Discussion: Manuel Pellegrini 2014/15 (continued)

[Pastor Kidney]

I am very suprised that people think Rafa would be a good choice...

WOW

I'd go along with it if we're talking a short term appointment whilst we wait for our main target. Bringing him in as our full time manager wouldn't get me over excited, but a 12 month contract wouldn't be the worse case scenario.

So you would be happy with 12 months of dross?

As opposed to?

 

[PragueBlue]

A lot of the blame surely has to be down to the players mentality, although MP needs to have the balls to drop the players he feels are lacking in this department. Yaya springs to mind because he's already dropped Dzeko and Nasri for this reason.

The reason I've said the above has been evident in the last two games (Palace & Rags), we've started both games well and at the right tempo and pace with plenty of chances but the problem occurs when we concede, our mentality and confidence drains like a sand timer, is that MP's fault, we never used to be like that after conceding a goal?

I don't think they can maintain that intensity and when it drops off the pressing becomes ineffective leaving us with too many players upfield doing nothing of use and resulting in big gaps behind them for the opposition to exploit. This combined with the high line of defence isn't a good combination against stronger teams.

 

[GoMancini7]

I fell off my chair when I read yesterday evening press briefing, that City hierarchy think its not the managers fault but its the players fault.

2 years ago with Mancini the very same hierarchy was thinking its the managers fault and not the players fault.

But 2 years later when its their manager who might cost us our CL status and maybe another 40m income it is the players fault and not the manager THEY thought is an upgrade on Mancini.

Mansour should come in, send Pelle away before the WHU game, then ask whose idea was Pelle anyway, Txiki should put his hand up and then follow Pelle out the door.

If that doesnt happen and Pelle stays for WHU game and later on, I fear Big Sam will outsmart him tactically and Rodgers/Koeman will come even closer.

 

[Damien10]

I'd go along with it if we're talking a short term appointment whilst we wait for our main target. Bringing him in as our full time manager wouldn't get me over excited, but a 12 month contract wouldn't be the worse case scenario.

So you would be happy with 12 months of dross?

As opposed to?

As opposed to getting someone who's suitable to play the style of football the club want to play. Rafa would send people to sleep, in my opinion it would be a backwards step even if it is for one year.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

Brilliant name-dropping, PB. You're on top form today.

I await the 'As I was saying to Bernstein' post.

Are you GDM in disguise? ;-)

 

[mancity1]

So you would be happy with 12 months of dross?

As opposed to?

As opposed to getting someone who's suitable to play the style of football the club want to play. Rafa would send people to sleep, in my opinion it would be a backwards step even if it is for one year.

Anything wrong with playing a style of football that wins you enough games to win a title and progress to the qtr finals of Chumps?

Does it matter who that manager is that oversees that?

Or is it how you lose that is how you are measured on (LOL).

 

[Damocles]

Fergie used hairdryer regularly. It got him quite a few trophies.

How does the infamous hairdryer treatment fit into these modern management techniques?

"The human beings I've dealt with are far more fragile than the human beings of 30 years ago," Ferguson insisted. "And I say that in a good sense because they're coming from better conditions. I couldn't lose my temper the way I did back then with people nowadays!

"Also, which has become very dominant in the English game is the culture of players from different countries - at United I think there are people from 20 different nationalities and that's a challenge because people from different cultures have to be addressed and you have to make sure that they are comfortable in their environment because it's a results industry and you need to get the best out of them."

-- Alex Ferguson, 2014.

Regarding Van Gaal bollocking Rooney - he probably has. And he's already been sacked because of it, he just doesn't know it yet. Same hadn't at Barca and Bayern too. He lost the dressing room and they eventually got fed up and stopped playing for him which led to him getting the sack. Considering that both clubs went on to far greater success without him than with him then you'd argue that he was holding them back to some degree.

This is a man who caused Rivaldo to leave Barcelona because he's a total bellend, that would be like Pellegrini constantly being a knob to David Silva to the point where he walks out. Rivaldo then went to Milan and immediately won the Champions League.

As our wise CEO once said, who actually dealt with Van Gaal on a personal basis:

‘If you treat your people badly, they remember. One day you make an error and they kill you. I’ve seen this in many clubs. Louis van Gaal has been a very good coach in many clubs but his style is very difficult. The same thing happened to him in Barcelona as in Bayern Munich. He is very tough, people don’t like him, but he wins. And one day you don’t win — and when you don’t win, everybody that is angry with you will come back to you and try to kill you. In the movies this works, in real life it doesn’t.’

 

[FanchesterCity]

Professional in name, and professional in nature are two different things.

I know enough GP's, teachers and solicitors who are professional in name. Most of them appear to be professional in nature too, but one or two certainly aren't. Being a 'professional' footballer by virtue of talent and being paid to play doesn't make anybody a professional in attitude or commitment.

People will be claiming all priests are Godly next.

 

[supercity88]

A lot of the blame surely has to be down to the players mentality, although MP needs to have the balls to drop the players he feels are lacking in this department. Yaya springs to mind because he's already dropped Dzeko and Nasri for this reason.

The reason I've said the above has been evident in the last two games (Palace & Rags), we've started both games well and at the right tempo and pace with plenty of chances but the problem occurs when we concede, our mentality and confidence drains like a sand timer, is that MP's fault, we never used to be like that after conceding a goal?

You're spot on there. Weirdly we always seemed to start slowly, go a goal down and then turn up which was a bit of an Arsenal trait (except that we would turn it around).

Recent two games we've started really well and after the first 10 minutes I thought we would batter them again on Sunday. Instead we conceded once and then crumbled. We couldn't even pass the ball. It's a lack of leadership on the pitch for me. Kompany and Yaya are the two players charged with motivating the team. Kompany spends more time blaming himself or others around him than geeing the team up now. Then he goes off and we've got Yaya to motivate... well do I need to go into that?! Just no presence of mind to get the team together and remind them to play the way the manager wants. To keep the ball and be confident. We started so well and let it slip. Trouble is, which of the remaining players could help motivate the team? No one we've been linked to seems to be in that ilk either... apart from Wilshere! But he is unlikely to spend much time on the pitch knowing his injury record! Hart's a natural leader but we need someone in the midfield to establish a level of control and commitment and lead the side.

I'm sick of reading interviews on the OS from players about how we can still win, we can turn it around, we can still do it... fight to win the game from the first whistle to the last. Wouldn't it be nice for us to lead the way in the league, rather than have to claw it back? Or to play well from the start in the CL and keep it up throughout an entire game?

 

[OB1]

A lot of the blame surely has to be down to the players mentality, although MP needs to have the balls to drop the players he feels are lacking in this department. Yaya springs to mind because he's already dropped Dzeko and Nasri for this reason.

The reason I've said the above has been evident in the last two games (Palace & Rags), we've started both games well and at the right tempo and pace with plenty of chances but the problem occurs when we concede, our mentality and confidence drains like a sand timer, is that MP's fault, we never used to be like that after conceding a goal?

The mentality issue very much relates to players MP inherited and so in that sense I do not think it is his fault but he is now responsible, in part, for doing something about it and maybe he has not done enough on that score. I think he has been badly let down by the players, who might have let him down whatever he did, but he needed to have been conspicous in doing more. His team have underperformed for most of the season and therefore he is not getting the best out of them.