Roberto Mancini blameless against Ajax as Manchester City are exposed by inept defence The sheer oddness of this fact is hard to take in. City are a global blend of influences and cultures but few in their vast and expensive squad were brought up to watch opponents spray the ball around. Sergio Agüero and Carlos Tevez, their two main strikers, are Argentina internationals and team-mates of Lionel Messi. Yaya Toure is a Barcelona product. The sophistication level of Mancini's team cannot be doubted, even if last summer's transfer dealings were underwhelming. The problem, this year as well as last, is that they appear incapable of switching between domestic and continental modes of play. On a ground where they boast a fine home European record they were passive observers for much of the first half, especially when Siem de Jong stole in to beat Joe Hart at his left-hand post and then met a Christian Eriksen corner unmolested to head home Ajax's second. To his critics, Mancini has auditioned for Claudio Ranieri's old role as The Tinkerman, switching his defensive formation around and confusing his players - then jumping on them verbally when they object. At the same time the manager's halting English has turned to a more fluent anger as questions have persisted about job offers he received last year. This modern obsession with the manager and his role in everything from global warming to street crime to the concession of a later goal at Stoke or Reading is a sideshow that diverts attention more and more from the shortcomings of players. Against Ajax, it was reasonable to expect an immediate return of last spring's tenacity and spirit. Those qualities come and go in this season's team, which suggests and underlying problem of attitude or application. It fell to Toure, as ever, to drive City back into this match after his own error in allowing De Jong to ghost in for his header. Toure is a wonderfully resolute figure: a marauder and rabble rouser whose downfield runs challenge his team-mates to rise to his level. His beautifully executed volley on 21 minutes fanned the bonfire embers of City's hopes. Agüero, who was like Bambi on ice for much of this game, finally managed to avoid slipping over long enough to beat Niklas Moisander to a through ball 17 minutes from time and fire City's equaliser. It is somehow reassuring to see multimillionaires suffer the same torments as pub footballers: in Agüero's case, boots that sent him skidding and sliding about. It will have pained City's supporters (and their owner) to see their team make such heavy weather of a home game they so desperately needed to win. Disputed late decisions offered a comfort blanket of resentment. They could not, though, disguise the team's wider discomfort in a competition that has made some of the world's top players look like novices.