Having gone down 2-0 to trophy winners Sporting Lisbon in the opening encounter, City lost 2-1 to hosts the Red Bulls.
Seven young players took part in the match, some only hours before they left for home, while star names Yaya Toure, Gareth Barry and Shaun Wright-Phillips didn’t see any action for the second game in succession.
“I was not in the slightest bit disappointed,” insisted the manager after the game in which Jo scored the Blues goal.
“For me it was most important to leave this tournament without injury. We have worked hard for two weeks and it is normal that in this tournament we didn’t play 100%.
These are the first two strong games that we have played and we didn’t have all our players here
...Roberto Mancini
“We played seven young players and for me the young players are important for the club so it was good that we were able to bring them to the USA and given them time on the pitch.
“I like to work with young players because I broke through at the age of 16 and now how playing with really good players can help development.
“I think a mix between young and old players is very good.”
Mancini accepted that the intensity of the tour would rise in the next two games when the Blues take on Club America in Atlanta in an ‘indoor’ contest and then fly to Baltimore to meet European Champions Inter Milan.
“Yaya Toure, Gareth Barry and Shaun Wright-Phillips will all feature in those games and there will be more game time for Kolo Toure too.”
Vladimir Weiss will also be with the squad after his World Cup outings but Aleksandar Kolarov, Nigel de Jong, and Jerome Boateng will not.
