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Roberto Mancini vows to speak his mind

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini challenges his players to be accountable when they fail to perform after seeing their title defence come off the rails.

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has defended his public criticism of players and insisted that his team need to be accountable for their performances on the pitch.

City's title defence has faltered this season, with Mancini's men currently 15 points behind Premier League leaders Manchester United.

The Italian, who has criticised Samir Nasri and Joe Hart for their displays in recent weeks, believes that his words should serve as a wake-up call to City players who have failed to meet last season's standards.

He told The Sun: "I'm not rude with my players. I say what I think sometimes because I think it could be good for my players to understand they could play better, they can do more.

"I say this because I don't lie. I say what I think and sometimes it's important that one player takes his responsibility. When you are a top player, you earn a lot of money and you should play at 100%.

"Maybe players are sensitive but I am sensitive sometimes. When they don't play well, I'm sensitive. When I was a player, I always took responsibility. When I didn't play well, I said, 'Sorry, I didn't play well and will do my best in the next game' and it should be like this."

City travel to Aston Villa tonight in search of three points to keep their faint tile hopes alive.

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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133


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