Discuss Pellegrini (Pt 2)

[adrianr]

Was wondering what it would take to turn around opinions on Pellegrini.

Our next 6 are Everton (h), West Ham (a), CSKA (a - champions league), Chelsea (a), Newcastle (a - league cup), Norwich (h).

Win all 6 and we'll be top or close to top of the premier league, looking very good for progression to the group stages of the champions league and through to the quarter finals of the league cup. OK its a big ask to win all 6 on current form but would anyone be unhappy with Pellegrini if we can get ourselves into that sort of position in three comps?

I don't see how anyone could be unhappy as winning that little lot is a huge, dare I say massive task with our away form. Thing is the only points we should really expect to drop is 2 at Chelsea. We should be putting all of those other teams well and truly to the sword. It's just a damning indictment of our away form that we're worried about West Ham, CSKA and Newcastle away.

 

[Ducado]

Was wondering what it would take to turn around opinions on Pellegrini.

Our next 6 are Everton (h), West Ham (a), CSKA (a - champions league), Chelsea (a), Newcastle (a - league cup), Norwich (h).

Win all 6 and we'll be top or close to top of the premier league, looking very good for progression to the group stages of the champions league and through to the quarter finals of the league cup. OK its a big ask to win all 6 on current form but would anyone be unhappy with Pellegrini if we can get ourselves into that sort of position in three comps?

I suspect that if he does some posters will disappear because they have painted themselves into a corner happened last time

 

[moomba]

Was wondering what it would take to turn around opinions on Pellegrini.

Our next 6 are Everton (h), West Ham (a), CSKA (a - champions league), Chelsea (a), Newcastle (a - league cup), Norwich (h).

Win all 6 and we'll be top or close to top of the premier league, looking very good for progression to the group stages of the champions league and through to the quarter finals of the league cup. OK its a big ask to win all 6 on current form but would anyone be unhappy with Pellegrini if we can get ourselves into that sort of position in three comps?

With all due respect, that's a bit of a silly question. Asking if people will be happy if we win all of our games is like asking "if your boss showered you with praise and suggested you for a promotion, would you like your boss?" Of course if everything goes our way then we will be happy. It doesn't make sense to not be happy. It kind of goes without saying that winning 6 out of 6 requires all of the problems with the manager to disappear anyway. The problem is that we will definitely not win all of those games, so the real question is asking just how much Pellegrini has to do to win over the fans again. Could he do it with only 4 wins out of 6, for instance?

It was not so much would you be happy with the 6 wins, of course everyone would. More so would everyone be happy with our start to the season if we do turn things around in the next 6 matches. Trying to illustrate that although there have been a few disappointments along the way we are not that far off from having a decent start to the season under Pellegrini.

 

[Alex B]

Wont be dissapearing i want him to do well as it means we do well. Thats a daft suggestion. I just dont see it right now, he needs to come out fighting all i see is a lifeless old man.

 

[moomba]

To be honest I don't see 6 wins either, but we are capable of it.

 

[PragueBlue]

Was wondering what it would take to turn around opinions on Pellegrini.

Our next 6 are Everton (h), West Ham (a), CSKA (a - champions league), Chelsea (a), Newcastle (a - league cup), Norwich (h).

Win all 6 and we'll be top or close to top of the premier league, looking very good for progression to the group stages of the champions league and through to the quarter finals of the league cup. OK its a big ask to win all 6 on current form but would anyone be unhappy with Pellegrini if we can get ourselves into that sort of position in three comps?

I suspect that if he does some posters will disappear because they have painted themselves into a corner happened last time

It didn't happen last time though did it? Sadly those same dimwits kept on posting their inane drivel. rather than disappearing.

 

[Anonymous]

To be honest I don't see 6 wins either, but we are capable of it.

I think five out of six would be an excellent return and is more than feasible. Have to start with one tomorrow though!

 

[M18CTID]

Just out of interest for all those criticising Pellegrini and saying he's clueless/out of his depth due to the way he set us up against Bayern, does anyone have any idea what formation he played in Malaga's 2 games against Dortmund last season? And what formation Dortmund played too? I'd love to know what this supposedly tactically clueless manager did to get his Malaga side - containing generally inferior players to those at his disposal at City - within a blatantly offside injury time goal from a Champions League semi-final spot.

The game in Malaga was pretty similar to our home game with Dortmund: Dortmund made a hatful of chances (more than they did at the Etihad if I remember correctly) but didn't take any. Our papers were asking how Malaga gor away with it - as those in Spain were! In Dortmund he played a rather more solid midfield and stopped Dortmund running through them. In Spain he didn't change anything in the whole 90 minutes, but got away with it thanks to the Germans' poor finishing.

Thanks for that. It sounds to me like Pellegrini is sometimes loathe to change things round in-game as he places his faith in the players picked to go out and do the job. I reckon that's what he thought the other night - that while Bayern are clearly a fantastic team, on a player by player basis the gap in quality is considerably less than we saw on the field of play, and perhaps he felt that our players were capable of hurting Bayern especially after the way we blitzed United the other week plus we were at home of course.

That said, the fact that he changed things round for Malaga's second leg in Dortmund tells me he is more than capable of learning from his mistakes.

 

[Ducado]

Wont be dissapearing i want him to do well as it means we do well. Thats a daft suggestion. I just dont see it right now, he needs to come out fighting all i see is a lifeless old man.

I fully understand the annoyance especially about Wednesday but you and a few others have written him off already, and not even given him any latitude, I am pretty sure he will get it right starting on Saturday and the following games, I think Saturday will tell us a lot about where we are heading lose or draw he will be in big trouble, a good victory gives him breathing space

 

[Didsbury Dave]

Agreed.

It's not like Pellegrini has never used 4-2-3-1. He did try to get Aguero to sit deeper on Lahm. I suppose that at one goal down, he wanted two strikers to try and get goals. Who knows what would have happened if Clichy had done his job? The game was pretty much up then so maybe Pelle decided to let it run? Whatever. He called it wrong and it won't be the last mistake he makes at City.

I'd say he took an enormous gamble: that if we could get playing at 1-0 down at the beginning of the second half, we could rattle them. We came out fired up and actually had a decent (ish) 10 minute spell before their second goal deflated us. That was the point he got the subs ready to go on, but they suddenly had a five minute spell of possession which culminated in their third. All that time the subs were stood waiting to go on.

I am not excusing this: as the world and his wife have already stated, the logical thing to do was to change things in the first half to get hold of the midfield. But I don't think this man is an idiot who couldn't see the problem. I think he was too bold. Recklessly bold. But if, and it is an if, this boldness starts to pay dividends in goals and domination, like it did against Man United, and the player's grow in confidence with it, it could be the thing that defines City.

This season is not over. It's barely begun. We are still in all competitions. I'm still sitting back and watching how this thing develops before casting judgement. He will certainly get the season, and rightly so, and we will have a chance over that period to really evaluate. I think that too many people on this forum (most with historical axes to grind) have played their cards way too early on this.

What d'you reckon to this DD that I posted a page back.

One thing I'll say about playing 433 ... IMO we don't have the quality of players required in wide attacking areas to play that way regularly. I posted this elsewhere but if you look across Europe at the top teams their wide options are head and shoulders better than ours. Reus, Gotze, Robben, Ribery, Di Maria, Bale, Ronaldo, Lucas Moura, Lavezzi, Messi, Pedro, Sanchez ... IMO all those players walk into our best XI in a 433. We only have two orthodox wide forwards in Jovetic and Navas. The rest of our attacking midfield or forward players would be square'ish pegs in round'ish holes playing that system.

Don't get me wrong though, not at all trying to justify not sticking another body in midfield against Bayern ... but talking more about the larger context of why we seem to be playing the same relatively narrow 4222 we did under Mancini rather than the kind of 433 Barca/Bayern/Madrid play.

I'm not sure a 433 demands out and out wide men. I could see Sergio and Silva as well as Navas and Jovetic playing in the wider attacking roles. But I do take your point that we've only really got one "winger".

I haven't really got a problem with 4222 as what we do try and do with it is have the wide men tuck inside to give us a four man midfield, with overlapping fullbacks. The problem for me with it is that Yaya and Fernandinho aren't mobile enough. It was better with Fernandnho sitting and Yaya pushing on v United, but in that game we took control, and they aren't a patch on Bayern of course.

I bet you we see 4222 tomorrow. He isn't going to change it, he's going to try to get it to work. It will do much better with Silva in.