Discussion: Manuel Pellegrini (2014/15)

[prestonibbo_mcfc]

We went to Barcelona 2-1 down in the worst possible moment we have been in in recent memory

It's disappointing to go out. But I can't be annoyed and don't see how anyone else can

What's annoying are losing to teams that are better than us

I think an in form City team could beat Barcelona . And what it to City's and Pellegrini's great credit is that we had a go at Barcelona. We tried to play. We didn't hide.

Some people say that that is a fault. I don't think so. It's for the long term benefit of this club. And I applaud Pellegrini for doing that before his own personal interests. He could easily have sent City out not to lose and to do a damage limitation job, but he stuck to his principles

Well Done Pellegrini

On to what will be a very difficult game at the weekend.

Time to stick together now.

If it wasn't for a game of a lifetime for Joe Hart we would have lost 6 or 7 -1 on aggregate. Last night was an utter disaster with MP, Nasri, and Yaya leading the way.

So tell us why MP was so bad.

 

[BlueDeadHead]

We went to Barcelona 2-1 down in the worst possible moment we have been in in recent memory

It's disappointing to go out. But I can't be annoyed and don't see how anyone else can

What's annoying are losing to teams that are better than us

I think an in form City team could beat Barcelona . And what it to City's and Pellegrini's great credit is that we had a go at Barcelona. We tried to play. We didn't hide.

Some people say that that is a fault. I don't think so. It's for the long term benefit of this club. And I applaud Pellegrini for doing that before his own personal interests. He could easily have sent City out not to lose and to do a damage limitation job, but he stuck to his principles

Well Done Pellegrini

On to what will be a very difficult game at the weekend.

Time to stick together now.

If it wasn't for a game of a lifetime for Joe Hart we would have lost 6 or 7 -1 on aggregate. Last night was an utter disaster with MP, Nasri, and Yaya leading the way.

So tell us why MP was so bad.

He put Yaya in a midfield two.
He started Nasri on the right when we needed someone to neutralize Neymar.

 

[prestonibbo_mcfc]

If it wasn't for a game of a lifetime for Joe Hart we would have lost 6 or 7 -1 on aggregate. Last night was an utter disaster with MP, Nasri, and Yaya leading the way.

So tell us why MP was so bad.

He put Yaya in a midfield two.
He started Nasri on the right when we needed someone to neutralize Neymar.

I thought he put out the best side he could. Hw went 3 5 1 as everyone has been asking.
He didn't envisage playing with 9 men first half, due to Yaya and Nasri downing tools.
He saw his mistake at half time and pulled Nasri. We don't know what was said at HT
but maybe he thought Yaya would buck his ideas up. i don't know what else he could have
done last night and sure the result could have been worse, but we aren't good enough
at the moment to compete at that level. We have to many players that have trouble
stopping the ball.

 

[BobKowalski]

So tell us why MP was so bad.

He put Yaya in a midfield two.
He started Nasri on the right when we needed someone to neutralize Neymar.

I thought he put out the best side he could. Hw went 3 5 1 as everyone has been asking.
He didn't envisage playing with 9 men first half, due to Yaya and Nasri downing tools.
He saw his mistake at half time and pulled Nasri. We don't know what was said at HT
but maybe he thought Yaya would buck his ideas up. i don't know what else he could have
done last night and sure the result could have been worse, but we aren't good enough
at the moment to compete at that level. We have to many players that have trouble
stopping the ball.

We are good enough to compete at this level its just that we don't compete at this level or even several levels below this level. Our first task is not to fret about Barca but work out why we made such a half arsed job of getting out of the group stages. Why we binned a 2 goal lead against CSKA away, why we lost at home to CSKA and why we drew with a Roma second XI at home.

The frustration is that Roma away is what we should be doing on a regular basis and yet in 4 seasons this is our stand out moment in the CL . Get these things right and we will have a base of competitive and positive results to build on.

 

[Neville Kneville]

He put Yaya in a midfield two.
He started Nasri on the right when we needed someone to neutralize Neymar.

I thought he put out the best side he could. Hw went 3 5 1 as everyone has been asking.
He didn't envisage playing with 9 men first half, due to Yaya and Nasri downing tools.
He saw his mistake at half time and pulled Nasri. We don't know what was said at HT
but maybe he thought Yaya would buck his ideas up. i don't know what else he could have
done last night and sure the result could have been worse, but we aren't good enough
at the moment to compete at that level. We have to many players that have trouble
stopping the ball.

We are good enough to compete at this level its just that we don't compete at this level or even several levels below this level. Our first task is not to fret about Barca but work out why we made such a half arsed job of getting out of the group stages. Why we binned a 2 goal lead against CSKA away, why we lost at home to CSKA and why we drew with a Roma second XI at home.

The frustration is that Roma away is what we should be doing on a regular basis and yet in 4 seasons this is our stand out moment in the CL . Get these things right and we will have a base of competitive and positive results to build on.

My first question would be why many of the same players got dicked by Napoli in a different system, under a different manager, & dicked by most half decent teams in most systems under 2 different managers since.

Once that question is answered, we can start to improve.

First prt of the answer will involve selling several players imo.

 

[BobKowalski]

I thought he put out the best side he could. Hw went 3 5 1 as everyone has been asking.
He didn't envisage playing with 9 men first half, due to Yaya and Nasri downing tools.
He saw his mistake at half time and pulled Nasri. We don't know what was said at HT
but maybe he thought Yaya would buck his ideas up. i don't know what else he could have
done last night and sure the result could have been worse, but we aren't good enough
at the moment to compete at that level. We have to many players that have trouble
stopping the ball.

We are good enough to compete at this level its just that we don't compete at this level or even several levels below this level. Our first task is not to fret about Barca but work out why we made such a half arsed job of getting out of the group stages. Why we binned a 2 goal lead against CSKA away, why we lost at home to CSKA and why we drew with a Roma second XI at home.

The frustration is that Roma away is what we should be doing on a regular basis and yet in 4 seasons this is our stand out moment in the CL . Get these things right and we will have a base of competitive and positive results to build on.

My first question would be why many of the same players got dicked by Napoli in a different system, under a different manager, & dicked by most half decent teams in most systems under 2 different managers since.

Once that question is answered, we can start to improve.

First prt of the answer will involve selling several players imo.

We have bought and sold a fair number of players in the last 4 seasons and we are still getting dicked. It's a club issue. Its a mentality issue. Its a culture issue. Buy yet more players and they will be infected with the same issues and 4 years of mediocrity will become 5.

 

[cleavers]

Hw went 3 5 1 as everyone has been asking.

3 5 1 you say, LOL (need to check your maths, we played with 11 all night, despite Nasri), for me, it was 4 4 2 all night, some will say 4 4 1 1.

However formations aren't important for me, player commitment is, and at least 2 of our 11 were pretty useless all night, and they were both part of our midfield 4, one removed at HT, the other later.

In games at this level you can't afford passengers, and we had two last night, the sooner both leave the better for me.

 

[GeekinGav]

Not sure mediocrity in the Champions League is entirelly accurate. Took United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool several campaigns before they got close to a final,

Plus the competition we face across Europe is much stronger and more teams that the teams that are strong, so it's not a competition that anyone has the right to win it now. Maybe our progress so far is probably accurate.

The worst thing that could cost MP his job and several players to depart is the stat of 3 wins out of 12 games. That's not trophy winning form, that's relegation form. And I've lost all confidence to know where the next win is coming from.

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

Hw went 3 5 1 as everyone has been asking.

3 5 1 you say, LOL (need to check your maths, we played with 11 all night, despite Nasri), for me, it was 4 4 2 all night, some will say 4 4 1 1.

However formations aren't important for me, player commitment is, and at least 2 of our 11 were pretty useless all night, and they were both part of our midfield 4, one removed at HT, the other later.

In games at this level you can't afford passengers, and we had two last night, the sooner both leave the better for me.

Yup. And what irks most is you could have called Ya Ya's performance without even seeing the teamsheet. Nasri sometimes steps up to the plate (to a degree), but that fly hack at Neymar's legs, much the same as Ya Ya's face push against CSKA, was all the evidence you'd ever need as regards his team ethic. I wouldn't play the former again this season

 

[Goaters]

Pellegrini is a modern day enigma, a part of me admires his laid-back characteristics, but then equally I have never fully warmed to him as he does not feel like one of us. In this sense due to the City way, where we have been down the leagues, slugged it out with the likes of Stockport I feel we as fans appreciate a manager who wears his heart on his sleeve, who gets his teams to press and give their all for the shirt.

Before the Barcelona game, I felt he was on the edge of being sacked. The team had no shape, passion or sense of leadership, I can take losing but getting out-fought is more of a gripe for me. The 4-4-2 rigid formation though was cast aside and we played a more fluid 4-4-1-1, the downfall being Yaya could not handle being in a midfield 2 and was more of a passenger. But we pressed, we caused problems and the majority of players at least looked like they actually gave a damn as to the outcome.

We won the title with Manuel and that will not be forgotten, the brand of football was at times exceptional, I was reading the newspaper with a smile on my face and hearing all and sundry wax lyrical about our style of play. But this season, the sharpness has gone, leading to some awful perfomances and a real damp squid of a season. Football is a brutal business, our owners are ruthless but strive for success in every aspect. There is no doubt in my mind these 9 games will be Pellegrinis last as manager.

Now the hard part comes when questions as to who to get in the Chileans place, Pep is the obvious candidate as known. He has the x-factor, has a style that our owners love and would elevate us to the next level. But unless he wins everything at Bayern this year, then decides that will be that his appointment would not be until Summer 2016. The rest of the rest have some interesting names, Klopp will not leave Dortmund I fear as he would be my next in line. Dare I say Brendan Rodgers, he has a brand of football that would suit us, is keen on developing youth and is media friendly, but I doubt he feels his project with Liverpool is finished. Simeone has had a mixed managerial career but is flourishing at Athletico, he has developed a team greater than the sum of their parts, but plays predominantly a counter attacking style which can not always to pretty to watch. I would personally promote Patrick Vieira, now I know this is a risk, but we preach a holistic approach. If Txixi controls transfers, then Paddy can focus on coaching, getting the best out of the players we have, promoting youth that he knows well. His links to Pogba would make that transfer appear more likely, with a possible Toure exchange.

If come the Summer, we thank Manuel for all his hard work, shake his hand and appoint Vieira I will be happy. If the squad has Maffeo, Angelino, Lopes, Pozo, Barker and Denayer promoted as regular subs, then forcing the way into the team I will be delighted. Take out Kolarov, Toure, Sagna, Boyata, Fernando, Milner (would want him to stay), Dzeko (does not suit our style), then maybe Jovetic (would want to leave), that should be about 70 million in sales. Take in Pogba, Draxler and Rodriguez (the lb), then for me this would be the perfect Summer.