Discussion: Manuel Pellegrini 2015/16

[eversince 76]

I posted this elsewhere with regards to Vinny: I suspect that what happened and the reason Pellegrini is so furious with Vinny/Belgian FA is that we wanted him to start vs. Bournemouth so that he had 90 minutes prior to the derby, then a rest last night. But since he's returning from injury playing mid week ruled him out of playing on the Saturday, and also ruled him out of playing last night because had he started last night it would've been a risk to start him again at the weekend.

With his record of injuries I think we're reached a stage where we have to accept that he can't play two games in quick succession. Hence the signing of Otamendi.

I doubt Kompany can't play two games in quick succession. If he can't he would no longer have the requirements to be a professional player with us.
I do agree we need to rest Kompany more often (and that's entirely different than to rest him every other game if there is a midweek game). As it is right now, Kompany coming back from being out for several weeks, I somehow understand Pellegrini saving him for the derby if that is what made him decide to put Kompany on the bench yesterday. And with the way the game developed again I would have brought Kompany on. In hindsight we won, Kompany didn't play too many minutes and I expect Kompany to start next to Mangala this Sunday. A bit of gambling is a huge part of being a manager of a footballteam I guess.

 

[Lancet Fluke]

My take was to trust the defence, who I felt were playing well in the main.

Do you really think we defended well last night Dave? Have I become so negative about our defensive tactics that I can no longer recognise decent defensive displays or are my expectations too high or something? There were some good individual (often last ditch) interventions but I thought we were all over the place at times last night at the back as a unit and think genuinely convincing defensive displays by our back four tend to be very few and far between.

 

[B\connellblue]

The managers job is to select the best 11 available and put personal grievances aside. He suspects this is his last season and he's trying to show his authority to the detriment of the team. The simple facts show that Kompany and mangala together regardless of who plays in front of them keep clean sheets, Mangala and Otamendi don't. That's not made up it's fact. Holy f**k, he even thought they played well last night.

 

[supercity88]

The managers job is to select the best 11 available and put personal grievances aside. He suspects this is his last season and he's trying to show his authority to the detriment of the team. The simple facts show that Kompany and mangala together regardless of who plays in front of them keep clean sheets, Mangala and Otamendi don't. That's not made up it's fact. Holy f**k, he even thought they played well last night.

Yet another ridiculous post.

Pellegrini doesn't strike me as a man to let personal grievances get in the way of the job in hand. Kompany playing for Belgium was as much down to being picked by the manager as anything else. He's not going to refuse to play if picked. Any grievance should be with the Belgian national team manager and medical staff.

It's a simple scenario - he doesn't want to lose Kompany for a lengthy period and so couldn't risk him last night, with the derby looming, nor on Saturday because he'd just played. We'll see him back in the side this weekend I'd imagine as he'll have had a good weeks recovery and some training time in his legs.

Mangala and Otamendi haven't been flawless but they've not been helped by Zabaleta being substandard and Kolarov being injured and therefore Sagna playing at left back. A good defence is built on consistency and an understanding of who is playing next to you and communication with them. We kept a settled back 4 at the start of the season and kept clean sheets. Pellegrini should try and do the same, and currently it should be Sagna, Kompany, Mangala, Kolarov for the league games (subject to Kompany's fitness).

Last night was not a good defensive performance but Pellegrini doesn't need to point the finger about individual performances in the media. He's not that sort of manager. He rightly praised the team and will work on issues in training.

On another note, it was a good change in system last night from Pellegrini and it led to our win. Credit to him for making the changes he did.

 

[uwe rosler 28]

He got out of jail last night! Any decent manager would have made tatical changes after 30mins he left it till 70mins! If we want to improve a new manager needs to come in summer time! We should not be being dominated in every champs league game we play!

 

[Mr Ed (The Stables)]

In my opinion, and I've said it before and I'll say it again, whatever we acheive this season will be "In spite" of him and not "Because" of him.

 

[cleavers]

Same old. Not pressing the CBs - they pick long balls. Pressing them in an uncoordinated way - their midfield played around us. Outnumbered Toure and Fernandinho did their usual attack the ball and end up chasing shadows thing.

Midfield being over-run means Navas doing loads more work in the centre. He still attacked, but already doing two jobs he couldn't do much of the third, help the fullback by tracking the runner. De Bruyne was infield the whole game, so no protection for the LB..... who was Sagna, who wouldn't know how attack that side - his opposite number(s) twigged very early and just ran at him, past him, behind him, around him, through him. Same for Zab, really. Both were poor but both had been hung out to dry, and Sevilla made the most of it - they didn't just turn them, they turned them pretty much every way imaginable. If it had been anyone else but City playing it would have been fun to watch.

Sevilla also knew to go for the space between Mangala and LB. They knew Mangala is a bit rash and clumsy and often ends up not defending the space behind. They knew we often end up defending very narrow and don't track runners on the far post, so did that all night. They also knew the exception to this is where the fullback is isolated and the CB moves towards him so they played some great balls crosses in that space.

At the other end, they knew we would try and overload the right so had three players there most times. We couldn't switch sides (no attacking fullbacks) so they had men left over to cover when Sterling ran with the ball. Bony had no support, his confidence went big time. WIth no Silva, there was no way to hold the ball in their third.

Certainly the fullback/space between CB and fullback, and their being able to get round Toure and Fernandinho thing was obvious from the word go. I think that probably led to us cracking a bit, all the pressure started to show again. Everyone gets the willies, stops doing what they practised all week and all of a sudden no-one knows what anyone else is thinking.

Apart from that............. cracking night in.

Its little wonder we got beaten so heavily eh ?

 

[OB1]

Its little wonder we got beaten so heavily eh ?

That's a bit dismissive of a reasoned attempt at analysis

I was a bit disappointed with the set-up for this game and the way it exposed in midfield etc but Pellegrini's approach is all about getting the team to play a particular way and trusting in it. The facts remain that we had more goal attempts, more shots on target and, IMO, the better chances.

Pellers also changed things enough in the final stage of the game to win it. So, not for the first time, the end has managed to justify the means.

 

[mosssideblue]

Yet another ridiculous post.

Pellegrini doesn't strike me as a man to let personal grievances get in the way of the job in hand. Kompany playing for Belgium was as much down to being picked by the manager as anything else. He's not going to refuse to play if picked. Any grievance should be with the Belgian national team manager and medical staff.

It's a simple scenario - he doesn't want to lose Kompany for a lengthy period and so couldn't risk him last night, with the derby looming, nor on Saturday because he'd just played. We'll see him back in the side this weekend I'd imagine as he'll have had a good weeks recovery and some training time in his legs.

Mangala and Otamendi haven't been flawless but they've not been helped by Zabaleta being substandard and Kolarov being injured and therefore Sagna playing at left back. A good defence is built on consistency and an understanding of who is playing next to you and communication with them. We kept a settled back 4 at the start of the season and kept clean sheets. Pellegrini should try and do the same, and currently it should be Sagna, Kompany, Mangala, Kolarov for the league games (subject to Kompany's fitness).

Last night was not a good defensive performance but Pellegrini doesn't need to point the finger about individual performances in the media. He's not that sort of manager. He rightly praised the team and will work on issues in training.

On another note, it was a good change in system last night from Pellegrini and it led to our win. Credit to him for making the changes he did.

Spot on. Too many acting as if they know how everyone is performing day in, day out.

 

[mosssideblue]

In my opinion, and I've said it before and I'll say it again, whatever we acheive this season will be "In spite" of him and not "Because" of him.

That's just nonsense.