Discuss Pellegrini....

[Armaan]

His signings were all decent it's just that he inherited quite a few bang average players.

 

[jimharri]

Anyone know how many points we had at this point last season?

Why? Last season has gone. We need to concentrate on the next three months.

 

[wayne71]

Really hope the "he isn't a winner" phrase isn't alive next season. But i'm starting to think it could be.

Well plenty of us said it and we're all still hoping we were horribly wrong.

 

[NQCitizen]

Anyone know how many points we had at this point last season?

Why? Last season has gone. We need to concentrate on the next three months.

Yeah I'm not saying everyone should quit the club and start working it out ;)

 

[McKenzie'sGoalWasBetter]

His signings were all decent it's just that he inherited quite a few bang average players.

WHAT? DiMicheals decent? He's absolutely rank, no matter where he plays. Lescott is a better defender and we have several players who should get a game in midfield before him. Milner, Rodwell, Zab or Kolorov would all have been a better option against Chelsea.

 

[Armaan]

His signings were all decent it's just that he inherited quite a few bang average players.

WHAT? DiMicheals decent? He's absolutely rank, no matter where he plays. Lescott is a better defender and we have several players who should get a game in midfield before him. Milner, Rodwell, Zab or Kolorov would all have been a better option against Chelsea.

True he's shite but the other four are decent.

 

[Mattyc55]

Our inability to 'Smash and Grab'..

Points earned after the 80th minute this season:
11 POINTS: Everton
5 POINTS: Chelsea
4 POINTS: Crystal Palace, Fulham, Southampton, Stoke, Tottenham, West Brom
3 POINTS: Cardiff, Sunderland
2 POINTS: Arsenal, Newcastle, Norwich
0 POINTS: Aston Villa, Hull, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Swansea City, West Ham

I know stats can be misleading at times, with us scoring so many goals most of the time were out of sight at the 80 minute mark.. but in the 8 games we haven't won.. they've all been extremely tight affairs as we havent lost a game by more than one goal except for Bayern at home all season. I never felt in that last ten minutes that we were going to grab a late, precious winner... and those are the type of wins that get you a title. Watford at home in the FA Cup aside, we've not done it once. I recall a few massive ones under Mancini - Balo's pen at home to Spurs, QPR obviously, West Brom away with 10 men etc..

Pellegrini plays the game in a great way, but it seems there is a running of trend of an inability to grind out the games that are a bit tighter.

 

[Rammy Blue]

I think I prefer Bob to Manuel, wonder whether we'd consider making Gala an offer to get him back?

 

[silvasleftleg]

In normal conditions we would have won. But there was so much wind, it's difficult to pass the ball , let alone make crosses. I don't think Pellgrini is to blame for the weather.

 

[Dribble]

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......

You make a few valid points, however I think it absurd to suggest that Pellers or the team were 'complacent' going into the Chelsea match.

It's seems abundantly clear from your posts that you do not like our 4-4-2 system which you regard as antiquated, but there's no guarantee that a change of formation would have us in a better position than where we are. The system we play is far removed from a regular 4-4-2 in it's flexibility. We may never regularly play a 4-2-3-1 or your preferred 4-1-2-3, and that I'm afraid is just something you may have to live with. We will lose the odd match simply because we do not play well enough, or the preferred personnel are injured. I think that's one thing we can all agree on.

Please allow me to clarify, I wasn't suggesting the team or Pellegrini were being complacent, I meant a lot of fans. Many were already counting the 6 points from last Monday's & today's win in advance and calculating how far ahead we would be against Arsenal & The Chavs...... As both results have proved, a week is a long time in football.

Yes I'd prefer a 4-1-2-3, but as posted many times previously I noticed back in late November that Pellegrini had made a subtle change from an out and out 4-4-2 and had one of his strikers dropping deep when we were defending which was a departure from the rigid 4-4-2 used earlier in the season. This subtle flexible change also happened to coincide with our long unbeaten run, so yes it's not my preferred formation, but it's not far from it.