On the basis of the form thus far we will struggle to finish 4th.
Pellegrini's team is too open with the full backs pushed too far forward. We have lost our tightness in defence, and it is more than just about Kompany not being available. For today's conceded goal, illegal as it was, Micah was too far up the pitch - a recurring theme with our full backs under Pellegrini.
I'm sure Pellegrini is a decent bloke and a good manager, but is he an upgrade on Mancio? Not on the evidence of the season so far. Surely Mancini would have got this City team out of a relatively easy CL group? I can't see a Mancini side getting beaten by a straight ball as occurred at Villa and Chelsea. Yes, they were individual error s but our full backs need to be closer to cover.
I hope that Pellegrini can adjust his tactics to make us tighter again. Also, he needs to realise that Garcia is not good enough. Sadly Lescott looks well past it too. Demechelis looks decent enough, even at 32.
Hopefully we can become harder to beat but there are no real signs of that.