On point 1, Pellegrini has done a good job so far but this season so far hasn't quite been enough. I think he is now being exposed to his limits tactically which unfortunately is fatal at the highest level. When your players can't make the difference the manager must and I don't have quite enough faith that Pellegrini can reinvent this team beyond demanding to buy more of the best players.
On point 2, you must be off your trolly, Yaya must be worth upwards of 60M at the very least and we would have to be mad to sell him. The rest well Dzeko scored 28 last year, he has had a quiet year this year but he hasn't played many either. He is still a proven goalscorer no matter what anyone else says, he should demand at least 25/30M. Nasri should be at his peak and we should be asking for similar. I kind of agree on the rest but I disagree on even considering selling the ones I have mentioned because you will not get much better.
On point 3, why do we need a mega signing. Name a single mega signing in history that has gone on to make a huge impact? Messi would make a huge impact in any team but he is just impossible to sign by anyone. People on here are demanding big name signings because they think that equals success but history tells us that it doesn't at all. A team of big signings will probably guarantee success, but one single signing, no chance. We don't need to do it.
On point 4, there is quite a lot of hypocrisy here, on one side we want big name signings etc but on the other we want to bring through youth.. You just cannot have both because playing youth players in the big games is quite a risk when every point matters is it not. I'm sure peoples minds will be changed when they consider that putting a youth defender at the back might cost us points. I have said it on other threads, youth guarantees nothing and the only real indicator of quality youth players is when they are good enough to easily transition to the first team, that has not happened. Simply blindingly believing in youth is pointless and goes alongside the policies of other teams who put blind faith in youth like Aston Villa. I have never understood this obsession with bringing through youth as though it trumps over other teams or something. We have invested in our academy yes but even that guarantees nothing but it does open doors. The whole youth thing will be won in world class scouting and that unfortunately cannot be bought, it takes decades of experience to gain that sort of worldwide coverage and knowledge. Picking up the next Messi is not about building a fancy academy and sticking them in the 1st team where they (hopefully) set the world on fire, it is about finding the next Messi before anyone else does, pure and simple.
As for 5, I don't think the right manager obviously exists because it depends on so many things. At this level the manager can make a lot of difference but ultimately it is down to the cycle of the team and how they put the power down so to speak. We right now are in a transition to the end of this teams cycle and it is crucial that the manager reinvents the team. Simply topping up the team with squad players will not work and once big players like Yaya get old, they quite simply have to be replaced and if that does not happen, the quality of the football drops. Forget youth, forget buying big names, we need to buy mid 20 somethings who are going to become great and we need to do it asap. We also need a manager who mixes in experience with players who will soon approach their peak, right now we have a manager on the edge of retirement with an aging team topped up with fringe type players. The entire thing needs reinventing whilst taking advantage of what we already have that works... The only manager I can see doing this and doing it well is Guardiola or Simeone, both are proven at completely starting again with teams and turning what worked well before into something fantastic
