Samir Nasri: Chelsea are 'not special at all', says midfielder of Manchester City's title rivals

The Frenchman scored a fine goal in City's impressive 4-1 win against Stoke

Samir Nasri set up City’s second goal at Stoke then scored their fourth (AP)

Not content with the powerful message Manchester City’s 4-1 victory at Stoke on Wednesday sent Chelsea, Samir Nasri followed up with a scathing attack on the Premier League leaders.

The result marked a compelling return to form for City after a faltering run of just one victory in six league games. It also reinforced Nasri’s view that the league’s finest team is not the one leading it.

“I’m a big fan of [Jose] Mourinho, but I am not impressed with his team, not at all,” Nasri said. “We have played them twice, one time with 10 men, and we were better than them. Then we played them at the Bridge, and we were better than them.

“When I have seen some of their games, I don’t think they are that fantastic. They are just strong, and have a good striker up front. For me they are not special at all.”

The midfielder iced City’s cake at the Britannia Stadium, firing home the fourth goal after two strikes from Sergio Aguero, one a penalty, and one by James Milner extinguished Stoke’s resistance.

Nasri’s words will probably be pinned to the doors of Chelsea’s Cobham training complex before the day is out. They might even draw Mourinho out of his silent period with a riposte.

The Frenchman saw in Chelsea’s 1-0 victory over Everton scope for optimism as the season builds towards its climax. “I think they are going to make some mistakes. We just have to perform, to win our games, and see what’s going to happen,” Nasri said. “This title will be like this until the end of the season. No one will win the league 10 games before the end of the season.”

Nasri also takes strength from history for the title run-in. “We know that the two times we won the league we were behind at this time of the year,” he said. “Two months ago we were eight points behind Chelsea and came back and went level with them.

“Now we are seven points behind, but are not going to make big talk about it. We will just try to get as many points as possible and wait for the mistake. They won in the last minute against Everton, so maybe next time they will draw.

“The season is still long. They have the Champions League and the final of the Capital One Cup as well, so have a lot of games to play. We have 39 points to fight for, and if we reach 90 points we will be champions of England. If we win all of our games, it will put pressure on Chelsea.”

City were bolstered yesterday by the return to training of Yaya Touré following Ivory Coast’s African Cup of Nations success on Sunday. His international team-mate and new City signing Wilfried Bony is expected back today.

“We have special players in this team, and now we have this experience,” Nasri added. “Big players are there for big games, important games, and we are lucky to have them.

“Sometimes we lack consistency but we are improving and next week we will have Yaya and Bony back, and are really confident about the future of the season.”