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Toure reveals mood in City camp
England: Toure reveals mood in City camp
Marc Fox
Although manager Roberto Mancini gave little away after Wednesday's derby, former captain Kolo Toure has revealed the mood within Manchester City's camp in the wake of the scoreless draw with cross-town rivals Manchester United.
The uninspiring stalemate proved an anticlimax to a miserable month for Mancini at the helm of the club with loftier ambitions than their current fourth-placed Premier League position ahead of this weekend's clash with 17th-placed Birmingham City.
City have won just once in their past five games - again West Brom - but were fortunate not to lose for a fourth time against Sir Alex Ferguson's classy side following Premiership defeats to Arsenal and Wolves and another in the Europa League to minnows Lech Posnan, putting early season victories over Liverpool and Chelsea back into perspective.
And Toure, a summer 2009 arrival from Arsenal whose place in the starting side might start coming under threat, later suggested that the draw with United will only be a good result if they go onto beat Birmingham on Saturday.
The Blues have problems of their own after being edged out by Stoke City in a five-goal thriller in midweek and sit just outside the relegation zone after a quarter of the season.
"The most important thing in the Premier League is to make sure you beat the teams that you are supposed to beat," the Ivory Coast international said of the match-up with Birmingham. "If you can do that and then draw against the big teams like United then you will be OK.
"You can be up there."
Whether "up there" is sufficient for the increasingly critical City faithful - or British football's wealthiest investor Sheik Mansour for that matter - is the subject of much scrutiny in the north-west this week, especially after United's master class at Eastlands.
Mancini might be happy to finish in fourth place this season, but obvious disenchantment with the side's lack of attacking threat set in during the second-half on Wednesday, as City refused to press further forward in search of victory.
With captain Carlos Tevez again the side's lone striker, his job was fruitless and the Argentine received precious little support from a cautious midfield. Only when Adam Johnson entered the fray towards the end was some much-needed extra momentum provided.
However, Toure maintained that Mancini's side enacted their game plan perfectly and urged City's impatient fans to stick with the Italian's defence-first mentality.
"When you play against the top teams, the most important thing is to try not to lose," he said. "This was a difficult game but we are delighted with a draw. Of course, the fans have to be patient. It's very difficult as we were playing against top players."
© Marc Fox & Soccerphile.com
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