Discussion: Manuel Pellegrini 2015/16

[Neville Kneville]

To be honest it's also not rocket science why Toure is regularly picked ahead of Fernando in a two man midfield. I appreciate it may have some defensive shortcomings however it's still our best team and it's still Toure's best position.

Hopefully at the very least yesterday, coupled with our performance at Spurs, will shut up all those people who seem to think the magic pill to all our ills is playing Toure, Fernando, and Dinho together.

It's only our best team, when all the other players are fresh as a daisy, & can run like fuck to make up for him. As soon as a bit of fatigue kicks in, it's our worst team.

And I would play those 3 in a 433.

 

[its grim up north]

A lot of you on here make me piss. It's only a fortnight ago we went to Spurs with basically the same players and got tonked. Did you want that to happen again? Sometimes I think a lot of people on here just like to cause friction,where there is none. Well done Pellers ,now we know you can change it when needed. 10 out of 10

 

[supercity88]

It was down to having Fernandinho & Fernando plus Vinny & Otamendi i that key area. Instead of having a gaping hole in centre def mid, we had a gaping hole in centre attacking mid, where people like Smalling were able to stroll through, but having Yaya's hole there, is much less dangerous than in our half, like v Seville, which was pathetic.

If DeBruyne had replaced Yaya, I think we would have completely taken ovr the game, but we saw how much he sulked when taken off. It would have been x10 if he'd gone at half time.

That I agree with 100%. Yaya should not have played in that role. He should have been off the pitch. Navas should have been wide right, Sterling wide left and De Bruyne central and Bony ahead of them. That would have been set up perfectly for the counter. Attack, with pace and purpose. Instead we never looked like scoring and it felt like we didn't want to at times.

Was a weird derby. There was a distinct lack of passion. We're used to Rooney being a thorn in our side but he was dire. Silva and Aguero normally do well for us but they were out. Yaya lacked his usual impact. Sterling, Bony, De Bruyne all starting their first derbies - as was Otamendi. The rags had several players used to the occasion but generally lacked that passion as well. Martial was the only one who seemed like he wanted to win the game! We might have seen that ourselves with Nacho on.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

I don't agree. Missing Silva/Kun simply isn't a reason to park the metaphorical bus. I fully understand the rational in the first 45 minutes because of what happened last season. However the 2nd half we should've moved up a couple of gears and gone for a different approach in terms of personnel and playing style. Instead we simply retreated further into our own half. Granted that the rags must be commended on their own defensive strength, but we didn't really do anything to counter that strength other than sit back and play solely on the break.

United aren't Barcelona, Bayern, or Madrid - far from it. Also it's a not quite true to say our defensive performance was down to us playing a 3 man midfield. It was down mainly to Fernando, Vinny, and Otamendi, complimenting each other excellently in the defensive third of the pitch, and our full backs being much more restrained than normal. Toure ended up being a passenger in both halves. Neither any use defensively nor any use as an attacking threat.

Would have been nice to move up the gears as you say - but not as easy as it sounds. The defensive mindset of the fullbacks had been set first half and I don't think either can do both attacking and defending jobs in the same match - it's either one or the other with both of them.
United are on a good run of form, are confident and aren't as bad as we like to think. Was Yaya a passenger first half? Thought he was our most dangerous and pivotal player - not that that's saying much.
Like your thinking though Billy - and I do come at Derby's from a cautious position of someone who'd rather not lose than go for it, especially with our cutting edge missing.

 

[taleofbluehalves]

I'd have preferred to beat them to show them they're not good enough ;)

Of course but it's the hope that kills them!

 

[Neville Kneville]

That I agree with 100%. Yaya should not have played in that role. He should have been off the pitch. Navas should have been wide right, Sterling wide left and De Bruyne central and Bony ahead of them. That would have been set up perfectly for the counter. Attack, with pace and purpose. Instead we never looked like scoring and it felt like we didn't want to at times.

Was a weird derby. There was a distinct lack of passion. We're used to Rooney being a thorn in our side but he was dire. Silva and Aguero normally do well for us but they were out. Yaya lacked his usual impact. Sterling, Bony, De Bruyne all starting their first derbies - as was Otamendi. The rags had several players used to the occasion but generally lacked that passion as well. Martial was the only one who seemed like he wanted to win the game! We might have seen that ourselves with Nacho on.

Utd are a parasitic team who rely on feeding off the mistakes of opponents. If they don't get fed, they are purely reliant on set pieces.

 

[flb]

To be honest it's also not rocket science why Toure is regularly picked ahead of Fernando in a two man midfield. I appreciate it may have some defensive shortcomings however it's still our best team and it's still Toure's best position.

Hopefully at the very least yesterday, coupled with our performance at Spurs, will shut up all those people who seem to think the magic pill to all our ills is playing Toure, Fernando, and Dinho together.

Yaya as part of a three can work, if you have Sterling , KDB and especially Bony not offering anything in the final third then expecting Yaya to carry the attacking threat on his own just isnt going to happen, he was the furthest man forward on too many occasions yesterday , he still can come from deep positions playing further up the pitch, the three mentioned players lost the ball with alarming frequency yesterday and the play just bypassed Yaya for large parts of the second half.

KDB looked red in the face yesterday in fact he looked knackered in the second half of the Sevilla game, hes played a lot of football since arriving and having Silva and Nasri both injured has meant he has had to play-he was running on empty yesterday.Sterling should be playing on the opposite flank, feel sorry for Bony -he just doesnt fit our style of play.

 

[supercity88]

Because Yaya is a huge gamble against ANYONE in a two man midfield & it is wearing out the players around him at a time when we are short of bodies. We can just about get away with it v lesser teams but even Bournmouth & Newcastle were exploiting it.

Not rocket science. What was our most solid Champs Lg performance last season ?

I agree with you. But I can't assign blame for Yaya playing on Pellegrini. I think there's higher powers at City that are ensuring he is played. Why would Khaldoon personally assure Yaya he's still a huge part of City... personally I could see he was starting to fade last season and wouldn't have been too bothered about him leaving. I would be using him off the bench this season, but I do wonder if Pellegrini is somewhat forced to play him. He's dropped just about everyone else at one time or another. Where in the past he's seemed to miss simple things, this season he spotted Sagna was playing better than Zabba, he has recognised faults with his starting lineup and altered things - he's surely not blind to the fact Yaya isn't coping with the required pace of games?!

Maybe that's me looking for something that isn't there though.

I've got a lot of faith in Delph and think potentially him and Fernandinho will have enough box to box presence to form the best two man partnership in our squad. Sterling, Silva and De Bruyne ahead of them I think we have our best lineup. Fernandinho is more than capable of playing that killer pass or taking a shot on, he might not score 20 a season but I don't think we need our midfield 2 to do that with the attacking options we have. It's an easy job for the central two - keep the ball, get if forward quick and support the attack and cover defensively. It requires decent technique, an eye for a pass and high fitness levels. With Silva in the no10 role there's not so much of a need for a creative player in the central two and Delph and Fernandinho have enough between them anyway.

 

[blue ranger]

Pellers got it spot on yesterday - Fernandinho and Fernando in front of the back 4 was effective in front of a solid back 4. The only issue was our lack of attacking quality. Bony ok first half but invisible 2nd and playing much too deep. Also disappointed with yaya. Thought he gave us absolutely nothing and was disappointed a couple of times when yaya let United CB's just run past him.

Think we should have brought navas and iheanacho on, and moved sterling or KDB more central.

Yaya is going to be a major issue for us when silva and Delph both fit as I genuinely don't think he belongs in our best 11 anymore. And judging by his reaction when he was subbed yesterday I'm not sure he'd take that well.

 

[hilts]

Got his tactics spot on in fairness to him, defended really well, offensively we were poor but that was down to the players not the boss, would have subbed toure and bony for navas and kelechi around the hour for their pace to see if we could have nicked something on the counter