Premier League: Mancini must be left alone at Man City

Roberto Mancini is proving a magnet for criticism this season

Christian Crowther puts together a case for the defence on behalf of Manchester City's much-maligned manager Roberto Mancini...

Manchester City may have come a cropper in the Champions League group of death but, given they sit just one point off the Premier League summit, it really does seem absurd how much stick Roberto Mancini has come in for.

The champions of England recently announced that Barcelona's ex-director of football Txiki Begiristain - in place under Pep Guardiola's management - will take up a similar role with City, fuelling speculation that it could mark the start of a Spanish overhaul at the club.

The facts are though that Mancini's men remain the only unbeaten team in the Premier League following their win over Swansea, yet still the Italian is constantly grilled about his tactics and his side's performances.

Added to this, City currently represent the form team in the top flight with four wins on the bounce and, after Chelsea's defeat to fellow title hopefuls Manchester United, the Blues can now be backed at 3.02/1 to retain their crown.

Man City are the only team who have triumphed over West Brom at the Hawthorns and Fulham at Craven Cottage this season, which is a marker of the resilience Mancini has established, a crucial weapon in the armoury of any would-be champions.

The late winners in both those away games show that City if nothing else are tenacious enough to keep going until the very end of games, an attribute which ultimately won them the league last term.

Although Manchester City's task of qualifying from Group D is looking increasingly difficult - you can back them at 6.611/2 - any team which is placed in a group with Real Madrid and the champions of Germany and the Netherlands is going to be severely tested.

The argument that says a lot of City's players carry Champions League experience and so should fare better does carry validity, but as a collective unit their Champions League involvement is limited to just the one crusade.

When you compare this to Real Madrid's virtually unbroken involvement in the competition and Borussia Dortmund's own rich history in Europe, City's travails have to be put in perspective.

Even when Manchester United did the unthinkable by exiting at the group stage last season, Sir Alex Ferguson somehow escaped with faint-hearted criticism in comparison, despite his side having a far easier group on paper.