Discussion: Manuel Pellegrini 2015/16

[mosssideblue]

If allowed mancini would have built an even better team/squad problem is now pep is going to have to build a new team here 3 years isn't long enough imo we need to replace zab, clichy, vinny, nando, diniho, delph, yaya, navas, silva(find a succesor) that's 9 players to buy/bring through hopfully pellers will give a few players the chance to shine

hart

maffeo
denyer
otamendi
kolarov

pogba
silva
diniho

kdb
aguero
Sterling

would be nice next season bring garcia through as well as silvas successor

I think if Bobby was still here we would have a very different starting 11 as the majority would have upped sticks

 

[Newman Noggs]

Haven't lost a "must win" game this season. Excellent appreciation of the long-game by our manager in the face of mob pressure with an efficient and controlled strategy being implemented to perfection by our players. I'm enjoying it.

 

[baildon blue]

I think he has also brought more respect to the club from outside, we don't see the Mancini, Tevez, Balotelli type headlines and I believe other managers coaches look at us differently because of respect he has from coaches, players and managers throughout Europe. We are now in a position to attract the very best coaches and players, because of these Pellegrini years we weren't when he took over. I will look back fondly as an important part of our progress just as Mancini was.

Yes he's done wonders with that defence .

 

[sh249]

Thanks to the players pathetic efforts at Wembley

Too true. But then you could argue the same about several of our recent losses.

Pellegrini is copping plenty of stick, quite rightly, at the moment. But to say that he inherited and dismantled a winning team, when we won nada in 2012/13 and a league and cup double in 2013/14 just strikes me as a bit weird.

 

[stablemcfc]

I think you mis read my post mate. I wasn't suggesting you'd said to drop Silva, I was just putting my point of view accross.

I think the statistics can be misleading. A superb example is the Everton away game in the league. You've used that as an example when Silva "hasn't set the world alight, eh?". He didn't score or get an assist, but have you actually watched that game? It's one of the best I've ever seen him play. Jamie Redknapp said he was that good that they should have given him the Man of the Match before the game started.

How many times could we have said that about De Bruyne this season? More specifically, how many times could we have said that about De Bruyne playing centrally?

The best two games I've seen from De Bruyne was the 2nd half against Newcastle, and the Sunderland game. Both times he was playing on the wing, and both times David Silva was equally as brilliant.

In fact the Newcastle game is the best example of how stats will only get you so far, it's better to analyse the game as you see it. For the first half an hour De Bruyne was playing centrally. We were dreadful. He was dreadful. He constantly gave the ball away cheaply, he wasn't always available for the pass, he was trying to play too direct and it made the rest of the team stretched and allowed Newcastle to find huge amounts of space as a result.

After half an hour Silva went central, he completely dictated play, knitted the team together and we scored 6 goals in 20 minutes. That's the difference.

If we're playing on the break, desperate for a goal in the last 10 minutes, De Bruyne is one of the first players in the world you'd want to throw on to grab you a goal. But to be the fulcrum of the team? The playmaker, the one who knits it all together? Not for me. That's David Silva's job.

I didn't misread, you seemingly unintentionally repeated my original post back to me. So as it turns out we're in agreement about the general idea; get a CAM at CAM & put wingers on the wings. We're in disagreement over how good KdB is.

Yes statistics are misleading, Silva for me has been arguably the 3rd best player in the world for the past few years, yet he doesn't score a huge deal or assist as much as one might expect as he's more often than not the pass before the assist - but that doesn't mean you can dismiss statistics, KdB has been churning out incredible stats for a few years now, that's not just a purple patch, he's a bloody good player. You also mention about examples of KdB playing well centrally, I'd say he hasn't played centrally almost at all - can't dismiss something without giving it a fair run of games IMO.

You seem to be agreeing with me without noticing it, earlier you suggested KdB central for the easier matches & I suggested Silva, yet now you use Newcastle as an example of where Silva was more effective centrally than KdB - this is an easier match, & like I said Silva is the man for that job, you're backing up my point here.

Again you agree with me without noticing, on the break you say KdB is one of the first players you'd want - hence my post of saying I'd play KdB centrally in the tougher matches, we'll be on the back foot more & on the break more. An example being say we draw Barcelona in CL, even with Silva central we will have no chance of dictating, so we'll be on the counter for the majority of the match - who would you pick? Like I said my vote is KdB would be more likely to cause them damage.

They are 2 totally different players, Silva far better at controlling a game, ball control & picking intricate passes to unlock a tight defence & KdB better at moving the ball at pace, throwing deadly passes on the break & being a goal threat. Both are some of the best attacking mid's in the world, so like I said earlier you claiming KdB's use should be limited to giving Silva a break & padding stats against weak opposition is frankly nonsense IMO; they give us 2 totally different options that are both very effective, we're lucky to have them.

 

[hilts]

The most interesting stats are those of how we've performed with him and without him. Results show that in games where he starts we generally win. Games where he doesn't start we win less often and many of those wins have come after he has been brought on as a sub.

These figures are taken from the Navas thread:

If we look at the league:

Matches with Navas starting: 8 wins 2 losses. 80% win rate.
Matches without Navas starting: 4 wins 3 draws 3 losses. 40% win rate.

Including cups:

Matches with Navas starting: 5 wins 1 loss. 83.33% win rate.
Matches without Navas starting: 2 win 2 losses - both wins were against Gladbach, and both we were losing before Navas came on. 50% win rate

Totals:
Navas starts 13 wins 3 losses 0 draws. 81.25% win rate.
Navas doesn't start 6 wins 5 losses 3 draws; with 2 wins occuring from losing positions only after Navas came on. 42.85% win rate

And this is the whole point winning football matches, you don't just pick the players with the most assists and goals, you pick a balanced team, that should include players like navas because he helps those players get the goals and assists

Some fans just want to throw in all our flair players, most fans do this at whatever club they support but as a rule a manager knows better, they see the benefit of the players who do a particular job even if it isn't always apparent

what sort of manager puts pace and endeavour on the bench away to Everton and puts all 3 Fifa 15 players in the same team

 

[Ricster]

Still here is he?

 

[john blue]

Jesus, BM has turned into Punxsutawney. Apparently, we've never had it so bad. We have a shit team (all of whom are lazy, not motivated or not good enough), a shit manager (who is either deluded or senile, depending on the poster), shit senior management who should have been sacked for not signing Sterling, DeBruyne and Pogba and a rubbish media department. The kit is crap and the badge is wank. The stadium is rubbish, food is crap and the beer queue.... Oh, and nobody listens to the fans. Not only that, but everyone's out to get us and the refs are all bent. There's many on here been sounding like rags for weeks, if not months. Self entitled doesn't even begin to describe it.
I'm not deluded that everything is rosy in the garden but a little perspective is called for, I think.
We're run as a top quality football club, not a ramshackle outfit that reacts to crisis in that time honoured way, of creating another crisis! Even today, I see football that just makes me smile. Football played by a caliber of player I still cannot believe we have. When fit, Hart, Zabba, Kompany, Silva, Aguero, KDB and Fernandinho would get into most other teams as would YaYa, if he is prepared to play the same role that Lampard played for us last season. The manager has one of the highest win % in the Premier League and the highest ever by a City and Real Madrid manager. Not only that, but he has brought some much needed dignity to the Premier League. The very antidote to the likes of Mourinho(who many on here wanted as manager) Van Gaal and Wenger. In the last 5 full seasons we've finished 3rd, 1st, 2nd, 1st and 2nd. There will always be times where things are not going quite as one might have hoped but that's always been part of supporting a team. I rather suspect that, looking back on season 2015/16, things will turn out better than many dared to hope.
Should Senor Guardiola not arrive in the summer, the Samaritans will be on fucking overtime!
Finally, a sense of humour has always been a key to supporting City and that seems sadly lacking at the minute.

WELL SAID SIR. HA HA HA BRILLIANT.

 

[Shaelumstash]

I didn't misread, you seemingly unintentionally repeated my original post back to me. So as it turns out we're in agreement about the general idea; get a CAM at CAM & put wingers on the wings. We're in disagreement over how good KdB is.

Yes statistics are misleading, Silva for me has been arguably the 3rd best player in the world for the past few years, yet he doesn't score a huge deal or assist as much as one might expect as he's more often than not the pass before the assist - but that doesn't mean you can dismiss statistics, KdB has been churning out incredible stats for a few years now, that's not just a purple patch, he's a bloody good player. You also mention about examples of KdB playing well centrally, I'd say he hasn't played centrally almost at all - can't dismiss something without giving it a fair run of games IMO.

You seem to be agreeing with me without noticing it, earlier you suggested KdB central for the easier matches & I suggested Silva, yet now you use Newcastle as an example of where Silva was more effective centrally than KdB - this is an easier match, & like I said Silva is the man for that job, you're backing up my point here.

Again you agree with me without noticing, on the break you say KdB is one of the first players you'd want - hence my post of saying I'd play KdB centrally in the tougher matches, we'll be on the back foot more & on the break more. An example being say we draw Barcelona in CL, even with Silva central we will have no chance of dictating, so we'll be on the counter for the majority of the match - who would you pick? Like I said my vote is KdB would be more likely to cause them damage.

They are 2 totally different players, Silva far better at controlling a game, ball control & picking intricate passes to unlock a tight defence & KdB better at moving the ball at pace, throwing deadly passes on the break & being a goal threat. Both are some of the best attacking mid's in the world, so like I said earlier you claiming KdB's use is limited to giving Silva a break & padding stats against weak opposition is frankly nonsense; they give us 2 totally different options that are both very effective, we're lucky to have them.

This is getting confusing!

You initially said I mis read your post because you didn't suggest we should play KDB in an unbalanced side.

I never suggested you'd said we should play KDB in an unbalanced side.

Therefore, you misread my post.

Anyway, moving things along, we've arrived at something we actually disagree on. Playing KDB in big games.

I totally understand your view that we will have the ball less in big games, KDB is more effective on the counter than Silva, so KDB would be a better fit in big games.

However, I think it is now part of the footballing philosophy of the club that we always try to play attacking, possession football. We have done under Pellegrini, but that will be multiplied by a factor of 10 when Pep arrives. I have never once seen him set up a team to sit deep and play on the counter, quite the opposite.

So in my view, the big games are when the need to keep possession is even more acute. Therefore Silva is a must start in big games.

We agree on the attributes of both players, but it's a difference in philosophy of how we should approach playing big teams.

 

[ColinBellsjockstrap]

I like Pellegrini, he is a good manager and a nice guy.

If you know who does not come, I hope he stays till the end of his contract.