Discussion: Manuel Pellegrini 2015/16

[MacD]

I hope he gets the kudos he deserves for his tactical setup tonight. He's been rightly criticised for his inflexibility in previous seasons but this season he's got most of the big calls right. A very brave decision to leave De Bruyne out tonight but the pace out wide was crucial to both our attacking and defensive play. Who needs Pep?

 

[ninjamonkey]

I disagree that silva can hold down that wide role and even de Bruyne i am not sure about, the question for me is can either do the toure role

I would swap Sergio for bony at juve and that would be it, hopefully people are now seeing the importance of work rate and pace in those wide areas and how toure has to play in a three man midfield but forward facing and not a number 10

Dropping 2 of toure,silva,kdb is a huge call for pellegrini and without injuries pushing him I am not sure he is bold enough to make that call

We will see

Agree with this. Today, for possibly the first time under Pellegrini, or at least certainly for the first time since his first year it was about a team performance and not just a collection of talented players that get through the game on sheer talent alone and rely on individual brilliance.

There was a plan, players knew what to do with the ball when they received it rather than the usual of them dallying on it before going backwards. The likes of Sterling and Navas in particular benefited from this. Some players, like Silva and KDB you can give them freedom and just tell them to play and they'll often produce magic but there's not many of them around, most need clear instructions it shows in their play when they constantly look clueless with the ball and with movement.

Tonight both Sterling and Navas were clearly told to make the pitch wide, run your man down the line, use the overlapping fullbacks and when possible look to run in behind or cut in if there's a gap. The difference was staggering. They looked sharp and threatening instead of sluggish and clueless.

It's taken far too long for my liking but huge credit to Pellegrini tonight. I've been convinced for a while hes too much like Wenger and too stubborn to change but he did tonight. Now he needs to show his adaptability for specific games and an ability to pinpoint oppositions weaknesses and set out to take advantage of them. If he does, we'll win silverware this season.

In terms of tonights formation, I can see either of Silva or KDB being able to slot into the Yaya role from tonight quite comfortably, they both have the passing range and the ability to keep possession and both put in a decent amount of work rate without the ball that's at least comparable to Yaya.

Kun can play the lone striker role, he's obviously not capable of picking the ball out of the air, holding it and keeping possession like Bony but if we play smartly and play the ball into space he can run onto the ball and then he's capable of keeping hold of it until re-enforcements arrive. there's no problem with him fitting in, in that kind of system.

You could maybe see KDB being able to perform on the wing but then you're starting to shoehorn players into the side for the sake of it and you're changing the style too much. If we're going to play that kind of style then the team that started tonight is probably the ideal team to do it, with Yaya being interchangeable with KDB and SIlva. But then that's 2 of our best players out of the side. I don't think that's going to happen much if everyone is fit.

Still, it's good to have options.

 

[JoeMercer'sWay]

well we finally have a variety of options and styles, which is nice, whereas as last year it was Silva and Nasri, and a bit of plodding, or hand it to Navas, and have him shutdown, or get stuck and plod away with Jimmy and Frank, we're miles ahead from the end of last season now.

 

[Neville Kneville]

I disagree that silva can hold down that wide role and even de Bruyne i am not sure about, the question for me is can either do the toure role

I would swap Sergio for bony at juve and that would be it, hopefully people are now seeing the importance of work rate and pace in those wide areas and how toure has to play in a three man midfield but forward facing and not a number 10

Dropping 2 of toure,silva,kdb is a huge call for pellegrini and without injuries pushing him I am not sure he is bold enough to make that call

We will see

But how about Silva for instance in place of Yaya, with Aguero in place of Bony ? So what we lose in strength, we make up for in guile & pace. Or De Bruyne in place of Yaya, etc etc.

This kind of experimentation, imo, should have been started under Mancini & instead of plodders we should have been signing pace as well as ability . We are now just beginning to embark on the true path to winning the Champions Lg imo. All that went before, was a complete & utter waste of time (& that includes the Europa too). We have never had a 'balanced' team, under any manager. Next, we have to find a left back.

Kolarov has seduced us again, only to show his true colours. He is an absolute cad.

 

[Neville Kneville]

I hope he gets the kudos he deserves for his tactical setup tonight. He's been rightly criticised for his inflexibility in previous seasons but this season he's got most of the big calls right. A very brave decision to leave De Bruyne out tonight but the pace out wide was crucial to both our attacking and defensive play. Who needs Pep?

DeBruyne could have played . He is tired. He will be superb in this kind of team.

 

[hilts]

Agree with this. Today, for possibly the first time under Pellegrini, or at least certainly for the first time since his first year it was about a team performance and not just a collection of talented players that get through the game on sheer talent alone and rely on individual brilliance.

There was a plan, players knew what to do with the ball when they received it rather than the usual of them dallying on it before going backwards. The likes of Sterling and Navas in particular benefited from this. Some players, like Silva and KDB you can give them freedom and just tell them to play and they'll often produce magic but there's not many of them around, most need clear instructions it shows in their play when they constantly look clueless with the ball and with movement.

Tonight both Sterling and Navas were clearly told to make the pitch wide, run your man down the line, use the overlapping fullbacks and when possible look to run in behind or cut in if there's a gap. The difference was staggering. They looked sharp and threatening instead of sluggish and clueless.

It's taken far too long for my liking but huge credit to Pellegrini tonight. I've been convinced for a while hes too much like Wenger and too stubborn to change but he did tonight. Now he needs to show his adaptability for specific games and an ability to pinpoint oppositions weaknesses and set out to take advantage of them. If he does, we'll win silverware this season.

In terms of tonights formation, I can see either of Silva or KDB being able to slot into the Yaya role from tonight quite comfortably, they both have the passing range and the ability to keep possession and both put in a decent amount of work rate without the ball that's at least comparable to Yaya.

Kun can play the lone striker role, he's obviously not capable of picking the ball out of the air, holding it and keeping possession like Bony but if we play smartly and play the ball into space he can run onto the ball and then he's capable of keeping hold of it until re-enforcements arrive. there's no problem with him fitting in, in that kind of system.

You could maybe see KDB being able to perform on the wing but then you're starting to shoehorn players into the side for the sake of it and you're changing the style too much. If we're going to play that kind of style then the team that started tonight is probably the ideal team to do it, with Yaya being interchangeable with KDB and SIlva. But then that's 2 of our best players out of the side. I don't think that's going to happen much if everyone is fit.

Still, it's good to have options.

You see it as I do, the one thing that gives me some hope with pellegrini is that post match he said he wasn't happy with how we have been playing so made a tactical change, I just can't see him dropping two of silva,toure,kdb

The urge to drop ya ya next to dinho and put silva or de Bruyne wide may be too great, how good did toure and especially dinho look tonight playing in their proper roles, kdb and silva are fantastic players, every problem solved seems to create another

 

[MacD]

DeBruyne could have played . He is tired. He will be superb in this kind of team.

I'm not denying that De Bruyne is superb but I don't think we'd have got that performance tonight with him out wide as the pace Sterling & Navas gave us stretched Sevilla and had them worried from the off.

Just my opinion but perhaps our best team in the Champions League may mean Silva, De Bruyne or Yaya has to start on the bench

 

[hilts]

But how about Silva for instance in place of Yaya, with Aguero in place of Bony ? So what we lose in strength, we make up for in guile & pace. Or De Bruyne in place of Yaya, etc etc.

This kind of experimentation, imo, should have been started under Mancini & instead of plodders we should have been signing pace as well as ability . We are now just beginning to embark on the true path to winning the Champions Lg imo. All that went before, was a complete & utter waste of time (& that includes the Europa too). We have never had a 'balanced' team, under any manager. Next, we have to find a left back.

Kolarov has seduced us again, only to show his true colours. He is an absolute cad.

Sergio for bony is a no brainier really, I would like to see whar kdb and silva can do in that role however silva tends to play it as more of a number 10 so our 4 1 4 1 becomes more 4 2 3 1 with dinho feeling restricted

A fair few of us have been banging on about toure in a 3 but still playing from deep and I have been defending navas all season, this all relates to certain big games but unfortunately these are the ones everybody wants to play in

 

[ninjamonkey]

You see it as I do, the one thing that gives me some hope with pellegrini is that post match he said he wasn't happy with how we have been playing so made a tactical change, I just can't see him dropping two of silva,toure,kdb

The urge to drop ya ya next to dinho and put silva or de Bruyne wide may be too great, how good did toure and especially dinho look tonight playing in their proper roles, kdb and silva are fantastic players, every problem solved seems to create another

I was delighted to hear him say that. I've been crying out for it to happen on a weekly basis since last January even when we're winning and said numerous times that i wanted him gone, i even said it this season with regards to bringing in Klopp before Liverpool got him. But all that was because he refused to change. I have no idea why he's suddenly decided to do it now after all this time defiantly sticking with the same style and formation regardless of opposition but i'm very happy he has and i pray it continues. I'd love him to make me eat my words.

We saw tonight the benefit of playing players in their natural roles, all 11 were probably in their best positions (Sterlings best position is arguable but it's clear we want it to be as a left winger rather than a number 10 or 9) and there wasn't a bad performance amongst them. Against inferior league opposition it's fairly obvious he's going to revert back to a more attack minded formation with Yaya in a two man midfield and three behind a striker, and that's fine as we expect to have the majority of the ball and not be too troubled defensively by them. The real test comes probably against Juve and then the likes of Arsenal away before Christmas and the next stage of the champions league. if everyone is fit, can he accommodate the likes of SIlva Aguero and KDB into that formation? if not, will he be brave enough to bench a few of them in favour of a team performance or will he cave in and go back to essentially naming his best 11 players and attempting to fit them into a team. Going to be interesting to see

 

[Neville Kneville]

Sergio for bony is a no brainier really, I would like to see whar kdb and silva can do in that role however silva tends to play it as more of a number 10 so our 4 1 4 1 becomes more 4 2 3 1 with dinho feeling restricted

A fair few of us have been banging on about toure in a 3 but still playing from deep and I have been defending navas all season, this all relates to certain big games but unfortunately these are the ones everybody wants to play in

Yeah but there are 3 subs places now. That gives players the opportunity to work harder, if they know they are doing a job for the team, which means they have to be replaced due to fatigue. I actually don't think any of the 'God' players, such as Silva, Aguero or Yaya are irreplaceable. They can't be replaced as individuals, but they can if you have a team.

Bayern Munich are the absolute proof of this imo. The general reaction to a Champs Lg defeat over here is that we were beaten by supermen. Imo most of the time we get beaten by common sense. If you then add a few world class players, it makes the gap bigger.

i don't believe Bayern Munich have a better squad than City, they have a better team.