Discuss Pellegrini (Pt 2)

[bluemc1]

So not only are you having a go at City fans for having the temerity to actually attend matches, you're actually using revenues as if it were some kind of logical argument in your favour? Erm Billy, has it ever crossed your mind that fans who go to matches still have Sky Sports subscriptions? Has the further thought entered your mind that English subscribers pay far more for match rights to English matches than foreign subscribers?

I had some sympathy for you when people made jibes about you living abroad and not attending matches frequently, after these two farcical and idiotic posts though, you don't deserve any. However, I know my previous sympathy will mean little to you because I'm a match-going massive...

Yeah I should apologise to anyone who was offended by those posts ... I was a little drunk and got riled by the oft used "you're a plastic" type comments from NF ... but still in hindsight no matter what point i was trying to score it wasn't a cool thing to post. All I can do is apologise profusely.

JMW ... thanks for the heat maps and your own tactical analysis. Much of what you say is bang on and the UEFA stats are indeed very telling. However I think it's also important to acknowledge that key factors in a game of football such as the speed of an opponents passing and movement cannot be measured by these stats but have an enormous baring on the overall flow of the game. Don't get me wrong - they don't mitigate what was Pellegrini's obvious mistakes. Just that IMO you're doing Bayern a bit of a disservice. As I said yesterday we could've played six in midfield and in my opinion we'd have still been comprehensively beaten if they played at that level again.

Pellegrini must have had his reasons for not making that change at half time ... it won't have escaped his notice how high profile the game was, the fact all his bosses were in the stands, and that we were comprehensively schooled in the first half. I fully expect he will have had to explain himself to at least Txiki if not Ferran and Khaldoon too.

hey fair play to you fella don't often see an apology on here

 

[andyhinch]

Lets just rip Everton a new one tomorrow and move on, hate lunch time kick offs.

 

[Anonymous]

Lets just rip Everton a new one tomorrow and move on, hate lunch time kick offs.

I still prefer them to Monday night games ... or even Sunday 4 o'clock ones. I'd rather play first get the points in the bag and then see how the rest do ... so on that basis we better put the points in the fucking bag!

 

[andyhinch]

Lets just rip Everton a new one tomorrow and move on, hate lunch time kick offs.

I still prefer them to Monday night games ... or even Sunday 4 o'clock ones. I'd rather play first get the points in the bag and then see how the rest do ... so on that basis we better put the points in the fucking bag!

It fucks up my pre-match drinking schedule and I'll be in a shit mood all day if we don't win.

 

[St Helens Blue (Exiled)]

Lets just rip Everton a new one tomorrow and move on, hate lunch time kick offs.

Agreed mate-Lets hope its the same result as the Hull match but with an improved overall performance.

 

[OB1]

Anyway-Back on track...Tomorrow is going to be very very interesting.
In discussing all this,the players should also take a little of the blame but we all know that the buck stops with Pelle.
I am hoping for a reaction tomorrow I really am.

A lot of the blame for that performance rests on their effort , lack of concentration etc.

Hart for two basic goal keeping errors which hasn't gone unnoticed.

Clichy for thinking about Megan Fox when he should have been tracking Mueller.

It's been creeping into a number of performances and its been done to death now and it will have to eradicated from our game tomorrow because Everton have the fire power to capitilise where as maybe Stoke and Hull did not thank f..

At times, some of the City players strolled when Bayern players were sprinting and you cannot blame that on tactics. I didn't honestly think that the City players' effort levels were lower than normal but I did think that they needed to raise them for Bayern. I do question whether they have the fitness levels that they need to fully implement what Pellegrini wants and I do not know if it takes more than just a preseason to raise the levels sufficiently? Will we see improved fitness levels as the season progresses?

 

[TGR]

Anyway-Back on track...Tomorrow is going to be very very interesting.
In discussing all this,the players should also take a little of the blame but we all know that the buck stops with Pelle.
I am hoping for a reaction tomorrow I really am.

A lot of the blame for that performance rests on their effort , lack of concentration etc.

Hart for two basic goal keeping errors which hasn't gone unnoticed.

Clichy for thinking about Megan Fox when he should have been tracking Mueller.

It's been creeping into a number of performances and its been done to death now and it will have to eradicated from our game tomorrow because Everton have the fire power to capitilise where as maybe Stoke and Hull did not thank f..

At times, some of the City players strolled when Bayern players were sprinting and you cannot blame that on tactics. I didn't honestly think that the City players' effort levels were lower than normal but I did think that they needed to raise them for Bayern. I do question whether they have the fitness levels that they need to fully implement what Pellegrini wants and I do not know if it takes more than just a preseason to raise the levels sufficiently? Will we see improved fitness levels as the season progresses?

Apart from the fitness levels you also need the desire, commitment, will, hunger and professional pride to actually want to do it. That's where the question mark is with some of these guys me thinks.

 

[JoeMercer'sWay]

So not only are you having a go at City fans for having the temerity to actually attend matches, you're actually using revenues as if it were some kind of logical argument in your favour? Erm Billy, has it ever crossed your mind that fans who go to matches still have Sky Sports subscriptions? Has the further thought entered your mind that English subscribers pay far more for match rights to English matches than foreign subscribers?

I had some sympathy for you when people made jibes about you living abroad and not attending matches frequently, after these two farcical and idiotic posts though, you don't deserve any. However, I know my previous sympathy will mean little to you because I'm a match-going massive...

Yeah I should apologise to anyone who was offended by those posts ... I was a little drunk and got riled by the oft used "you're a plastic" type comments from NF ... but still in hindsight no matter what point i was trying to score it wasn't a cool thing to post. All I can do is apologise profusely.

JMW ... thanks for the heat maps and your own tactical analysis. Much of what you say is bang on and the UEFA stats are indeed very telling. However I think it's also important to acknowledge that key factors in a game of football such as the speed of an opponents passing and movement cannot be measured by these stats but have an enormous baring on the overall flow of the game. Don't get me wrong - they don't mitigate what was Pellegrini's obvious mistakes. Just that IMO you're doing Bayern a bit of a disservice. As I said yesterday we could've played six in midfield and in my opinion we'd have still been comprehensively beaten if they played at that level again.

Pellegrini must have had his reasons for not making that change at half time ... it won't have escaped his notice how high profile the game was, the fact all his bosses were in the stands, and that we were comprehensively schooled in the first half. I fully expect he will have had to explain himself to at least Txiki if not Ferran and Khaldoon too.

Think I've been very positive towards Bayern's performance in general since wednesday, and was very positive about how they exploited us in my analysis.

No doubt they would still have been very tough and presented a major challenge regardless of our tactics, but I think if we'd set up properly to start with we could have got more a foothold and made life a little more difficult. The players had actually done decently to keep it at 1-0 going into half-time (by hook or by crook), but the key was that we had to keep it at 1-0 till Pelle felt it right to put Silva on and change it up. We collapsed in the quarter after half-time and this is merely my assumption but I reckon the players would have been a bit bemused as to why nothing was changed at half-time. It was also clear in the first 3 minutes that they were trying to harry, get the ball and go forward, they'd obviously been told to get stuck in. Then Clichy fell asleep and Muller scored and that was that till Bayern relaxed and took off 3 key players and we changed our shape. I think that's a pretty key reason as to why we lost so badly. The first half was a write off but it was only 1-0 with a whole new 45 minutes for Pelle to inspire a change. He opted for whatever he'd done at half-time in Plzen and v United and this time it worked for 5 minutes. Bayern were too good to be caught out by a bit more effort and pressing and they knew we hadn't changed shape to stop them. They got the break very early in the second half and that just sank the confidence of the side till Bayern backed off and we changed it up in the final quarter of an hour.

 

[eversince 76]

At times, some of the City players strolled when Bayern players were sprinting and you cannot blame that on tactics. I didn't honestly think that the City players' effort levels were lower than normal but I did think that they needed to raise them for Bayern. I do question whether they have the fitness levels that they need to fully implement what Pellegrini wants and I do not know if it takes more than just a preseason to raise the levels sufficiently? Will we see improved fitness levels as the season progresses?

Yes. Think fitnesswise we are ok and it'll probably raise the more the players get used to his style of play and play that way. Imo the goals had nothing to do with tactics, but the general look of play might. I still think a lot of players have the Mancini-style drilled into them and that causes problems when one part wants to press up and the other part doesn't. That's what causes so much space between the lines it's easy for a Guardiola-team to use this space and made us look like we were just watching them passing the ball all the time. I think we should and could have done better, but the last 10 minutes don't tell the truth. Bayern as it is now are a class ahead of us or any PL-team for that matter. It was always going to be the two games vs CSKA that will decide what team will join Bayern in the next round.
Pellegrini simply needs time, like he did need at Villareal, Real (not given) and Malaga. Hope we don't spoil too many points in the PL or CL before his concept is inherited by all the players.
Some calling for the mans' head probably prefer Francis Lee to take over from Sheik Mansour.
Eric

 

[Cheesy]

The players had actually done decently to keep it at 1-0 going into half-time (by hook or by crook), but the key was that we had to keep it at 1-0 till Pelle felt it right to put Silva on and change it up. We collapsed in the quarter after half-time and this is merely my assumption but I reckon the players would have been a bit bemused as to why nothing was changed at half-time.

I think you've hit on something there JMW.


At half time the players would have been trudging off thinking a few things...

"Fucking hell, we've been absolutely mullered".

"How the fuck have we kept it to only 0-1".

"Thank fuck the gaffer will tell us to change it somehow so that we at least have a chance to compete".


Coming out for the second half the players will have trudged on thinking one thing...

"Fuck! More of the same to come".