Discuss Pellegrini...

[menorcansunshine]

I think we should have just stuck with Stuart pearce, fuck all this challenging for the title bollocks !

 

[O v o x o]

Did he get the team selection wrong? Yes.
Imo, it was a poor decision to try and field the same team and utilize the same tactics which beat a considerably inferior United team. In fact, the same side failed to beat Arsenal, a game which we now look back and think we should have got 3 points out of.

This, once again, shows Pellegrini up for the level of manager that he is. How could you possibly try and use the same tactics we used versus an awful United side with the lazy, immobile Fellaini and Carrick in the middle of the park, against a Liverpool side who play a high pressing game and won't allow you to play freely, as we did at OT. Of course Pellegrini realized this and fair play to him - changed it at half time and we were by far the better side in the second half.

No matter what the Pellegrini bashers on here are saying, we were on course to win that game, or AT LEAST get a point. We were let down by a poor clearance from one of our most dependent players. How on earth can Pellegrini account for that mistake? The game plan was there, it was working, we were on course to get a result and then comes a comical defensive error. You've also got to look at the keeper for the first goal. If Joe Hart actually bloody steps back a few yards and actually covers his goal like a goalkeeper should, we don't go 1-0 down after 6 minutes.

It was a big game and Pellegrini got the team selection wrong and he'll take the flack for that. But the problems lie much deeper than just a team selection. It's clear to see the defence have let Pellegrini down countless times this season. Give us a consistently good back 5 such as Chelsea's and the league would of been ours long ago. Give Pellegrini this summer to build and work on a back 5 which we should have sorted out last summer. If he gets that opportunity, I very much doubt we'd be questioning Pellegrini too much next season.

 

[robbieh]

No excuses. One PL out of three is a piss poor return for this group of players. Last season it was put down to the poor man management of Mancini.

This year it's the tactical naivety of Pellegrini.

I am sure he'll get another year to put it right but personally don't think he's got that X factor that gets his teams over the line.

 

[taconinja]

pelli picked the wrong 11 for this type of game but anything he could have done differently would have been undone by vinny and the referee.

Spot on. I'd say Vinny shouldn't have played. Easy in retrospect but he cost us all 3 goals. Who'd be a manager - no way do you want to leave out your lynchpin - your talisman and leader - but he was a liability we couldn't afford. Maybe not the thread to mention it, but as it's probably my only post tonight - it was a fantastic come back in the second half which showed great character - especially with Vinny struggling and Yaya off after 20 minutes. Well done to all of them but especially MDM and Milner - definitely a game that Jimmy should have started in.

But there you go, I don't think Milner should have started. I do think Garcia should have started and Yaya should have been asked to make an extra body in the middle when needed, and Silva and Nasri should have been charged to go wide if necessary when we did not have the ball. When we did have the ball Yaya, Silva and Nasri should have been free to get as close to one another wherever on the pitch they felt they could make inroads on the opposition, whilst Fern and Garcia covered for them and allowed the full backs to get forward and provide width. People, some of whose views I respect, would disagree but none of us actually knows if it would have made the difference, if it would have stopped Vinnie scuffing a ball straight to Coutinho.

Milner, BTW, is the player that most City supporters overrate.

Some people think Dzeko should not have been removed for Aguero and I have some sympathy for that view but it is doubtful that Dzeko would have created the chance for Silva that Aguero did; unfortunately, the ring rusty Aguero should have weighted his pass a touch better but them's the breaks sometimes.

We lost a key game and so it is fair to ask questions of what might have been done differently and plenty of people, myself included, suggested different line-ups before the game but there are far too many hindsight heroes on here and quite a number who talk absolute shite.

I agree with all this. My only addition is that I still think the main mistake was instructing our players to be spread far too thin against a team that thrives on holding the middle of the pitch.

 

[der-bomber]

Seems incapable of seeing the bigger picture ...

Same as our home game against Chelsea , this wasn't a must win game , it was a must not lose game ...
So , what do we do ...go kamikaze and bust a gut to win it and leave ourselves exposed when a point at a passionate , fired-up Anfield would have sufficed ...

 

[taconinja]

Why was Milner brought on 3 mins into the second half? Why not at half time? Am I missing something with that one? Why did he take Dzeko off when we were controlling the game at 2-2? Not needed. All the momentum was with us

I am not sure if he is a truly great manager or one who when the going gets tough will more often than not come second.

My suspicion is that he wanted to see if Liverpool had made any changes first as bringing Milner on would leave him with one substitution left.

 

[Gabriel]

We are still paying the price for sure. Mancini and Hughes just went on a massive spending spree, buying whatever they fancied without thinking twice.

Pellegrini is more calculated. He knows exactly what kind of team he wants to build and what players he needs. I think his signings were decent. His best signing was Fernandinho.

One thing that most of the players he signed have in common is that they work hard. Demichelis, Navas, Negredo and Fernandinho are hard workers. They work hard on the pitch. Okay Navas isn't the best winger in the world but unlike Nasri he can press high up the pitch. Demichlis has weaknesses but the guy is actually one of the best defenders in Europe, everybody thought he would be exposed today but he was the best player on the pitch.

I really don't think Pellegrini could claim those players were 'his signings', with perhaps the belated addition of Demichelis. The squad is assembled by others, and he will have some input, but if we don't win the league this year/next year, then I would imagine someone else will be given a chance to play with the pieces.

From what I understand , Txiki doesn't force players on Pellegrini.

That's how I understood it as well, but at the same time those who negotiate the contracts will be the ones identifying players, and while Pellegrini will have his say, I doubt he'll have a veto. It's the continental way of running a club, I suppose.

 

[ChichesterBlue]

Too early to make rash judgements on the guy in terms of replacing him. But there are issues in his approach because we haven't "potentially" lost the league today to Liverpool, but in the losses and draws against the likes of Sunderland, Villa, Cardiff & Norwich. A 1 point return/11 points dropped from those 4 games is disgraceful...add into that the home defeat against Wigan in the cup and it's this that worries me about him.

But first season, we have to support him next year and see what happens. This squad clearly lacks something, perhaps a bit of belief and steel and maybe Pellegrini doesn't instill that belief like a Mourinho type manager would. Anyway, give him the money, back him next year and let's see what happens.

 

[John.des]

11-12: PL: City, League Cup: Pool, FA Cup: Chelsea
12-13: PL:MU, League Cup: Swansea, FA-Cup: Wigan
13-14: PL Pool?, League Cup: City, FA Cup: Arsenal or Hull

I actually cant believe how Liverpool is able to win the same in 3 years what we are doing when always spent a lot before these 3 seasons, an in this period they had an awful period of Hodgson, then spending shitload amount of money on Adam, Carroll, Downing under Dalglish, than bringing in a young manager with his cheaper signings...

And in 3 years probably 1 PL title, 1 League Cup trophy and a lost FA final for them.
For us pretty much the same, and at least they lost the FA final vs Chelsea not relegated Wigan...

If someone says this to me as the investments were going before and after we won the FA Cup in 2011 May that next 3 years we wont do any better domestically than Liverpool I wouldnt believe it. And here we are...

 

[gungho-tactics]

I really don't think Pellegrini could claim those players were 'his signings', with perhaps the belated addition of Demichelis. The squad is assembled by others, and he will have some input, but if we don't win the league this year/next year, then I would imagine someone else will be given a chance to play with the pieces.

From what I understand , Txiki doesn't force players on Pellegrini.

That's how I understood it as well, but at the same time those who negotiate the contracts will be the ones identifying players, and while Pellegrini will have his say, I doubt he'll have a veto. It's the continental way of running a club, I suppose.

I think Pellegrini said that if a player signs for us , it is because he wants that player to sign for us.

So if Txiki scouts a players, he won't just sign him up immediately, he'll talk to the manager first.