Discussion: Manuel Pellegrini (2014/15)

[bondsman]

Oh I was there pal don't worry. I ain't miserable I just don't get excited by that walk over today. Clearly what you consider good football is pretty average.

 

[cleavers]

Clearly what you consider good football is pretty average.

Really, well thanks for your analysis of me, its good to know.

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

We had 43 shots and you want to come on and say you didn't agree with the selection.

It's a free country.

You old fraud. The team selection today became academic after just 89 seconds and you know it. Thereafter West Brom were obliged to sit back and Spanish Dave was freed from all defensive responsibility. We certainly played well, and there were no issues in the middle of midfield as I'd feared, but whether that was due to an inspired team selection by the manager or purely down to circumstance, we'll never know!

I don't see anyone suggesting the team selection was inspired but it is fair to say that I did not share your prematch concern; it did amuse me though.

Of course we cannot know exactly how much influence the early sending off had on City but the mood, professionalism and composure of the players plus the excellence of Lampard, Fernando and Silva's performances may not have been down to the sending off. What is for certain is that we did not get a whiff of the sort of complacency that scuppered the home game against Burnley.

Coming on here and complaining about the team selection after that performance is, in my opinion, well, let's call it mean spirited.

Surely you're not going to play the hindsight amusement card? You need to make the odd prediction before you're allowed to do that!

 

[sam-caddick]

I reckon if he consolidates second position he we get next season!

Reading recent articles, even today reports he could remain next season because if this supposed Pep dream we have at boardroom level, plus I am not convinced there are any noticeable candidates to take the job that fit the philosophy of the club Txiki wants to direct us in.

Manuel has been tactically poor at times this season but I think if you want to get the best out of his methods of play like at Villerreal you need young, energetic and dynamic players to implement it.

Watching Monday night football the other day when Neville highlighted how sluggish we are out of possession etc etc... It just proved to me how badly our players have let the team down this season, it's obvious I know but we have looked an old team with players who have lost that bit of sharpness and hunger now that they are coming towards the end of their careers at the very highest level.

 

[baildon blue]

I like Pellergrini .
But let's face it he has made some massive errors this season .
The chopping and changing of the defence .
The formation he keeps playing in Europe this season 4-4-2 .
The embarrassing cup knock outs to Newcatle and Middlesbourgh .
I want him to stay but the evidence says he should go .

 

[The-Dogs-Pollocks]

Think he will be ok if we have a decent run till end of season. He deserves some slack after last season. think a couple of the sihnings have been poor namely fernando and mangala, bith contributed nowt to the current season also sagna is shite. Would blame thd two spainiards rather than pellers for that - deja vu after mancini really

 

[mosssideblue]

Oh I was there pal don't worry. I ain't miserable I just don't get excited by that walk over today. Clearly what you consider good football is pretty average.

You really are a top Wum.

Oh, I was there too in case you challenge me also.

 

[mancunianpear]

I think if he finishes the season strongly and it is evident he has learnt from his stubbornness and naivety of this season he deserves another crack at it next season.

I'm saying this because realistically I think that is the best option we have right now. Let's be real we ain't getting a Guardiola or a Simeone this summer and the last thing we want is to settle for second tier manager, which I think in all fairness we did with Pellegrini in the first place.

If he learns from his mistakes, gets rid of the dead wood, coinciding with a strong summer of recruitment, there is no reason we can't dominate this league.

 

[hgblue]

I think if he finishes the season strongly and it is evident he has learnt from his stubbornness and naivety of this season he deserves another crack at it next season.

I'm saying this because realistically I think that is the best option we have right now. Let's be real we ain't getting a Guardiola or a Simeone this summer and the last thing we want is to settle for second tier manager, which I think in all fairness we did with Pellegrini in the first place.

If he learns from his mistakes, gets rid of the dead wood, coinciding with a strong summer of recruitment, there is no reason we can't dominate this league.

I agree with this. A strong finish to the season + the lack of a long term successor = Pellegrini stays.

 

[bondsman]

Oh I was there pal don't worry. I ain't miserable I just don't get excited by that walk over today. Clearly what you consider good football is pretty average.

You really are a top Wum.

Oh, I was there too in case you challenge me also.

Fail to see how I'm a wum. The midfield he picked yesterday would have struggled had west brom had 11 players. Against a good team it would have been overrun. Why change defence again? Why drop Fernandinho who was best outfield player against barca? The manager gives that team no direction. Nevilles comments on Monday night football highlighted that for me.

 

[Danielmanc]

I think if he finishes the season strongly and it is evident he has learnt from his stubbornness and naivety of this season he deserves another crack at it next season.

I'm saying this because realistically I think that is the best option we have right now. Let's be real we ain't getting a Guardiola or a Simeone this summer and the last thing we want is to settle for second tier manager, which I think in all fairness we did with Pellegrini in the first place.

If he learns from his mistakes, gets rid of the dead wood, coinciding with a strong summer of recruitment, there is no reason we can't dominate this league.

I agree with this. A strong finish to the season + the lack of a long term successor = Pellegrini stays.

I think that is the key. The only reason Manuel will be here next season is the lack of a suitable alternative. Shame as he is proving that he isn't good enough to improve us.

 

[Marvin]

I think if he finishes the season strongly and it is evident he has learnt from his stubbornness and naivety of this season he deserves another crack at it next season.

I'm saying this because realistically I think that is the best option we have right now. Let's be real we ain't getting a Guardiola or a Simeone this summer and the last thing we want is to settle for second tier manager, which I think in all fairness we did with Pellegrini in the first place.

If he learns from his mistakes, gets rid of the dead wood, coinciding with a strong summer of recruitment, there is no reason we can't dominate this league.

Sounds reasonable but I can point out that

a) This squad should have got to Cup semi-finals and be closer to if not above Chelsea. It's not a squad full of "dead wood", it's a squad at the height of its powers who should have done a lot more

In the 3rd Quarter of the season we took 15 points from 10 League games and dropped points against poor opponents. That's not because we were naïve or carrying deadwood, it's because we didn't go into these games with the right mentality.

Chelsea haven't won it yet, but are nowhere near as good as claimed.

b) The "dead wood" which is a phrase I wouldn't use has this season been Kompany, Zabaleta and Yaya Toure.

Toure was phenomenally good last season. Incredible goals. Zabaleta was a warrior. Kompany was over-rated last season, but still better than this season

c) Naivety? We are the Champions, not a Championship team. We don't even play 442. Against WBA Aguero spent most of the time in midfield, so we're actually quite conservative given the players in our squad.

What's not easy to assess is what the manager could have done about it.

 

[mancunianpear]

I think if he finishes the season strongly and it is evident he has learnt from his stubbornness and naivety of this season he deserves another crack at it next season.

I'm saying this because realistically I think that is the best option we have right now. Let's be real we ain't getting a Guardiola or a Simeone this summer and the last thing we want is to settle for second tier manager, which I think in all fairness we did with Pellegrini in the first place.

If he learns from his mistakes, gets rid of the dead wood, coinciding with a strong summer of recruitment, there is no reason we can't dominate this league.

Sounds reasonable but I can point out that

a) This squad should have got to Cup semi-finals and be closer to if not above Chelsea. It's not a squad full of "dead wood", it's a squad at the height of its powers who should have done a lot more

b) The "dead wood" which is a phrase I wouldn't use has this season been Kompany, Zabaleta and Yaya Toure.

Toure was phenomenally good last season. Incredible goals. Zabaleta was a warrior. Kompany was over-rated last season, but still better than this season

c) Naivety? We are the Champions, not a Championship team. We don't even play 442. Against WBA Aguero spent most of the time in midfield, so we're actually quite conservative given the players in our squad.

What's not easy to assess is what the manager could have done about it.

Completely agree with you that we should have done much, much better and in my opinion we should have walked this league but the reality is we haven't and we are where we are. Age has nothing to do with it for me and in fairness the majority of this squad should technically be in their peak but a few this season have shown too many times they haven't the heart or fight anymore and Yaya is the biggest culprit of that.

Yaya for me,is now dead wood, regardless of his qualities it's obvious he hasn't the fight or heart left in him and quite frankly he's now a passenger and it is like playing with ten men when he doesn't fancy it. For me the dead wood of this team aren't Kompany or Zaba, they've had a poor season but they'll recover because they have the right attitude and are part of a core of players who would bleed for this club. Yes Yaya was exceptional last season but you can't stop still in football and last season is last season and realistically the man is on the decline, fast.

For me the players that need clearing out I think most people will agree with. Yaya, Dzeko, Nasri, Kolarov, while Sagna and Fernando just aren't good enough.

It's not that they are suddenly bad players, the attitude and consistency isn't there anymore and we need to replace these players with much hungrier players. They've been fantastic for us, especially Yaya but it's time to freshen it up a bit

In regards to my comment about naivety, I feel fielding a weakened side against Boro, our set up against Barca at home and our game management and tactics in games at home to Hull, Burnley and Stoke for me stink of naivety, poor tactics and organisation.

As I said I think if Pellers has a good end to the season he'll still be here next season and I'm not against that as realistically there is nobody better to replace him with this summer.

 

[OB1]

You old fraud. The team selection today became academic after just 89 seconds and you know it. Thereafter West Brom were obliged to sit back and Spanish Dave was freed from all defensive responsibility. We certainly played well, and there were no issues in the middle of midfield as I'd feared, but whether that was due to an inspired team selection by the manager or purely down to circumstance, we'll never know!

I don't see anyone suggesting the team selection was inspired but it is fair to say that I did not share your prematch concern; it did amuse me though.

Of course we cannot know exactly how much influence the early sending off had on City but the mood, professionalism and composure of the players plus the excellence of Lampard, Fernando and Silva's performances may not have been down to the sending off. What is for certain is that we did not get a whiff of the sort of complacency that scuppered the home game against Burnley.

Coming on here and complaining about the team selection after that performance is, in my opinion, well, let's call it mean spirited.

Surely you're not going to play the hindsight amusement card? You need to make the odd prediction before you're allowed to do that!

I thought the LOL that I posted prematch spoke volumes and because I look at stats, I was confident that Lampard would cover the ground during the match and would not be the immobile lump that some obviously thought would be the case. It also did not require great prescience to see that Pullis would park the bus with however many players he had, meaning that City's biggest issue in the game would be whether they could break through the wall and, when they did, actually hit the effing target. So Pellegrini could reasonbly expect that the team he picked would not struggle for mobility in the centre of midfield; if we had struggled, he had the options on the bench to change it. I didn't think it was a big deal but I think it is OK for a manager to try something in a game and then change if it doesn't work. Preferable of course that does not happen too often and some might say that it does with Pellers but yesterday was not one of those days and nothing in the game suggested it would have been if the player had not been sent off.

What I think was important yesterday is that Pellegrini rotated heavily and got a decent performance from his team, that must have been helped by the sending off but I doubt it was the only factor and I have no doubt our lot could have fucked up against ten men.

Predictions are for mugs... ;-)

 

[Bubbagump]

Just sat listening to the Bin Dippers against the Evil Empire and it got me thinking about using our current players in a system which may suit.....ground breaking thoughts I know!!!.

3 at the back, Kompany right, Mangala left and Demi in the centre, controlling, ball playing and organising.

This would give us the extra man our midfield desperately needs.

 

[baildon blue]

Just sat listening to the Bin Dippers against the Evil Empire and it got me thinking about using our current players in a system which may suit.....ground breaking thoughts I know!!!.

3 at the back, Kompany right, Mangala left and Demi in the centre, controlling, ball playing and organising.

This would give us the extra man our midfield desperately needs.

It's a nice idea .
But it didn't work under Mancini in his last season .
I remember City getting out done on the counter attack .

 

[Bubbagump]

That should hopefully be improved with the pace of both Vincent and Mangala, will obviously not get tried but personally think it suits what we need.

 

[cleavers]

It's a nice idea .
But it didn't work under Mancini in his last season .
I remember City getting out done on the counter attack .

We wouldn't have Richards and Lescott involved this time.

I think it highly unlikely that we'll change from 4 2 2 2 or 4 4 1 1 at this stage of the season, unless we get reinstated into the CL.

 

[richards30]

Any lower than 3rd and he should be sacked.

 

[mosssideblue]

Oh I was there pal don't worry. I ain't miserable I just don't get excited by that walk over today. Clearly what you consider good football is pretty average.

You really are a top Wum.

Oh, I was there too in case you challenge me also.

Fail to see how I'm a wum. The midfield he picked yesterday would have struggled had west brom had 11 players. Against a good team it would have been overrun. Why change defence again? Why drop Fernandinho who was best outfield player against barca? The manager gives that team no direction. Nevilles comments on Monday night football highlighted that for me.

Your first point is moot. Irrespective of either 10 or 11 on the pitch, Pulis would have maintained ten behind the ball.

We weren't against a good team so a useless argument.

Dhino was probably rested as Pellers knew he could play Fernando and give him sone game time
No direction wtf, we battered WBA and you still fuckin moan

Nevilles comments might swing you.

Your just looking to pick faults in Pellers selection for this game because he never chose your favourites, and when challenged you throw useless arguments in trying to strenghthen your case.

If your not a WUM, you know little of football and tactics