Pep's style of play is not too dissimilar to how we've seen City play sporadically under Pellegrini. The game at home to Tottenham where Navas scored the opener and Negredo that cracker is exactly his sort of style. It's 100% front foot pressure on the opposition. Man for man we are a better side than Leicester. How do we make this count? Pressure them when they have the ball so they can't keep it for long, when we have it use it effectively and don't give it away. Tire Leicester out, drag them around the pitch and make our possession and pressure count. That's what Pep will expect. He'd have dragged Silva off for continually getting caught in possession and then making no effort to recover the ball. He'd have slapped Delph for gifting possession away time and time again from midfield.
Having said that, he probably wouldn't have allowed us to play with such a lack of balance. Zabaleta had so much space at times but no natural width ahead of him because Silva drift inside so often.
Anyway, Pellegrini promised so much in his first season with us. The style of play was excellent. The entire outfield 10 were hounding the opposition and allowing them no time to pick a pass. Unless we're playing Barca, who can keep the ball all day long under pressure, this tactic works as the opposition play a loose pass and we then have possession again. It's intense but you get to keep the ball for longer which is always easier. That game at home v spurs was us perfecting this. We battered them that day. Pellegrini has failed to get City doing this since. Some players seem to do it, others don't and that just leaves acres of space for the opposition. This side has come to its natural end and is in need of freshening up. Fortunately we've still lots of talent but Pep will not put of a group of players that do not play to his required standards or system. He needs all 11 to do what he asks, not 4 or 5 of them.
