Martinez hails Mancini, says Manchester City could be next Barcelona

The Wigan Athletic manager praises the Italian's structured planning, though City success will only be measured by the trophies they win.

City manager Roberto Mancini has made a aggressive teams out of individuals, according to Roberto Martinez.

Roberto Martinez, the Wigan Athletic manager, compared Manchester City to the Barcelona side that was still striving to become the best in Europe.

And ahead of tonight's encounter, he said that City needed to turn form and promise into trophies to prove they are one of the continent's top teams.

City visit the DW Stadium looking to reopen a three-point lead on Manchester United at the top of the table. Martinez said: "As a team what measures you as a good or a bad team is achieving things and winning titles.

"What Manchester City has done has been phenomenal. I know the money has been important, but to get a team out of the individuals is where the difficulty lies.

"They can win any competition they go into, and they have done a remarkable job but only time will tell how good they can be.

"Barcelona probably five years ago were in a similar situation, showing good signs.

"But you can only be measured as a great side when you win titles and that's probably the exciting times ahead for City because they are showing they have everything in place to win trophies."

Martinez said City are now reaping the rewards of Roberto Mancini's long-term planning with the Italian first having made the side difficult to beat, before making them into a dominant attacking force.

He said: "Mancini had a massive impact as soon as he arrived.

"He's a special manager from a tactical point of view, and he's someone who has always had the long-term planning of what he wanted at Manchester City.

"They were a very solid team, very hard to break down at the beginning, and then he added the attacking options that has made them one of the attacking forces in the Premier League. It's fascinating to see how he had that structured plan in his head, and how he has developed that."

Meanwhile, City's assistant manager David Platt is expecting Wigan to stick to their philosophy of a passing game tonight, despite being bottom of the Premier League. "Wigan play football and they won't go away from that," Platt said.

"They had a very bad run that has seen them involved in a relegation battle but Roberto Martinez has his own style and he will stick to his philosophies."

Midnight, Abu Dhabi Sports 5