United still the best, admits Mancini

ROBERTO MANCINI has admitted Manchester United still have the strongest squad in the Premier League despite the millions spent at Manchester City and has denied rumours he is ready to reach for the cheque book yet again on Wesley Sneijder.

City, with latest signing Sergio Aguero on the bench, threw away a two-goal lead to lose the Community Shield 3-2 against their bitter rivals and now start the Premier League on the back foot knowing they must improve to challenge for first place.

“I think United is the top squad in the Premier League. They are better than other teams, but no-one says we can’t win the title,” insisted Mancini.

“We need to improve, we need to complete our team and find our best form. But United are a top team.

“It’s important to understand why we lost this game. We need a strong mentality because if we play against another strong squad in the Premier League or Champions League, we need to continue to play football not dip like we did in the second half.”

United’s victory may well come as a wake-up call for City, who beat their rivals in the FA Cup semi-final last season and saw Sunday’s match as an opportunity to lay down a marker for further challenges ahead.

But despite scoring first-half goals through Joleon Lescott and Edin Dzeko they failed to hang on to victory.

Mancini said: “I’m disappointed because we were in the dressing room 2-0 up after 45 minutes. I think they played better than us but when you go up 2-0 you need to control the game. In the end, 2-2 would maybe have been the correct result but that’s football.We weren’t 100% ready. This game is finished and next week we start the season.”

Mancini, who will have Carlos Tevez back in training today, denied he is ready to spend yet again to boost his squad by making a move for Inter Milan’s Sneijder — widely reported to have been a long-term target for United, too.

“No,” he stressed. “Sneijder is an Inter player so we have never spoken about him.”

And he also dismissed criticism that Aguero was left on the bench despite City’s need for a goal in the second half.

“Aguero is not ready to play,” he said. “Maybe he could have played the last 10 minutes but we needed a tall player for set-pieces. I think Sergio needs to train because he finished playing three weeks ago.

“Now he needs to train and recover — he probably doesn’t need a pre-season like other players to find form. When you play the first game of the season it’s impossible for all players to be 100%. But I know I have a good team.”