Mancini attacks "incredible" fixture pile-up

Roberto Mancini has unleashed a furious attack on England's football authorities, by accusing them of sabotaging the national team.

The Manchester City manager is seething about an "impossible" fixture schedule that sees his side take on Arsenal in the Carling Cup, just 50 hours after the final whistle in their league draw with Liverpool.

The Italian can barely believe the FA and Premier League would place such demands on players, and bluntly told them that scheduling like this is the reason England will never win a trophy.

Mancini revealed he will replace all 11 players in the side that won a hard-earned point at Anfield for the trip to London, after accusing the authorities of killing the national team.

"I think this is the reason why the national team arrive for European Championships, World Cups and they are dying. The players don't have time to recover," the Italian blasted.

"We'll change all the team, because this is an incredible situation.

"Arsenal played on Saturday, we play Sunday evening. Monday, travel to London, and we play Tuesday night. Incredible.

"To play again in two days like this so soon after the Champions League is incredible."

Liverpool face a similar situation with a trip to Chelsea in the same competition on the same evening.

Mancini believes the Premier League should have made a stand to protect their players.

The Italian's Anfield counterpart Kenny Dalglish has warned he may be forced to field a team of kids for the quarter-final at Stamford Bridge, and Mancini suggested he could do the same - to teach the authorities a painful lesson.

"I know Kenny is upset also, and I agree with him. It's incredible. It's a quarter-final. We should play with 11 young players - maybe 14 or 15 years old," he added.

"I maybe should do that to make a statement, because it's not correct. Not so much for us, but for the players. It's not right.

"I don't know who is to blame, but the Premier League should have said something. It's important to play, but it's also important to recover. You need three days between one game and the other.

"We'll have the same in January when we play Sunderland (on New Year's Day) and then Liverpool in two days. Liverpool play three days before us. Is this correct? I don't think so."

Mancini does have a powerful squad, which will allow him to bring in an entirely new side.

He suggested that Owen Hargreaves will start as he continues his comeback with the Blues. The likes of Wayne Bridge and Nedum Onuoha could also be involved.

Mancini also maintained his stance in support of striker Mario Balotelli, who was sent off at Anfield for two bookable offences.

The City boss believes his young forward was the victim of Liverpool gamesmanship but, as he reflected on the dismissal, he warned Balotelli that he must start learning from his experiences.

"There's a lesson for Mario," added Mancini. "He gets booked when he does not deserve to be booked. For this reason he must pay attention, always."