Discussion: Manuel Pellegrini 2015/16

[Dribble]

I am well aware of that. I saw his Malaga team proper park the bus in at least one champions league match on their way to the semi final. But I'm not bothered what he did before he came to us, the fact is there have been several matches since he has been with us where we definitely haven't had the better team and he has chosen to just go for it. I wouldn't want us to play like today too often and we wouldn't need to anyway but just a little more pragmatism generally would do me to give us a bit more balance. I don't expect it will happen but pleased that he was cautious today.

Spot on.

 

[OB1]

I am well aware of that. I saw his Malaga team proper park the bus in at least one champions league match on their way to the semi final. But I'm not bothered what he did before he came to us, the fact is there have been several matches since he has been with us where we definitely haven't had the better team and he has chosen to just go for it. I wouldn't want us to play like today too often and we wouldn't need to anyway but just a little more pragmatism generally would do me to give us a bit more balance. I don't expect it will happen but pleased that he was cautious today.

Didn't sound like you were aware, sorry; just as it sounds like you aren't aware Malaga didn't make the UCL semi ;-)

As for several matches where we haven't had the better side, I'm hard pressed to get beyond the Barca and Bayern matches; although there certainly have ben games where we have not performed as well as inferior opposition but that is a different thing.

 

[Lancet Fluke]

Didn't sound like you were aware, sorry; just as it sounds like you aren't aware Malaga didn't make the UCL semi ;-)

As for several matches where we haven't had the better side, I'm hard pressed to get beyond the Barca and Bayern matches; although there certainly have ben games where we have not performed as well as inferior opposition but that is a different thing.

Yes, sorry quarters, it's been a long and tiring day! Well I'm thinking of the Barca games particularly but also a home match v Chelsea (where similar to today) due to injuries I felt we were struggling a bit and should have been far less open. But yes, it is generally that I would like to see him be a little more cautious. I recognise that days where we need to consider approaching games like we did today are few and far between.

several
ˈsɛv(ə)r(ə)l/
determiner & pronoun
determiner: several; pronoun: several
1.
more than two but not many.

 

[OB1]

Yes, sorry quarters, it's been a long and tiring day! Well I'm thinking of the Barca games particularly but also a home match v Chelsea (where similar to today) due to injuries I felt we were struggling a bit and should have been far less open. But yes, it is generally that I would like to see him be a little more cautious. I recognise that days where we need to consider approaching games like we did today are few and far between.

several
ˈsɛv(ə)r(ə)l/
determiner & pronoun
determiner: several; pronoun: several
1.
more than two but not many.

:-) Fair enough.

 

[trevorriley]

recall bacon face coming to etihad and trying for a nil-nil that would have given the rags the title ? Vinny popped up and fucked that idea up and bacons tactics where heavily criticised..

Not exactly different today in the way pellers knew nil nil would be a fair result, big difference is pellers git it right...

Only time he must have thought oh fuck was everytime bony got the ball..

 

[Pablo ZZZ Peroni]

Gary Neville in the Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...to-challenging-in-Champions-League-again.html


Manchester derby proved that Premier League clubs can look forward to challenging in Champions League again

The first half was probably the best 45 minutes I have seen anywhere in the Premier League this season, says Gary Neville

Supporters from both sides of Manchester may have left Old Trafford at the end of a 0-0 draw between United and City shaking their heads at the lack of goalmouth action or excitement, but for me, it was 90 minutes which told me that Premier League clubs can look forward to challenging in the Champions League

The fan watching it probably thinks that it is boring, that the entertainment is poor, but I really enjoyed the game and the first-half was probably the best 45 minutes I have seen anywhere in the Premier League this season.The Premier League is renowned for entertainment and madness, but this was a game for the professional and I genuinely believe there were a lot of very good things out on that pitch.

Both sets of centre-halves were fantastic, with Antonio Valencia and Marcos Rojo the same against Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem SterlingPhil Jones and Chris Smalling were very good and Nicolas Otamendi was fantastic for City at centre-half..Before the game, I saw United’s full-backs – Valencia and Rojo – as big weaknesses against De Bruyne and Sterling, but I thought De Bruyne was completely finished in the game after 20 minutes because Rojo dealt with him brilliantly. For every attacking player out on that pitch, it was a nightmare, but that was largely because the defensive units of both teams did exactly what is required in the Champions League.If I was a coach of United or City, I would be proud of how the players conducted themselves and followed instructions.At a time when the Premier League is teetering with its co-efficient and facing the prospect of losing a team in the Champions League, this game offered a level of comfort in that teams are starting to apply themselves to defending, concentration and focus.

What is a quality football match? If City or United had torn the other apart, with the other team defending as they did, then you would say it was a quality performance.
But when a team nullifies the other, pays attention to detail of every one of the others’ strengths, you also have to say that that is a quality football match.I will not be told by anybody that there wasn’t a lot of quality on that pitch today. When people talk about quality, they think of a great goal or a great shot or a great dribble. But no, a quality football match is when two teams pretty evenly matched nullify each other and pay respect to each other. I might be the only person in the country saying this, but I don’t care.

Every time I watch a big game in the Premier League, there is no doubt there is a correlation between the madness and chaos in domestic games and then the lack of application, focus and concentration that we see in the Champions League, where we have looked like the most naïve players in the world. Concentration is a word that was rammed down my throat, and all my United team-mates’ throats, for 20 years. But it seems like a word that doesn’t exist in the game anymore. It’s all about expanse, risk, goals, excitement, drama, mistakes. The drama and mistakes of the Premier League might give fans some momentary high, but in this game, I saw a quality football match.

There is a place in football for this type of game. I want to see goals and incident, but when I have seen how we have been in the Champions League over the past few years, I want to see more of what I saw between United and City because, in all honesty, I think we have looked like muppets in the Champions League for the last three years. We have looked like schoolboys playing against men. There is still some way to go before that changes, but this game has given me hope that the struggle and concentration will translate itself into the Champions League.

The progress made by Manuel Pellegrini was also evident in this game and I think the City manager deserves credit for the changes he has made to his approach.He will barely get a mention after this match, but a year ago, I had serious concerns about Pellegrini and City due to their naivety in the middle third, with Fernandinho and Yaya Toure in midfield and David Silva and Samir Nasri out wide. They would go into games against teams with three midfielders, such as Bayern Munich or Barcelona, and looking naïve.
But against United, when Marouane Fellaini was introduced in the second-half, United went to a midfield three and a threat was posed – they threw down the gauntlet.
And to his credit, Pellegrini immediately reacted by putting Martin Demichelis on in midfield in place of Toure.I thought that showed progression. It was like chess – one man makes a big move and the other quickly counters it.Pellegrini did that and he deserves an enormous amount of praise for that because a year ago, he was getting battered for being naïve, arrogant for not changing his approach.Chances were few and far between for both teams. He has learned his lessons and United, under Louis van Gaal, are also showing that they are able to implement a tactical game-plan against top quality opposition.

Every time I have seen a big game, going back to being a young kid and when I started playing professionally, I always thought that the biggest matches between the top teams, those in the top four, should be a massive struggle. You think of heavyweight fights, when it difficult for the fighters to get a punch away, and there were not many punches in this one.But that should not detract from the quality on the pitch because it was a game with many positives.

 

[SiMCFC]

Well fuck me. Neville talking sense!

 

[shemnel]

Neville is fast becoming the only pundit (whilst commentating live) who will give City any credit at all for what is happening on the pitch.

the others criticise and snipe until we score an awesome goal then they gush for 2 mins but Neville is quite level headed and sees bigger patterns etc. Perhaps cos he's won many titles etc, i dunno. It's mental as i despised him as a player but im much happier if he commentates than many others.

 

[Marvin]

Well done Pellegrini. Pragmatism won out. Many of us thought he'd go there with a depleted team and just play our normal game which would surely have seen us get beat.

I think he got everything almost right. He realised that playing Toure in his usual deep lying midfield role would be very dangerous given his lack of movement off the ball so he moved him further up the pitch. That meant our defence was very strong with Fernando and Fernandinho screening the back 4, however the game still bypassed Toure. He needs to get himself a new niche in the team or he will be replaced when the injured players return. I would have played Navas from the start and moved KDB inside to play where Toure was playing.

 

[Marvin]

Gary Neville in the Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...to-challenging-in-Champions-League-again.html


Manchester derby proved that Premier League clubs can look forward to challenging in Champions League again

The first half was probably the best 45 minutes I have seen anywhere in the Premier League this season, says Gary Neville

Supporters from both sides of Manchester may have left Old Trafford at the end of a 0-0 draw between United and City shaking their heads at the lack of goalmouth action or excitement, but for me, it was 90 minutes which told me that Premier League clubs can look forward to challenging in the Champions League

The fan watching it probably thinks that it is boring, that the entertainment is poor, but I really enjoyed the game and the first-half was probably the best 45 minutes I have seen anywhere in the Premier League this season.The Premier League is renowned for entertainment and madness, but this was a game for the professional and I genuinely believe there were a lot of very good things out on that pitch.

Both sets of centre-halves were fantastic, with Antonio Valencia and Marcos Rojo the same against Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem SterlingPhil Jones and Chris Smalling were very good and Nicolas Otamendi was fantastic for City at centre-half..Before the game, I saw United’s full-backs – Valencia and Rojo – as big weaknesses against De Bruyne and Sterling, but I thought De Bruyne was completely finished in the game after 20 minutes because Rojo dealt with him brilliantly. For every attacking player out on that pitch, it was a nightmare, but that was largely because the defensive units of both teams did exactly what is required in the Champions League.If I was a coach of United or City, I would be proud of how the players conducted themselves and followed instructions.At a time when the Premier League is teetering with its co-efficient and facing the prospect of losing a team in the Champions League, this game offered a level of comfort in that teams are starting to apply themselves to defending, concentration and focus.

What is a quality football match? If City or United had torn the other apart, with the other team defending as they did, then you would say it was a quality performance.
But when a team nullifies the other, pays attention to detail of every one of the others’ strengths, you also have to say that that is a quality football match.I will not be told by anybody that there wasn’t a lot of quality on that pitch today. When people talk about quality, they think of a great goal or a great shot or a great dribble. But no, a quality football match is when two teams pretty evenly matched nullify each other and pay respect to each other. I might be the only person in the country saying this, but I don’t care.

Every time I watch a big game in the Premier League, there is no doubt there is a correlation between the madness and chaos in domestic games and then the lack of application, focus and concentration that we see in the Champions League, where we have looked like the most naïve players in the world. Concentration is a word that was rammed down my throat, and all my United team-mates’ throats, for 20 years. But it seems like a word that doesn’t exist in the game anymore. It’s all about expanse, risk, goals, excitement, drama, mistakes. The drama and mistakes of the Premier League might give fans some momentary high, but in this game, I saw a quality football match.

There is a place in football for this type of game. I want to see goals and incident, but when I have seen how we have been in the Champions League over the past few years, I want to see more of what I saw between United and City because, in all honesty, I think we have looked like muppets in the Champions League for the last three years. We have looked like schoolboys playing against men. There is still some way to go before that changes, but this game has given me hope that the struggle and concentration will translate itself into the Champions League.

The progress made by Manuel Pellegrini was also evident in this game and I think the City manager deserves credit for the changes he has made to his approach.He will barely get a mention after this match, but a year ago, I had serious concerns about Pellegrini and City due to their naivety in the middle third, with Fernandinho and Yaya Toure in midfield and David Silva and Samir Nasri out wide. They would go into games against teams with three midfielders, such as Bayern Munich or Barcelona, and looking naïve.
But against United, when Marouane Fellaini was introduced in the second-half, United went to a midfield three and a threat was posed – they threw down the gauntlet.
And to his credit, Pellegrini immediately reacted by putting Martin Demichelis on in midfield in place of Toure.I thought that showed progression. It was like chess – one man makes a big move and the other quickly counters it.Pellegrini did that and he deserves an enormous amount of praise for that because a year ago, he was getting battered for being naïve, arrogant for not changing his approach.Chances were few and far between for both teams. He has learned his lessons and United, under Louis van Gaal, are also showing that they are able to implement a tactical game-plan against top quality opposition.

Every time I have seen a big game, going back to being a young kid and when I started playing professionally, I always thought that the biggest matches between the top teams, those in the top four, should be a massive struggle. You think of heavyweight fights, when it difficult for the fighters to get a punch away, and there were not many punches in this one.But that should not detract from the quality on the pitch because it was a game with many positives.

The recent evidence of the Spurs and Sevilla games probably forced his hand.