Discuss Pellegrini....

[Bewar3them00n]

MP's mistake against Chelsea was putting DiMechelis a 32(?)year old in midfield, up against a very good midfield, where was Milner? I know we've done great with a fuck whatever the opposition is doing mentality, we got out of jail against Watford, but not Chelsea, I hope he realised his mistake and we don't do that again,
Yes Chelsea escaped with the win to some extent, and we were without 2 of our best players, but please! Why didn't we get the Porto pair?
Another gripe, my neighbour ( who has probably never seen Chelsea) was squealing with delight when Chelsea scored, please, can we do them in the FA Cup please, so I can return the favour!
Apart from the shaky start, and Chelsea, I've been loving this season, I just hope we continue where we left off at Spurs, against Norwich!
I was in Copehagen (-2 during day) last week, and after a hectic day, and a night on the Carlsberg and schnapps, I got back to my hotel room, switched on the TV and the City game was on, made my day!

My mistake, didn't realise Milner was injured! Bugger! we've had a slew of injuries of late....

 

[Shaelumstash]

Great balanced article by Carragher. Basically says we have been the best team, but that it means nothing if we don't win the big trophies. Huge few months ahead, really hope we can stay injury free and win the lot!!

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2554220/JAMIE-CARRAGHER-Manchester-City-afford-glorious-failures-time-Mesut-Ozil-stepped-plate-Arsenal.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... senal.html</a>

 

[cleavers]

Great balanced article by Carragher. Basically says we have been the best team, but that it means nothing if we don't win the big trophies. Huge few months ahead, really hope we can stay injury free and win the lot!!

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2554220/JAMIE-CARRAGHER-Manchester-City-afford-glorious-failures-time-Mesut-Ozil-stepped-plate-Arsenal.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... senal.html</a>

I (and I'm sure many others) won't click a link to the daily mail, so perhaps you could cut and paste ?

 

[Mike N]

Great balanced article by Carragher. Basically says we have been the best team, but that it means nothing if we don't win the big trophies. Huge few months ahead, really hope we can stay injury free and win the lot!!

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2554220/JAMIE-CARRAGHER-Manchester-City-afford-glorious-failures-time-Mesut-Ozil-stepped-plate-Arsenal.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... senal.html</a>

Getting them out of the way now mate.

We can finish the season strong. The other two have yet to go through their bad patch.

 

[Balti]

best team yes

best squad nah

all down to rotation, injuries and suspensions now imo

we need to prioritise the league above all else barring the one off game coming at wemberlee first and foremost

then see what happens

there is no pressure on us despite all this quadruple bollox that the rag medja started

 

[Shaelumstash]

Great balanced article by Carragher. Basically says we have been the best team, but that it means nothing if we don't win the big trophies. Huge few months ahead, really hope we can stay injury free and win the lot!!

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2554220/JAMIE-CARRAGHER-Manchester-City-afford-glorious-failures-time-Mesut-Ozil-stepped-plate-Arsenal.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... senal.html</a>

I (and I'm sure many others) won't click a link to the daily mail, so perhaps you could cut and paste ?

Apologies mate, I won't ever buy their paper or go near their news / editorial section for much the same reasons as you.

It's a shame because as much as it pains me to say it, it is the best football news site on the web, especially Martin Samuel and Carragher who always seem to have good things to say about City.

I understand and respect your reluctance to not click the link but I'm on my phone and can't cut and paste it I'm afraid.

 

[Dribble]

As they say history is written by the winners. The same goes for the narrative of a match and especially so when the winning manager happens to play the British media like a virtuoso.

Equally you cannot dismiss what we saw as Mourinho being 'one lucky bastard'.

That Chelsea with Matic and Luiz shielding the back four and everyone working their collective bollocks off both physically and mentally were designed to stifle and suffocate the midfield and nullify our attacking potency was widely predicted beforehand and lo it came to pass. We would have known this as well and prepared for it accordingly. That we would be unlikely to change our shape was a pretty sure bet given we invariably play the same setup (to change it from Pellers perspective may have been as simple as not wishing to be seen as 'cautious' at home to Mouinho - just a thought) and lo that came to pass as well with the added bonus of DM and not Ferdy in midfield. Mourinho not only gets the team set up he has prepared for it also contains a fundamental weakness. Jose must have figured it was Christmas and his birthday rolled into one.

The end result is that Jose rolls into town and in one match ends our scoring at home sequence, our 100% record this season, does the double over us (the first since...whenever) and draws level on points rather than facing a 6 point gap. So yes the media are going to indulge in a Jose wankfest. And they have a point. And no it may not be a tactical masterclass but it was brutally effective and that is the point. Yes we could have scored first and yes it may have been different. But we could have scored first in the FA Cup final and we should have had a penalty against Bayern and taken the lead in the first 20 minutes in our first ever CL match away. But we didn't and we got 'Tevezgate' instead. Shit happens and shit happened against Chelsea.

For me though (and again this is just me as no one else seems to care) I started really worrying this would end in tears was the sight of Kompany and Nasty tackling each other in our box. That was bad enough but Kompany's reaction was that of a man not in control of the situation or the match. But then I have a fetish for controlling football matches.

I still think our firepower compared to Chelsea and Arsenal means we will win the PL this year. But Jose is marking Pellers card which is why I think the FA Cup match is important and one we need to win. We just don't want to give Jose or Chelsea any more psychological edge. I said earlier that with Jose its either kill or be killed and the war is just starting. Jose has most of the media in his back pocket and its going to be relentless as the season comes to a head. And next season when he adds a striker or two its going to be 10 times fucking worse.

And if you are still unsure how bad its going to get then just ask Pep.

Absolutely spot on.....

As the saying goes 'If' can move mountains' ...........
'If' Silva had scored,
'If' Yaya didn't lose Ivanovic,
'If' Fernandinho, Aguero & Nasri were fit.
'If' Negredo, Jovetic, Milner and Rodwell were all match-fit
'If' my cat could bark it would be my dog.

The fact is that none of the 'Ifs' went for us on the night. Maureen bleated on all week about us being favourites for this match and the title and that we'd possibly end up scoring 4, 5 or even 6 against them, but all week I warned about complacency where he was concerned.

Maureen did what he did in the week leading up to the match because he wanted us to do what we do. He had found weaknesses in our set up and in his opinion had figured out ways to combat us as attested by Terry. The one thing he gambled on is that Pellegrini would fall for it and in an attempt at not appearing to go defensive against Chelsea at home we would line up as Maureen had hoped, predicted and prepared for...... The one thing that would have fucked his 'tactical masterplan' was if Pellegrini did the unpredictable & better played the hand he had been dealt. He didn't, so Game, set and match to Maureen.

There are lies, damn lies and statistics. When we played Spurs at home (I'm sure someone will produce a coloured graph backed by logarithmic algorithms and bold over-sized capital coloured letters to counter what I'm saying) didn't Spurs better us in every stat apart from the one's that counted, goals for 0 and goals against 6? Some may point to Monday's stats in an attempt to find a crumb of comfort to soothe themselves after this hurtful defeat, but I forced myself to watch the match again and I drew the same conclusion as watching it live that we were simply beaten by the better team on Monday night and which ever way I look at it, I can't see it any different.

In the aftermath of situations like Monday's game, I always ask myself what would I have done differently and taking into account the injuries and the importance of the match, not losing would have been my number one priority. Yes I would have been more pragmatic for this one crucial match, but I would have done so knowing that this change could easily have been explained away as being necessary because of an injury crisis and the need to get something from the match. With a fully fit squad to choose from, I would have have probably gone for what has worked well for us all season long at home (Bayern apart), but in light of Monday's squad situation, I would have played the hand I was dealt differently.

As it stands we were beaten, but the person I feel most sorry for was Pellegrini. I so wanted him to wipe that smug grin of Maureen's face it hurt inside! Just as in the victory against Bayern, MP learned that in some instances pragmatism doesn't mean you haven't remained true to your attacking instincts, I hope too he will get something similar out of this defeat.

At the highest level of football, it's just as important to know the man as it is to know his team. Guardiola and Maureen have both proved that to us this season and it's no coincidence that they are the only two managers to walk away from The Etihad with any points in their back pockets. Hindsight is a great thing, but looking back at it, both Pep & Maureen set up for Pellegrini rather than Manchester City and the two times MP did the unpredictable away to both, we were clearly the better side and it took a last minute defensive mix up for the Chavs to win and we beat Bayern.

By the look of hurt on Pellegrini's face, this defeat might just be the one needed to drive us on for the remainder of the season. Like I've said before, we lost the battle on Monday but we potentially have 4 wars still to win, and for me that is now our season's priority, idealistically or pragmatically......

 

[nikoman]

Mourinho is so good. Love you Mou !

Nah, just joking, go on Pellers and congratulations for your second award !

 

[terraloon]

This Mourinho Mind Games thing is an interesting narrative. And obviously I mean interesting in the same way that watching somebody get confused by a Push/Pull sign on a door is interesting.

Mourinho starts playing the next game as soon as the first one ends. So does every other manager including Pellegrini.

Mourinho seems to think that the best way to motivate his team is to have them all hanging onto his every word at press conferences. This is absolutely fine but as he has shown in the past it has a shelf life and doesn't work with strong willed players. If he came into our dressing room, Kompany and the like would laugh him out just as they did Mancini.

Pellegrini seems to think that the best way to motivate his team is by concentrating on playing aggressively attacking football and removing themselves from the circus sideshow.

Neither of these are some mystical force of mind games, it is professional people doing their job. It has been said when Mourinho was at RM however, that he's somewhat a one trick pony in this regard

Exactly. Which is why all this 'he is a ****' stuff is just daft . It's pantomime, nothing else. And our fans singing about him the other night were just the mugs in the audience booing and shouting 'he's behind you!' from the cheap seats. Some of our press are part of the production: I was told they were fawning over him like lovesick schoolboys on Monday night.

He does it his way and enjoys making himself the centre of attention. And he's fucking brilliant at that. It's not the first time he has dominated this thread since it started a year ago, too ;-)

People need to see him for what he is. A good manager with a showman's style about him. A Brian clough of the modern era. But clough burnt himself out pretty quickly whilst the likes of bob paisley quietly took all the trophies. The good news is we have a clever, mature, classy manager who won't demean the club by getting sucked into it. He will send his teams out to do the talking..

The trouble is that Mourino has sucked him in and Pellegrini is now reacting. It smacks of Benetiz

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

This Mourinho Mind Games thing is an interesting narrative. And obviously I mean interesting in the same way that watching somebody get confused by a Push/Pull sign on a door is interesting.

Mourinho starts playing the next game as soon as the first one ends. So does every other manager including Pellegrini.

Mourinho seems to think that the best way to motivate his team is to have them all hanging onto his every word at press conferences. This is absolutely fine but as he has shown in the past it has a shelf life and doesn't work with strong willed players. If he came into our dressing room, Kompany and the like would laugh him out just as they did Mancini.

Pellegrini seems to think that the best way to motivate his team is by concentrating on playing aggressively attacking football and removing themselves from the circus sideshow.

Neither of these are some mystical force of mind games, it is professional people doing their job. It has been said when Mourinho was at RM however, that he's somewhat a one trick pony in this regard

Exactly. Which is why all this 'he is a ****' stuff is just daft . It's pantomime, nothing else. And our fans singing about him the other night were just the mugs in the audience booing and shouting 'he's behind you!' from the cheap seats. Some of our press are part of the production: I was told they were fawning over him like lovesick schoolboys on Monday night.

He does it his way and enjoys making himself the centre of attention. And he's fucking brilliant at that. It's not the first time he has dominated this thread since it started a year ago, too ;-)

People need to see him for what he is. A good manager with a showman's style about him. A Brian clough of the modern era. But clough burnt himself out pretty quickly whilst the likes of bob paisley quietly took all the trophies. The good news is we have a clever, mature, classy manager who won't demean the club by getting sucked into it. He will send his teams out to do the talking..

The trouble is that Mourino has sucked him in and Pellegrini is now reacting. It smacks of Benetiz

Errrrr.......no it doesn't.