The Eastlands club, owned by Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Presidential Affairs, have drawn five of their previous six matches. They drew with Fulham and Burnley at home and drew with Aston Villa, Wigan Athletic and Birmingham City away. They are currently sixth in the standings with 20 points.

Manchester City’s Brazilian import Sylvio, also known as Sylvinho or Silvinho, said that the expectations are high this time.

“We had a good start to the EPL. But we didn’t do well in the last couple of matches. But the season is so long and we know we have to improve and we can. It is not just the club. The people around the world are expecting it,” Silvinho said on Tuesday.

Silvinho is in Abu Dhabi with the squad which will play a friendly game against the UAE National team on Thursday. The game is titled ‘Our Country vs Our City.’ As part of that programme, manager Mark Hughes coached local and international children in the age group of 7-10 at a Manchester City Football Clinic at the Emirates Palace on Tuesday.

Players Silvinho and Pablo Zabaleta and also coached the children for a 30-minute match between Emirati and International children forming a mini version of ‘Our Country vs Our City.’

The 35-year-old Silvinho said that it wasn’t going to be easy but they had the men to do the job.

“We have a lot of good players. And (Mark) Hughes is a good man. We got everything but it is not easy at all. We need to work, think and work hard towards to it,” said Silvinho, who is a two-time Champions League winner with Spanish giants Barcelona.

An unused substitute in the 2006 Champions League final, he played the whole game in the 2009 final against Manchester United, which turned out to be his final game for the L’equip Blaugrana.

Silvinho said that a winning mentality was important.

“We need to change the mentality of everyone in City. We need to make people believe that you can do that. It is very important. Mentality is very important,” said Silvinho, who has also played for another EPL club Arsenal and added: “Whatever we are aiming for, be it, top four, top three or top two, it is going to be difficult. But the people running the club are nice. We have to improve things because EPL is difficult.”

Silvinho refused to compare his time with the three different clubs—Arsenal, Barcelona and Manchester City. “You cannot compare because they are different countries and different clubs. Barcelona are the best club in the world at the moment. Manchester City are on the way and we have good players coming in,” he said.

About the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Silvinho said though Brazil were favourites, teams like Argentina, Germany and England too were strong contenders. “The World Cup is hard. Brazil are one of the best teams in the world but Argentina, Germany and England too have great squads. Brazil are working hard and they are expecting to do good things,” said the attacking left back.

Silvinho, for whom it is the first time in this part of the world, was amazed by the love for football here. “It is the first time I’m here. I had heard a lot of things about the city and the country. And now that I’m here, I find it lovely and the atmosphere is unbelievable. People love football and that is very important. They are crazy about their football as we can see here,” he said.