How can you adapt, when you're playing in a team (Pellegrini's) not set up to play that way ?
He didn't even do what Pelligrini wanted. The number of times I watched the Centre-Backs split to either side of the penalty area last season only for Joe to take so long to get himself set that they were marked by the time he was ready with his run up. Then he waved them forward and Joe hoofed the ball up to Silva and Aguero and Sterling to compete in the air against various defensive hulks.
If the plan had been to hoof it long then why not just do it straight away before the opposition had got set??