Discussion: Manuel Pellegrini 2015/16

[simon23]

MP got it spot on defensively today including bringing on MDM to nullify bogbrush

 

[JoeMercer'sWay]

Where did it come from? You sound surprised but surely you aren't! Anyone that has paid attention knows that Pellegrini can set his teams up like that; he chooses not to most of the time. You can argue all day long whether or not Pellegrini should be more pragmatic more often and ultimately the deciding factor on that will be his trophy count.

very surprised, given his blatant disregard for the opposition, and tricky games where a point or a tight 1-0 or 2-1 would help us march to titles and trophies comfortably in the past couple of years.

If this is the sign of things to come, and a tactic employed in say Sevilla, with hopefully Dave back to add a bit of invention in attack, then I'll be much happier.

We played crap up front today, but that doesn't excuse the defence from not defending that well 99/100, as opposed to the last month's nonsense.

Defend like we did today, and attack like we did minutes 45-60 against Newcastle, that's what I want the City blueprint to be, 99 games out a 100, like the elite clubs in consistency.

 

[OB1]

This, it was the laborious way in which yaya limps about the place, combined with bony doing nowt, that gave them masses of easy space to work with around the middle... it would have been worse still if fernandinho wasn't such an energetic performer. Yaya should have come on at the 60th minute mark(and this should start being a regular thing at his age now), and KDB should have been playing that position.

Just imagine you are on the pitch in an advanced role, are you going to break your neck trying to push them, if the next man is just dragging himself around the pitch? Its about more than just his suitability for a role, its also about what it does to the way the team approach the game.

Clearly yaya is not to be upset...

I've seen fernando a few times this season now, and he seems much more dependable, so yaya clearly isn't indispensable.

Looked absolutely joyous when he got the hook...

 

[aguerooo93]

yup and i think that is his one major weakness

Completely disagree. The best football I've seen us play has been with Pellegrini. Outscoring opponents isn't just effective (two titles in his first season and a great start to this one), it's entertaining - he sees his job as setting up the team for the benefit of the fans. Love that, he's also just an amicable guy who the players respect

 

[blueinsa]

I never post in this thread, but the way he set up for this derby was bewildering. We should have played to win but he appeared to deliberately play a system that would suit United. But a point is a point, so what do I know.

Nothing??

Gung ho or pragmatic, our gaffer just can't win with some on here pmsl.

 

[the blue panther]

very surprised, given his blatant disregard for the opposition, and tricky games where a point or a tight 1-0 or 2-1 would help us march to titles and trophies comfortably in the past couple of years.

If this is the sign of things to come, and a tactic employed in say Sevilla, with hopefully Dave back to add a bit of invention in attack, then I'll be much happier.

We played crap up front today, but that doesn't excuse the defence from not defending that well 99/100, as opposed to the last month's nonsense.

Defend like we did today, and attack like we did minutes 45-60 against Newcastle, that's what I want the City blueprint to be, 99 games out a 100, like the elite clubs in consistency.

Couldn't agree with you more. Perhaps the most difficult game of this season and a point is god enough - could have been better; could have been worse.

What I don't get though is the failure to switch Sterling and KDB in that 1st hour so as to change things about, instead of just taking Sterling off and bringing Navas on on the right, and switching KDB over to the left. I am not sure what the ultimate point is with that substitution. Navas did OK, but, if we are looking to improve things up front by this substitution (rather than just trying to introduce Navas for his defensive work - which I don't think was necessary at that time so early in the 2nd half) why not just switch the wingers for 10 minutes and see what develops?

Not unhappy with anything today. Pellers started with his strongest team imho, so well done to him for that, I say. Shame that the front 4 didn't quite work out on the day, and - for once - we had some luck at the back. Glad that Kompany and Otamendi worked well.

 

[LittleEgg]

If you take a couple of steps back and look at the big picture, despite being crap today in every area aside from the back/middle two, this is a good sign...

Defense has been very shaky for way too long, and if this is the start of finally adressing this, then its a good thing. However it will also mean a period of looking a bit gash.

As someone else said above silva returning will help in a big way, but i honestly don't think yaya fits into a solid defensive setup, he just doesn't use his legs enough...delph returning will be an interesting one in this kind of system, along with a much improved fernando going about his business.

Then again it could just be the system UTD use sucking the life from this particular game, rather than any change being put in place by pellers.

 

[BlueTangerine]

Nothing??

Gung ho or pragmatic, our gaffer just can't win with some on here pmsl.

Watched the game did ya?

I don't think this game warranted playing for a draw. I thought we should've shown a lot more attacking intent.

 

[blueinsa]

Watched the game did ya?

I don't think this game warranted playing for a draw. I thought we should've shown a lot more attacking intent.

Not yet, no as I was at work but the rags are playing catch up and today on their home turf they couldn't do that and that's with us missing Kun and Merlin.

Top of the league with that point.

Well done gaffer.

 

[hgblue]

very surprised, given his blatant disregard for the opposition, and tricky games where a point or a tight 1-0 or 2-1 would help us march to titles and trophies. comfortably in the past couple of years.

If this is the sign of things to come, and a tactic employed in say Sevilla, with hopefully Dave back to add a bit of invention in attack, then I'll be much happier.

We played crap up front today, but that doesn't excuse the defence from not defending that well 99/100, as opposed to the last month's nonsense.

Defend like we did today, and attack like we did minutes 45-60 against Newcastle, that's what I want the City blueprint to be, 99 games out a 100, like the elite clubs in consistency.

Totally agree with all of that, and it's something the managers critics have been saying for a while. Pellegrini also has a big decision to make regarding Yaya. A luxury player who can't defend is fine when they're producing the goods, not so easy to accomodate when their powers are on the wain. I'm a big Yaya fan but that performance today was painful to watch, and the post Yaya era is sadly approaching.