Argentinian has been City’s Player of the Year this season.
Manchester City defender Pablo Zabaleta has refused to give under-pressure boss Roberto Mancini his full support in the wake of rumours that the Italian is to be relieved of his duties at Eastlands this week, says the Daily Mirror.
Mancini, 48, has been in charge of the mega-rich Premier League club since 2009, during which time he has guided them to FA Cup glory in 2011 followed last season by their first top-flight title since 1968.
However, this campaign has proved to be a huge disappointment for Mancini and his team, who have not only relinquished their Premier League crown to arch-rivals Manchester United, but have also flopped badly in the Uefa Champions League, where they finished bottom of their group last year.
And to make matters worse, City were surprisingly beaten 1-0 in Saturday’s FA Cup final by rank outsiders Wigan Athletic at Wembley Stadium in the biggest upset the competition had seen for 25 years.
But full-back Zabaleta stopped short of giving Mancini his unequivocal backing, simply saying: “It’s not our decision. As players we need to be focused on what we do now and we will see what happens with Roberto in the future.
“We’ve got two games left and we will see the chairman and sports director and all the people who have to think about this. If they make some changes, it’s because – I don’t know. We need to let them deal with this.”
Mancini has won 113 of his 191 games in charge of the club since 2009, losing just 40 times in the process.
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