Football is a squad game these days, especially in the Premier League, where optimum fitness is so important. Managers need to have strength in depth, being able to call on some quality footballers on the bench to change the game or come in when other players are injured. Unfortunately, this midfielder thinks he’s too good to be left out of the starting XI.
The Guardian reports that Elano is doing all he can to get on the wrong side of Mark Hughes. Rather than quietly try to demonstrate that the Welshman is wrong to leave him on the sidelines, the Brazilian has taken the rather unwise step of arranging a special interview to get his points across.
“In the last week I have been left out of two games,” Elano said in a specially arranged television interview. “I don’t know why, and I think that the Manchester City fans have a right to know. That’s why I’m here publicly saying to the fans, and the people at the club who like me, that I’m very disappointed and sad. When I am playing I know what he (Hughes) wants but when I come off there is nothing from him.”
The Manchester City manager will be bemused by these comments, since when did managers have to justify their selection process to anyone, including the supporters? Does Elano think he has a God-given right to be turning out for the team, especially as he wasn’t exactly pulling up any trees towards the end of last season? It’s not quite on a par with Cristiano Ronaldo being left out of the Manchester United team is it?
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