I want to ‘punch’ Nasri, says Man City boss Roberto Mancini

Roberto Mancini has joked that he would like to give Samir Nasri “a punch” for not being consistent enough for Manchester City.

The France international starred as City recorded a 4-0 win over Newcastle United at The Etihad on Saturday, setting up David Silva’s goal.

But the 25-year-old midfielder has struggled to find consistent form in Manchester since moving up north from Arsenal in 2011.

And City boss Mancini admits that he cannot understand why the playmaker does not perform like he did on Saturday on a more regular basis.

“I would like to give him a punch. Because a player like him should play like today always,” said Mancini.

“Always. Every game. Maybe one game sometimes he can play [badly] but with his quality … I don’t know what was different on Saturday.

“I can’t understand [why] sometimes a player with his quality doesn’t play like today [in] every game.”