that we would have made in certain situations. It’s boring, but it’s one of those things you have to do“.
“After a while Samir lost his patience – continues the story – Mancini kept stopping us from moving Nasri. ‘No, you here, you here,’ he would say, and then we would start again. Then a whistle. ‘Samir, you here, you here’. Over and over, until Nasri has had enough. “I know what the hell I’m doing,” he yelled at Mancini, and then walked away. It’s taboo to give up a training session, but Nasri didn’t mind. He was not to be laughed at. He continued until he disappeared inside. Mancini replaced Nasri with James Milner and resumed the session“.
That was the fuse that then lit the powders: “When we finished training, they picked up where they left off. They yelled at each other, swore in French, neither of them moved. It was an absolute mess. Eventually Nasri threatened him: ‘Talk to me like that again and I’ll kick your ass,’ he said. For your trainer. I don’t think it was an absurd threat. Samir wasn’t the type to back down. It was the only time I saw Mancini leave“.
In addition, this episode had positive consequences for City, given the outcome of the story: “That weekend we went to Old Trafford and we won 6-1. Milner was brilliant, possibly the best game I’ve ever seen him play. But he didn’t need to be in the starting lineup. Nasri went. Instead, he ended up on the bench, as punishment for threatening his coach.“.
Source: Fan Page IT
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
