Discuss Pellegrini (Pt 3)

[adammck]

I'm really excited by watching City play again now. These last two games have really brought back that feeling from the title winning year and there has been some beautiful football going on. I must admit I'm a little worried about our defence but I do feel that Kompany will completely fix this up. However, what do we do when he is injured? We do need another world class central defender.

But Pellegrini has done what he had to do so fair play. It's going to be a rollercoaster season you can already feel it.

 

[jimbopm]

The game against Bayern away now becomes an interesting proposition for us, not because we need to qualify because obviously that's been done. What it does do is allow Pellegrini to test out a set of tactics that could be used in an away leg come the knockout phase.

 

[crystal_mais]

Absolutely thrilled that we are through to the last 16. Well done MP. 1 target complete. Have to say I am thoroughly enjoying the football we are playing and that the players are playing with freedom and extreme confidence.

My only concern is the quality of the defending, we are still prone to lapses in concentration due to being too casual. I would like the boss to keep drilling this into them. Better teams will punish us.

 

[OB1]

I found both Pellegrini's pre and post match interviews on Sky interesting last night.

When asked what he did in his spare time, he said he didn't have any because he had too much to do due to being in a new league and therefore needing to put more effort in due to his lack of familiarity, as compared to Spain, where he had managed for nine years. Although, he did imply that he didn't have much spare time there.

After the game, he made it clear that although he always wants lots of goals, he also wants clean sheets i.e. he is not a case of we'll just score more than you. Must admit that, personally, I'd rather win 5-2 than 3-0; especially when you have at least a two goal cushion for most of the game.

I am absolutely certain that he wants the defending to improve just as much as the rest of us, and I am sure that it will. Getting the high line and offside trap perfected won't happen overnight. Also, I am sure that there is much more work to be done on the defending from the front. I have not worked out what the drill is on pressing as the team do it in patches and I don't know how much of that is down to instruction or failure to carry out instruction / the fact that it is not second nature to the players to hunt the ball down as soon as it is lost. what was great though was to see Aguero win the ball back in the final third of the pitch in the 90th minute, which contributed directly to the scoring of the fifth goal. I do think that was down to Pellegrini's influence.

 

[bigf42]

Chelsea v Schalke is a big game for us, although it's difficult to see Chelsea lose after the job they did on them away. They'll top the group IMO.

Dortmund have two home games remaining then one away against Marseille - can't see them not topping their group.

So with that and the current trajectory of the group stage overall we're pretty much looking at one of:

Real Madrid
PSG
Dortmund
Atletico Madrid
Barcelona

My order in confidence of beating them (highest to lowest) is

PSG
Dortmund
Atletico Madrid
Real Madrid
Barcelona

I've put Dortmund above Atletico for the fact that Pellegrini got within a bees dick of beating them last year with Malaga, and that they're currently not looking as good as they were last season. Atletico are of course in fine form this season.

Real Madrid might seem beatable to some (arguably more than last season) as their squad feels slightly unbalanced but with Ronaldo in his ridiculous form and Bale settling down I can't see beating them over 2 legs.

I Agree with this analysis....

Don't forget United have to go to Leverkusen, very good chance they will lose allowing BL to win that group - that would be the ideal draw....

 

[Anonymous]

I found both Pellegrini's pre and post match interviews on Sky interesting last night.

When asked what he did in his spare time, he said he didn't have any because he had too much to do due to being in a new league and therefore needing to put more effort in due to his lack of familiarity, as compared to Spain, where he had managed for nine years. Although, he did imply that he didn't have much spare time there.

After the game, he made it clear that although he always wants lots of goals, he also wants clean sheets i.e. he is not a case of we'll just score more than you. Must admit that, personally, I'd rather win 5-2 than 3-0; especially when you have at least a two goal cushion for most of the game.

I am absolutely certain that he wants the defending to improve just as much as the rest of us, and I am sure that it will. Getting the high line and offside trap perfected won't happen overnight. Also, I am sure that there is much more work to be done on the defending from the front. I have not worked out what the drill is on pressing as the team do it in patches and I don't know how much of that is down to instruction or failure to carry out instruction / the fact that it is not second nature to the players to hunt the ball down as soon as it is lost. what was great though was to see Aguero win the ball back in the final third of the pitch in the 90th minute, which contributed directly to the scoring of the fifth goal. I do think that was down to Pellegrini's influence.

Was also interesting that he felt one of the goals from last night was avoidable ... being Clichy's penalty. I think most coaches who play the way that Pellegrini/Pep/Wenger have their team's play accept that there will be goals you conceded which you can do nothing about simply because of the way in which you play. CSKA's first goal was something we could do fuck all about because it was a lucky bounce from a Fernandinho tackle which left them with the time and space to play a ball in behind. In those circumstances you hold your hand up and say because of the high defensive line, after the lucky bounce the ball and run were almost perfect meaning the defenders although they tried to play offside ultimately couldn't do much about it.

Anyway moot points. We looked fucking awesome last night. Pellegrini's team is taking shape. By the end of the season he'll have minimum the PL trophy under his belt ... hopefully at least one other one. The man's a top top manager and coach.

 

[adrianr]

I found both Pellegrini's pre and post match interviews on Sky interesting last night.

When asked what he did in his spare time, he said he didn't have any because he had too much to do due to being in a new league and therefore needing to put more effort in due to his lack of familiarity, as compared to Spain, where he had managed for nine years. Although, he did imply that he didn't have much spare time there.

After the game, he made it clear that although he always wants lots of goals, he also wants clean sheets i.e. he is not a case of we'll just score more than you. Must admit that, personally, I'd rather win 5-2 than 3-0; especially when you have at least a two goal cushion for most of the game.

I am absolutely certain that he wants the defending to improve just as much as the rest of us, and I am sure that it will. Getting the high line and offside trap perfected won't happen overnight. Also, I am sure that there is much more work to be done on the defending from the front. I have not worked out what the drill is on pressing as the team do it in patches and I don't know how much of that is down to instruction or failure to carry out instruction / the fact that it is not second nature to the players to hunt the ball down as soon as it is lost. what was great though was to see Aguero win the ball back in the final third of the pitch in the 90th minute, which contributed directly to the scoring of the fifth goal. I do think that was down to Pellegrini's influence.

Was also interesting that he felt one of the goals from last night was avoidable ... being Clichy's penalty. I think most coaches who play the way that Pellegrini/Pep/Wenger have their team's play accept that there will be goals you conceded which you can do nothing about simply because of the way in which you play. CSKA's first goal was something we could do fuck all about because it was a lucky bounce from a Fernandinho tackle which left them with the time and space to play a ball in behind. In those circumstances you hold your hand up and say because of the high defensive line, after the lucky bounce the ball and run were almost perfect meaning the defenders although they tried to play offside ultimately couldn't do much about it.

Anyway moot points. We looked fucking awesome last night. Pellegrini's team is taking shape. By the end of the season he'll have minimum the PL trophy under his belt ... hopefully at least one other one. The man's a top top manager and coach.

I said at the beginning of the season that I felt we would, by the end of the season, show the most improvement of all the teams in the league. The only trick was going to be staying in touch of the top whilst we took on board this new philosophy. Fortunately the rags have started worse than us and Chelsea barely no better, so providing no more injuries to key players (We must look for proper Kompany cover in January, and something happening to Aguero at the moment doesn't bear thinking about), we have a good chance of hitting stride after stride.

I think after next summer we could genuinely be standing toe to toe with the big boys too. No more Bayern humiliation scenarios. At the end of next summer Txiki and Pellegrini will have been able to bring in and shift out pretty much everyone they want (clearly couldn't have done it all in one window), the style of football will be more deeply embedded, and everyone will have a better idea of their role in the team. Only downside is unless the state of English football drastically changes in 10 months, we'll likely be a bit more foreign as well, but if they're the only ones who can play the football there's not a lot we can do!

 

[Anonymous]

I said at the beginning of the season that I felt we would, by the end of the season, show the most improvement of all the teams in the league. The only trick was going to be staying in touch of the top whilst we took on board this new philosophy. Fortunately the rags have started worse than us and Chelsea barely no better, so providing no more injuries to key players (We must look for proper Kompany cover in January, and something happening to Aguero at the moment doesn't bear thinking about), we have a good chance of hitting stride after stride.

I think after next summer we could genuinely be standing toe to toe with the big boys too. No more Bayern humiliation scenarios. At the end of next summer Txiki and Pellegrini will have been able to bring in and shift out pretty much everyone they want (clearly couldn't have done it all in one window), the style of football will be more deeply embedded, and everyone will have a better idea of their role in the team. Only downside is unless the state of English football drastically changes in 10 months, we'll likely be a bit more foreign as well, but if they're the only ones who can play the football there's not a lot we can do!

I think we're progressing at an excellent rate in terms of our attacking play. We have looked in moments all season like we're unplayable, but against Norwich and CSKA we were particularly dominant which had little to do with the opposition being poor (even though Norwich were just that), and more to do with our own capacity to keep and move the ball, and the movement off the ball of players such as Aguero and Nasri.

What's important for me is that we clearly have played the best football in the league this season, and clearly look the most dangerous side in the league (well, outside maybe Arsenal) when attacking. I'd forgotten what it felt like to see your best players play at their best consistently, but we're seeing it with the front 6.

 

[Stoned Rose]

I found both Pellegrini's pre and post match interviews on Sky interesting last night.

When asked what he did in his spare time, he said he didn't have any because he had too much to do due to being in a new league and therefore needing to put more effort in due to his lack of familiarity, as compared to Spain, where he had managed for nine years. Although, he did imply that he didn't have much spare time there.

After the game, he made it clear that although he always wants lots of goals, he also wants clean sheets i.e. he is not a case of we'll just score more than you. Must admit that, personally, I'd rather win 5-2 than 3-0; especially when you have at least a two goal cushion for most of the game.

I am absolutely certain that he wants the defending to improve just as much as the rest of us, and I am sure that it will. Getting the high line and offside trap perfected won't happen overnight. Also, I am sure that there is much more work to be done on the defending from the front. I have not worked out what the drill is on pressing as the team do it in patches and I don't know how much of that is down to instruction or failure to carry out instruction / the fact that it is not second nature to the players to hunt the ball down as soon as it is lost. what was great though was to see Aguero win the ball back in the final third of the pitch in the 90th minute, which contributed directly to the scoring of the fifth goal. I do think that was down to Pellegrini's influence.

Was also interesting that he felt one of the goals from last night was avoidable ... being Clichy's penalty. I think most coaches who play the way that Pellegrini/Pep/Wenger have their team's play accept that there will be goals you conceded which you can do nothing about simply because of the way in which you play. CSKA's first goal was something we could do fuck all about because it was a lucky bounce from a Fernandinho tackle which left them with the time and space to play a ball in behind. In those circumstances you hold your hand up and say because of the high defensive line, after the lucky bounce the ball and run were almost perfect meaning the defenders although they tried to play offside ultimately couldn't do much about it.

Anyway moot points. We looked fucking awesome last night. Pellegrini's team is taking shape. By the end of the season he'll have minimum the PL trophy under his belt ... hopefully at least one other one. The man's a top top manager and coach.

Yes their first goal was in part due to the lucky bounce they got, but also due to Nastasic not reacting quickly enough and joining the rest of the 'line' who immediately tried to play offside. His awareness was poor and therefore his movement to slow and this played their guy onside.

 

[taconinja]

I said at the beginning of the season that I felt we would, by the end of the season, show the most improvement of all the teams in the league. The only trick was going to be staying in touch of the top whilst we took on board this new philosophy. Fortunately the rags have started worse than us and Chelsea barely no better, so providing no more injuries to key players (We must look for proper Kompany cover in January, and something happening to Aguero at the moment doesn't bear thinking about), we have a good chance of hitting stride after stride.

I think after next summer we could genuinely be standing toe to toe with the big boys too. No more Bayern humiliation scenarios. At the end of next summer Txiki and Pellegrini will have been able to bring in and shift out pretty much everyone they want (clearly couldn't have done it all in one window), the style of football will be more deeply embedded, and everyone will have a better idea of their role in the team. Only downside is unless the state of English football drastically changes in 10 months, we'll likely be a bit more foreign as well, but if they're the only ones who can play the football there's not a lot we can do!

I think we're progressing at an excellent rate in terms of our attacking play. We have looked in moments all season like we're unplayable, but against Norwich and CSKA we were particularly dominant which had little to do with the opposition being poor (even though Norwich were just that), and more to do with our own capacity to keep and move the ball, and the movement off the ball of players such as Aguero and Nasri.

What's important for me is that we clearly have played the best football in the league this season, and clearly look the most dangerous side in the league (well, outside maybe Arsenal) when attacking. I'd forgotten what it felt like to see your best players play at their best consistently, but we're seeing it with the front 6.

And as our attacking play progresses most clubs will sit further back hoping we can't unlock the chains so to speak. It does mean we need to continue to progress defensively against long, hoofed balls up the center but that seemingly has improved the past few games, too.