Mancini: Give up cigs, Mario
Balotelli, who continues to attract as much attention for his antics off-field as for his performances on it, has been pictured smoking cigarettes socially.
Mancini is aware of the 21-year-old’s habit and does not approve but says it would only be an issue if Balotelli was his son. Mancini said: “I know he smokes.
“For me it is not okay — but I am not his father or his mother. “If he was my son I would go to him and kick him on the arse. But he is not my son.
“I told him, for me it is better if you don’t smoke.
“I am against cigarettes — for this reason my son does not smoke.
“But there are players in Italy and here that do smoke.
“I don’t think he smokes a lot of cigarettes, five or six a day — but I told him.”
Balotelli, who has scored 11 goals this season, was infamously forced to move out of his house in Cheshire in October after fireworks set off from inside his bathroom sparked a blaze.
Mancini said: “He lights up the fireworks with the cigarettes!”
Mancini claims he does not have a points target in mind to win the Barclays Premier League.
Mancini suggested before Christmas that he felt a team would need 90 points to secure the title, since when City have been held to a goalless draw at West Brom and seen their two-point lead at the top of the table wiped out.
City are now level with Manchester United with 45 points from 18 games, while Tottenham are seven points behind with a game in hand.
Mancini said: “It is difficult. In this moment City, United and Tottenham have a lot of points compared to other years. If you said how many points you need to win the league, it is very difficult. I think you need to wait another six or eight games.”
City were frustrated at The Hawthorns on St Stephen’s Day in a game they were expected to win comfortably, while United have wiped out a five-point deficit at the start of December — and narrowed the goal difference to five — with the aid of two successive 5-0 wins.
However, Mancini does not believe his team are feeling the pressure.
“I don’t think this,” he said. “We have taken 45 points and scored a lot of goals and we knew before West Brom it would be impossible to stay on the top [all the time] or to win the title in January.
“I think this championship will be decided in the last three or four games.”
City have a tough January schedule starting with a trip to Sunderland tomorrow and a home clash with Liverpool two days later.
They then face United in the FA Cup third round and have two more clashes with Liverpool in the Carling Cup semi-finals, as well as league games against Wigan and Tottenham.
Mancini has been portrayed as being unhappy with the fixture list, but insists his only gripe is the proximity of the Sunderland and Liverpool league games.
He said: “The only problem was — as I said one or two months ago — it is not correct that we play one game on January 1 and another on January 3.
“Liverpool play two days before us, this is not correct. All the squads should play the same days or, if one has four days to recover, we need four days to recover.
“This is a problem for us today but it could be a problem for another team next year. I think they should organise this situation better than this.”
City will also have tomanage for a spell without key midfielder Yaya Toure, who, along with brother Kolo, will join Ivory Coast for the African Nations Cup after the United tie on January 8.
City have been linked with a move for Lille midfielder Eden Hazard but Mancini said: “This is not true.
“Hazard is a good player but he is not, in this moment, someone we have spoken about.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
