Samir Nasri

Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri has admitted that he was hurt by the criticism he received last season for his performances and has insisted that he is definitely not the ‘ugly duckling’ that many people have made him out to be.

The Frenchman suffered a massive dip in form last season after his protracted transfer from Arsenal in 2011, scoring just five times in 38 appearances for City as they surrendered their Premier League title meekly to their more illustrious neighbors Manchester United. He was singled out for criticism for ducking out of Robin van Persie’s free kick which deflected off his right shoulder to nestle into the back of the net as City lost 3-2 to United and many people consider that loss to United as a pivotal moment in the season which saw United wrestle the Premier League title back from the blue half of Manchester.

And according to Samir Nasri, he found it very difficult at times last season when he was singled out for criticism and admitted that in a team game, no individual player should be singled out for blame. He also stated that at the moment, he feels good; mentioning that he feels relaxed but did admit that the last few months have been very tiring for him.

The Frenchman confessed that last season, he went through several moments when he was overcome with doubt and had to reassure himself. He added that some of the criticism that was aimed at him hurt him a lot and a lot of bad things were said as well.

Samir Nasri mentioned that as long as the criticism is justified, he has no problem with it but he did state that there were a lot of lies told about him and that was just unacceptable for him.