Discuss Pellegrini (Pt 2)

[Jumanji]

Knew it was you as soon as you came on gmr, fella. Just listened in the car. Nice rant. Thought you were going to do yourself a mischief ;-)

Wasn't lack of desire for me tonight, although there were some bad errors made. It was a systemic fault which was obvious from five minutes in. Silva should have been on for Nasri to keep the ball, negredo should have been on for dzeko to give us an outlet ball when they did press us, and Milner should have been on for navas or Sergio to shore up the midfield.

I've never seen a game where the changes were so obvious from so early on.

I think the manager took that pragmatic 'I will give it until 60 minutes to improve" stance and in this instance it was a bad call. When he finally did make those changes we started to play.

I'm not panicking but I hope he's learnt a few lessons tonight: hart needs dropping,silva is miles better than Nasri , negredo is a much better option than dzeko and the fernandinho/ yaya central partnership is not looking like its going to work consistently. Ultimately, when the dust settles its not a game we needed to win, and the are probably the best side I have ever seen in the flesh.

But we could have made it such a different game.

That wouldn't have helped much. We'd still be outnumbered against Bayern's midfield 4 (Muller false 9).

Pellegrini in the post match said Silva couldn't play more than 20.

Negredo for Dzeko is an interesting...even keeping the 442 because Negredo would drop deep and Harry the opposition unlike Dzeko. He would have also held the ball better.

Perhaps the 442 could have worked if Negredo started and Hart didn't ruin the game.

I take all those points, mate. And I also agree that despite their possession, hart gifted them the lead and the impetus. To change negredo for dzeko early would, in some ways, be an acceptance that their pressing and possession game means we would be forced to go long at times. But his holdup and link play would have potentially got silva in the game and got us more possession.

It's easy in hindsight I know, and you could argue that we start the second half a fair bit better than the first. Also, the subs were being readied at 1-0 but suddenly they scored, kept the ball for about 150 passesthen scored again, and suddenly the game was lost and the clock had marched on ten minutes.

I agree.

Honestly with hindsight, the 442 really could have worked with Negredo. (Provided Hart doesn't concede soft goals)

Dzeko was unbelievably lazy for a big game (almost to the point of arrogance).

Sergio stopped pressing Lahm because he was tired of doing it by himself.

Negredo would have helped on that front but also ball possession as we agreed.

 

[ballinio]

I've said it before the premier league fixtures were very kind to Pelle.

To be outside the top four at this stage having spent 100 mill adding to the squad is scandalous.

He needs to make some swift improvements to come close to convincing me.

Milner should be starting every game at the mo - at least you know you'll get 110 %.

I'd be playing him in the centre alongside Yaya and ferdi and start playing 433

Half a new team, and a new manager and you are expecting us to click straight away

Ignore tonight. If your goalkeeper concedes a ridiculous goal against the best team in the world after 5 minutes, you will get thrashed. Our task is to win the League and get out of our Group. I believe we will do both

We need to show some desire for the game week after week after week

And We will

The same desire we showed at Cardiff & Villa you mean ?

 

[rastus]

That wouldn't have helped much. We'd still be outnumbered against Bayern's midfield 4 (Muller false 9).

Pellegrini in the post match said Silva couldn't play more than 20.

Negredo for Dzeko is an interesting...even keeping the 442 because Negredo would drop deep and Harry the opposition unlike Dzeko. He would have also held the ball better.

Perhaps the 442 could have worked if Negredo started and Hart didn't ruin the game.

I take all those points, mate. And I also agree that despite their possession, hart gifted them the lead and the impetus. To change negredo for dzeko early would, in some ways, be an acceptance that their pressing and possession game means we would be forced to go long at times. But his holdup and link play would have potentially got silva in the game and got us more possession.

It's easy in hindsight I know, and you could argue that we start the second half a fair bit better than the first. Also, the subs were being readied at 1-0 but suddenly they scored, kept the ball for about 150 passesthen scored again, and suddenly the game was lost and the clock had marched on ten minutes.

I agree.

Honestly with hindsight, the 442 really could have worked with Negredo. (Provided Hart doesn't concede soft goals)

Dzeko was unbelievably lazy for a big game (almost to the point of arrogance).

Sergio stopped pressing Lahm because he was tired of doing it by himself.

Negredo would have helped on that front but also ball possession as we agreed.

I agree that pigs can fly albeit pink ones ;)

 

[mancity1]

A thoroughly disappointing and unenjoyable night, where we were totally played off the park by a truly imperious team.

We were playing like a Championship team for much of that game in terms of the style of football, which is baffling and frustrating in equal measure.

Driving away from the ground me and my mate couldn't think of a single City player who played well who was on the pitch for more than 25 minutes.

Still far, far too early to judge Pellegrini though.

We will know after the next half dozen games or so , that's enough to set the scene as to where we are heading this year.

As many have said we are miles off being considered a force in Europe , and I mean miles.

The more important question is how good under this regime are we in the premiership.

Saturday is our first test of note in the scheme of things this year.

To date we have stuttered somewhat.

 

[Vienna_70]

The players were a disgrace today but Pellegrini is in no light here, he got it massively wrong going 2 in midfield against Bayern's 3, plus playing Dzeko over Negredo, why?

If it wasn't for United's start, Pellegrini would be getting battered by the media in this country!

I completely agre that Milner should have been on from the start, rather than one of Navas, Nasri or Džeko. How the hell Pellegrini expected Fernandinho and YaYa to cope against arguably the best midfield in club football anywhere in the world is laughable really. It's all very well playing that formation against average Premier League sides, but against the European champions, it's not going to work.

Jimmy might not be everybody's cup of tea, but he would have added some fight and bite to our midfield. It's no coincidence that we improved after his introduction.

 

[ballinio]

Barring negredo his signings are shit. The derby aside and that was against the worst utd side in two decades this guy has done nothing to impress! We were drubbed tonight and he waited 70 mins to change it! I'm yet to see the crowd at games in anyway engage with this guy, he shows no passion whatsoever! Did you see pep when Bayern made the slightest mistake? If this guy is an upgrade on Mancini then I'm a monkey's uncle.

Think you got it,sooner he`s gone the better, a Mr nice guy who the players are taking the piss out of .

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

A thoroughly disappointing and unenjoyable night, where we were totally played off the park by a truly imperious team.

We were playing like a Championship team for much of that game in terms of the style of football, which is baffling and frustrating in equal measure.

Driving away from the ground me and my mate couldn't think of a single City player who played well who was on the pitch for more than 25 minutes.

Still far, far too early to judge Pellegrini though.

Bayern didn't have to break sweat and yet another big game in Europe sees City play way below par.

It seems to get worse rather than better

Yet maybe we have a lifeline, because going off the scoreline in Russia, CSKA Moscow don't sound too great

Surely we can beat them?

Two things from tonight's games:

We have zero chance of competing for the CL, based on the gulf in class between the two teams. Not a fucking prayer.

We can still comfortably get out of the Group. CSKA are not a good side and it would not surprise me if we beat them twice.

However, as you said before Marvin, demons in the head. As soon as we're up against a top European team we'll get taken apart based on tonight and hitherto tbf.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

United aren't the target for me mate. Bayern are. The best should always be.

We beat Unites but not 'fodder'.

Pellegrini imo is getting the crashcourse in English football.

I wanted Jose but mainly change. I think Pellegrini will be goos for us but only if HE adapts.

As for the fool who said our summer buys are poor. GTFOOH. We had the best window in Europe bar Madrid!

-- Wed Oct 02, 2013 11:33 pm --



Same United that won last season's league?

Hyperbole.

I agree that bayern are the target, and despite them outclassing us tonight, I still believe that man for man we aren't far away. But boy are they a unified team, something we have to become.

I still think we will do. But we do need to get the blend right.

With the greatest respect mate, we are a million miles behind the likes of Munich right now.

We aren't In terms of squad quality in my opinion.

They are blended, balanced, confident, physically imposing. They know what they are doing and they play with a fierce intensity. It's something which has made German teams the best in the world recently.

But we can aspire to that if and when we finally become what a great manager will make us: greater than the sum of our parts, like they are.

 

[NipHolmes]

The early goal changed the complexion of the contest for me. It gave Bayern that extra yard in their head's so to speak. Their ball retention was unbelievable after that. At one point it looked like a carbon copy of Mourinho's early Classico's against Pep.

I realise that a lot will be made of the fact we didn't play with an extra man in midfield, but people are kidding themselves if they think it would've changed the result. Bayern were two steps above us in their play tonight.

Spot on.

Imo they could have given us 12 men and let us have a 4-3-2-2 and we would still have lost. They were simply that good. They have balance in abundance, way more than the great Barca side we have seen and still compete (with a weak backline).

Bayern were phenomenal. They exposed us imo. Fair play to them, I diff my cap and wish them we even though I dislike them as a club I still respect them. Pep will come out of this smelling of roses, great timing for a new job by going to the only club in the world with a better squad than Barca

But I still can't forgive City conceding soft goals in Europe

You can't give teams like that anything but we play like mugs in Europe

We have a team of bottlers. ANd they'll keep bottling it until they convince themselves they belong

It's like a weightlifter who fails at his maximum lift. It's negative reinforcement and every time we play a big game in Europe we play with indecision and doubt clouding everything we do

We wont see progress in Europe until we somehow eke our way out of the Group and then the next step will be beating a Barcelona. When we do that then we will compete effectively

It's not Mancini or Pellegrini tactics. It's demons in heads

We aren't bottlers, I'd we were then QPR would never have happened fella.

Bondsman. I could not care a fuck what you think. We lost to a great side built with world class spine and width. They have better syartin eleven and manager, and squad options to boot. They are a giant of European football and City are only just here at the big stage. Pardon me for not getting over deflated and having perspective.

This team dismantled Barcelona and I mean knocked the back fucking end our of them. Same team which has dominated Europe and the spine of the NT. Yet they were like Championship level. New players, new manager and it's early in season. As long as we progress then we HAVE succeeded in our main European task. With each game we grow. By end of the group we may play Bayern again at some point and perform better. Pellegrini is so old he dined at the last supper with Jesus so I expect him to be long enough in the tooth to know where we went wrong. Same guy guided a Cazorlaless Malaga to nearly beating BVB so he's sharp enough. He just has to make some unpopular decisions which imo star. Hart and two men up front. Costel needs a start and we need three men in midfield. I addict at least on of these changes in the return leg.

Shit signings you say. Come debate that end of season.

 

[carlosthejackal]

The one thing that has come out of tonight is that our manager is not a tactical genius . So i have no idea what he is going to bring to the table other than being holistic.