Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Elliott Jackson & James Quinlan

'You're all rubbish' - Roberto Mancini's Yaya Toure jibe that helped Man City to first title

Micah Richards has revealed that Roberto Mancini accused Manchester City's first Premier League title-winning squad of being a "one-man team" to motivate them mid-season.

City won their first Premier League title in 2012 with Sergio Aguero's dramatic goal on the final day of the season ensuring they pipped Manchester United to the trophy. Mancini's side won the title on goal difference.

City trailed United by eight points heading into the final month of the season after a sticky run of results in March. However, they beat United and capitalised on dropped points to edge ahead of Sir Alex Ferguson's side.

READ ALSO: Pep Guardiola may have to break unexpected Erling Haaland streak at Man City

Richards revealed that Mancini accused the City dressing room of being too reliant on Yaya Toure that year to inspire them. The Ivorian left mid-season for the Africa Cup of Nations and results took a turn.

"When we were going into the season we didn’t think we were going to win the league because Man United were obviously the favourites," Richards told Sky Sports.

"When we went to Old Trafford we had the 6-1, that gave us a little bit of an edge to say, ‘we can beat them’, even though they did have 10 men at the time - Jonny Evans got sent off.

"We had a little period in January when Yaya Toure went to the Africa Cup of Nations and Mancini called us into the dressing room and said, ‘you’re all rubbish without Yaya’, and I remember the players saying, ‘okay, he thinks that, let’s take it up a notch’.

"We did well after that. We had a sticky patch in March, I think it was. We drew some games and lost some games in that period, but then it was the Man United game. The Man United game was when [Vincent] Kompany stepped up - captain, leader, legend, 1-0, that’s when we knew. That’s when we knew it was our time.

"Man United had some tricky results, I remember the Everton 4-4 last minute sort of killed their confidence, but it was a rollercoaster of a season."

READ MORE:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.