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City Side Beginning to Feel title race pressure.
Gareth Barry has admitted the pressure is growing for his Manchester City side the closer they get to a first Premier League title.
Barry acknowledged City’s Sunday showdown with title rivals Tottenham is a “huge” encounter and said his team-mates know they cannot afford any slip-ups now the big prize is in sight.
“There’s big pressure on us now,” said the England midfielder. “It’s a vital part of the season. There are still a lot of games left, but this period now, after a little sticky patch, is important.
“The game coming up against Spurs is a huge one in the title race. The lads aren’t thinking about the money the club has spent at all - they’re thinking about winning the league.
“That’s the pressure - trying to win the title. Managers can see when pressure is affecting players, and that’s where they must make their decisions. Pressure can affect some players more than others.
“We’re going into games now, knowing they’re all big and that there’s so much at stake.
“Earlier in the season the players were playing a lot more freely. But at this stage it’s all about getting three points and sometimes the football may not be as pretty.”
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and Spurs boss Harry Redknapp have tried to derail City’s title challenge with comments designed to get under the skin of Mancini and his players and plant doubt in their minds over their ability to be champions.
Ferguson has questioned City’s lack of experience, while Redknapp claimed any title success for the Blues would be devalued because of the vast sums of money - £425million at the last count - spent on players by owner Sheikh Mansour.
But Barry claimed Mancini’s managerial rivals are wasting their time if they think the 47-year-old Italian, who led Inter Milan to three successive Serie A titles, will get rattled.
“There will be more of that from the other managers,” he said. “But it helps knowing that our manager has been there before and won titles in Italy.
“In terms of mind games, there have been opportunities when our manager could have had a little bite, but he’s resisted it and not really reacted.
“I think that’s definitely the right thing to do. The route the manager has gone down has certainly helped the players.
“He’s not added any more pressure on us before the games and the players feel very comfortable that he knows what he is doing.
“The manager is in charge of what you do, so if you see him getting involved in other things away from the pitch, it’s going to make everyone unsettled.
“Inside, the manager probably feels the pressure a bit more if the results aren’t going right.
“But judging by the way he’s approached it and spoken to us, he’s certainly not showing any signs that he’s under any more pressure.”
There is no danger of Mancini going down the same ill-fated route as Barry’s former boss at Aston Villa, when they were top of the Premier League in the 1998-99 campaign.
After extending their unbeaten run that season to 12 games with a 4-1 win at Southampton, Gregory assembled Villa’s players for a picture on the pitch, to create a lasting memory of the club record.
It proved a disastrous move, and one which exposed the extent of Villa’s ambition.
Gregory’s side, which included a then 17-year-old Barry, imploded thereafter and eventually finished sixth.
“I remember when we had that photo taken,” said Barry, wincing at the memory.
“I was very young at the time but some of the more experienced players weren’t happy the manager called for that to be done, because it can only add pressure and work against you in the long run.
“But there’s none of that going on at City at the moment. We’re just really focused on what we have to do.”
Barry knows City’s wealth and spending ability will always been held against them, regardless of their achievements, and feels such a perception is borne of envy.
“Maybe there’s a bit of jealousy,” he said. “Every supporter in the country would like a rich owner to come in and transform their club.
“It’s happened slowly here, but we won’t take any comments to heart. We just want to win the league.
“For us, that’s the main thing and we hope there are many more to come. If that happens, all the talk will be forgotten.
“That first title, as Chelsea did after spending a lot of money, is vital. But once you win three or four that [talk of spending] goes out of the window.
“As a club, we haven’t been in this position because we haven’t done it yet, so that’s a fact. But we have to try to get over the line.
“We have some really tough games between now and the end of the season - starting with Spurs - and it’s a massive challenge.
“This is why I left Villa, to be challenging for the title, and I think we have enough in the dressing-room to get the job done.”
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