Manchester City defender Eliaquim Mangala has publicly vowed to continue improving to assert his credentials as the club's first-choice centre-back next term and beyond. After an inconsistent campaign with the sky Blues last season, the Frenchman is eager to settle in with regular playing time and develop his progress further as Manuel Pellegrini's men target regaining the Premier League crown - which Chelsea won in the 2014/15 season.
Eager to develop and continue improving
He joined the Citizens for a transfer fee in excess of £30million pounds from Liga Portuguesa giants FC Porto, and despite his evident talent, he has struggled at times to cope with the relentless speed at which league matches are played. As a result, he has made a few mistakes along the way because he often rushes decision-making, which could be fatal in conceding goals at the highest level of the game.
Trying to eradicate mistakes as City bolster defence
He was publicly unveiled as a City player in August after his involvement with France at the World Cup in Brazil, which meant he missed the club's pre-season training camp and as a result, his fitness was not at its peak. Les Bleus got to the quarter-finals of the competition, before being beaten by eventual tournament winners Germany, and the 24-year-old himself admitted at the time he was still regaining his fitness and strength back from an extended break with the league a week or two away from starting when he joined the blue half of Manchester.
However, as the season progressed, he maintained a solid centre-back pairing with Martin Demichelis, as captain Vincent Kompany was enduring a rather disappointing spell by the Belgian's high standards.
Having played 45 minutes in their 3-2 (after penalties) friendly victory over Serie A side AS Roma in Melbourne, Mangala has targeted holding down a regular place in the starting eleven. He compared the intensity shown in the league, as opposed to in Portugal, saying that English football is different. "When you are on the pitch it's totally different [to watching it on TV], you're not used to it. But I like it and I'm very confident for this season."
He continued, saying that in England, you don't 'have time to control the ball', instead having to 'decide very quickly' especially when you are 'one-on-one with the striker, sometimes the referee lets play go on when you think it's a foul.' Also, he stated: "I'm used to it now - I know the Premier League. You can start well but it's a long season, you need to be more calm and consistent during the whole season because the Premier League is very hard."