Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri was recently heavily criticised by manager Roberto Mancini after the 4-0 win over Newcastle during the weekend. Nasri was one of the high-profile signings under the management of Mancini. He was signed from Arsenal for £ 24 million despite having one season left on his contract. Even though he started his City career in a bright fashion, performances have dipped recently. This led to the 24-year-old being dropped from the first team on a consistent basis.
Recently, Roberto Mancini revealed that there are some players in his squad who need to step up and deliver the performances that they are capable of achieving. This was thought to be an indirect criticism at the Frenchman. Nasri responded to this criticism by putting in one of his best performances of recent times in the 4-0 win over Newcastle United. After the match, Mancini questioned the character of the Frenchman by saying that he should be delivering such performances in every match.
This has resulted in the midfielder responding to the criticism by saying that he is certainly not performing at a lower level than he is capable of. However, he is aware of the fact that this season has not been good for him.
“Mancini has shown a little proof of bad faith when he said he wanted to punch me. I’ve not had a good season, I know it, I’m aware of that. I am the first to be self-critical. But it’s not true that I’m playing at 50%. I think the coach still doesn’t handle English very well and sometimes uses expressions that aren’t really suitable. Arsene Wenger is the greatest coach I’ve worked with,” said Nasri while responding to the criticism and also taking a dig at the City manager by comparing him with Arsene Wenger.